THE Dartmoor Pony is the focus of a new exhibition by a Walkhampton artist, who has drawn on her childhood passion for the horses as inspiration.

Nick Viney, who runs an art studio, Green with NV from her home in Walkhampton, has captured her youthful memories of the ponies on canvas for the exhibition, 'Dartmoor Pony Expressed!', currently being displayed at the White Horse Inn in Moretonhampstead.

Growing up in Walkham Valley, horses and ponies have been a big part of Nick's life — she competed in equestrian events from an early age.

The new show is different from Nick's previous exhibitions, which are often large oil paintings of wider rural themes, such as hunting and agriculture.

She said: 'I switched to using acrylics for this series because they dry so fast.

'I was often painting in situ on the moor, by the roadside out the back of the car, so I needed to capture the essence of the pony before it walked off or, being on Dartmoor, it began to rain.

'I even sketched from the back of my horse —the moor ponies behave differently then and are totally unthreatened.'

Horses are still a part of Nick's life as she owns four horses kept on the family smallholding where she grew up.

Nick is already gearing up for her next solo exhibition in October at the Duchy Square Centre for Creativity in Princetown, where she spent several months as a resident artist.