PONY DRIFTS
Pony herds, which are owned by individual commoners,
have been grazing the commons of Dartmoor for many
centuries. The hardy little ponies seen today are of mixed
breeding and are suitably adapted to survive the harsh
conditions of the moor: they are known as Dartmoor Hill
Ponies but there is a pure bred Dartmoor Pony that can
still be seen grazing on the common.
Traditionally the ponies are ‘drifted’ or rounded up from
the commons in the autumn and gathered into a nearby
pound from which each owner removes his or her own
ponies to the farmstead. Foals born in the previous spring
are separated from the mares for weaning and later sold
at the local markets in Tavistock and Chagford. Some
of the foals are kept as replacement stock, branded and
turned back on the commons to breed in future years,
others will be used as children’s riding ponies or for
driving small traps. The foal “crop” is the major income
from the wild ponies and the sustainability and continued
presence of the wild herds on the moor is dependent
upon a good price at the market. The drift remains an
important social event in the farming calendar year.
