Because of the extreme weather conditions experienced on the moors, the Dartmoor Pony is a particularly hardy breed with excellent stamina.

The Dartmoor Pony has a small, neat head, large, wide-set eyes, and alert ears.

The bones of prehistoric horses have been found in chamber tombs dating from Vere Gordon Childe's period III - IV in southern Britain.

[4] Archeological investigation from the 1970s has shown that domesticated ponies were to be found on Dartmoor as early as 1500 BC.

[6] The Dartmoor Pony was used in medieval times for carrying heavy loads of tin ore from the mines across the moor.

However, after the war, local people began to inspect and register as many ponies as they could, and by the 1950s, numbers were back up.

Two schemes have been introduced to halt the decline in numbers, and broaden the gene pool of the Dartmoor Pony.

[10] Dartmoor Ponies are native to Britain, but are also seen in other parts of the world, including the US,[11] Continental Europe, New Zealand, and Australia.