IT was a scene reminiscent of a Wild West film — but this was Dartmoor on Saturday when Phil Heard, on his stallion Rock, drove 125 cattle from his farm at Meldon out to their summer grazing some six miles away in the heart of Dartmoor.

The drive, which crossed some of Dartmoor's most stunning scenery,  took three hours with Phil, accompanied by his wife Mandi and son Lloyd, Phil Hearn and headteacher Ali Ewen, riding slowly to cause the cattle as little stress as possible.

'They'd only come out of their winter quarters in the morning and so they are very unfit. We didn't want to cause them any stress or for them to become overly tired so we took our time,' said Phil, who added that using horses was a far more effective way of moving cattle.

'We find they accept the horses and don't become upset by them, whereas a quad bike can cause them to run.'

The cattle, all docile Welsh blacks renowned for their mothering skills, can stay out on the moors until November but some will come back to their farm in June when they start calving.

Some were experiencing the moors for the first time, but others knew where to go and with just a little help as they wavered off the route, headed straight out beyond Yes Tor and Mill Tor to the middle of the moors, keeping up a steady pace.

Until the cows come back down to the farm, keen horse riders can join in the cattle drives and get a taste of life as a cowboy as well as experience the  true beauty of this rugged part of Dartmoor.

'The cattle will keep drifting back towards Meldon Dam so we have to drive them back out onto the moors.

'It's a terrific experience for anyone with a horse and enables people to see a beautiful part of the moors,'­ said Phil.