FEARS for the future of the iconic Dartmoor pony were this week issued by farmers and breeders concerned at the low turnout of buyers at annual sales in Tavistock and Chagford this month. Although prices for the animals did not drop to the ?guinea a pony? level of several years ago, there was a marked dip from last year?s average ? which is being blamed on new EU regulations aimed at improving animal welfare. Under the new rules, designed to control live export of horses from Eastern Europe to slaughter in Italy, the number of animals which can be transported in one lorry has been dramatically cut, forcing dealers to use more vehicles. A spokesman for Rendells, the Chagford-based auctioneers, said: ?Bidding was clearly hampered by uncertainty over the new equine transport regulations, keeping a number of the larger buyers away. ?This definitely had an adverse effect on the trade overall, especially for the whole-coloured traditional Dartmoor-type foals.? Mary Alford, a Dartmoor hill farmer and chairman of the Dartmoor Hill Pony Association, said the new regulations were ?completely unworkable?, affecting the markets to such a degree that the least saleable ponies were lucky to find buyers at any price. Mrs Alford said one of her filly foals made 450 guineas at market last year. This year, the foal?s full sister sold for just 200 guineas. ?If this continues, the ponies will disappear,? said Mrs Alford. Justine Colton, who runs heritage Dartmoor ponies on the moor from her farm near Dousland, said: ?The big buyers definitely weren?t at the Tavistock sales this year. ?I think we all agree about transport being better, you don?t like to think about ponies arriving half-dead at their destination, but the rules are so gold-plated, you can see it?s just not viable for the buyers. ?I don?t really know where we go from here, but it seems like it?s another nail in the way of life for Dartmoor hill farmers.? Dru Butterfield, of the Dartmoor Pony Heritage Trust, said the transport changes had had ?a huge effect? on this year?s market. She said: ?The problem is we need the market. We produce so many foals, they all come off the moor at the same time of the year, so you have this glut. ?We have been working the pony keepers, encouraging them to keep some of the best quality stock, handling them, trying to add value to them and then selling them privately.? Ms Butterfield said there had been a decline in pony herds on Dartmoor ? although grants from Dartmoor National Park Authority had helped stem the fall in numbers, the grants had now come to an end. ?We were making wonderful progress and all of a sudden, it?s stopped. I think we just have to stay positive, we need to look at other ways of promoting these ponies. ?We really don?t want to lose these really good herds, which have had a lot of time, finance and years of breeding put into them.?
