A CHARITABLE organisation which promotes and re-homes Dartmoor’s iconic hill ponies was delighted to have received a cash boost recently.

Hill Pony Resources (HPR) was chosen to receive a £2,494 ‘wish list’ grant from Support Adoption for Pets.

HPR was founded in 2014 and its purpose is to promote the many positive aspects of Dartmoor’s iconic hill ponies and to find homes for as many as they can each year. The group is run by a small number of dedicated volunteers and is funded entirely by donations.

Jennifer, one of the HPR volunteers, said: ‘This is the first grant we have applied for. There were only 15 available so we didn’t think we’d be chosen. We were over the moon when we received the news that our application had been successful.’

This one-off grant will be spent on equipment that will enable ponies to be cared for adequately until they find homes.

Jennifer added: ‘This grant couldn’t have come at a better time. Winter was coming and our funds were dwindling. We needed new equipment but knew the limited funds we had needed to be used to get the ponies through the winter. Being awarded this grant means we can now replace the very old and inefficient equipment we are currently using.’

If you would like to find out more about Hill Pony Resources or would like to volunteer visit the website http://hillponyresources.weebly.com or the Facebook page www.facebook.com/hillponyresources/