So I keep finding out things about the British native pony breeds that I didn't know before.  I thought that the Dales ponies were always black or dark brown. 

Black Dales pony

 But I was wrong - this is what the Dales pony society says about the Dales' colours - "colours are predominantly black, with some brown, bay, grey and rarely roan".

 Grey Dales pony

In fact it turns out that the blue roan and bay roan colouring in Dales is very, very rare!  It seems it was undesirable for a while and they were discouraged and nearly lost in the breed forever.  Thankfully they are gaining favour again, and the owners of the Roandale stud where I took these photos are actively breeding the roan colours.  They have a very handsome blue roan stallion (which I unfortunately didn't get a photo of as he was indoors at the time).  The Dales ponies come in bay roan and a blue roan, both very beautiful.

 Blue roan and bay roan Dales

Horse colours and how they are bred is a very interesting science - some genes are more dominant / recessive so many colours are harder to get.  Here is a very interesting chart on horse colours and how different genes effect the final colour colour chart

Bay Dales pony

I'm really enjoying this project, and all the fascinating things I am finding out about our lovely British native breeds.

**Please click on the images to see them larger.

A trip to the Dales (Teesdale)

So, after a bit of a break from photographing the British native ponies, I finally arranged a trip to the north of England to photograph some native Dales ponies. The Dales ponies are on the Rare breeds survival trust watch list as 'critical' which is at the very top of the endangered breeds.  This means there are very few breeding Dales ponies around, and they are in danger of going extinct, which is very sad as they are wonderful ponies. 

 Dales pony mare with her young foal

I had always thought that the Dales ponies were from the Yorkshire Dales, but they are actually from a much larger area.  The Dales Pony is a native of the upper dales of the eastern slopes of the Pennine range, from the High Peak in Derbyshire all the way to the Cheviot Hills near the Scottish Border, so that covers North Yorkshire, Durham and Northumberland areas.  The favoured breeding areas have always been the upper dales of the rivers Tyne, Wear, Allen, Tees and Swale.

A Dales pony with a view of Teesdale behind

They were bred in this area, where the lead mining industry flourished from Roman times until the mid-nineteenth century, because they were excellent pack ponies.

Unfortunately, there are no wild or completely free roaming Dales ponies on the Dales anymore, so I found a Dales pony breeder that breeds ponies true to type, and has them out grazing on the Teesdale hills over looking the beautiful Dales area.

This is the website of the very kind people who let me photograph their lovely ponies:

 Roandale stud Dales ponies

As usual I found the ponies and hung out with them for quite a few hours (which went far too quick) to get some natural shots of the ponies doing their thing.

Dales pony

Please click on the photos to see them larger, and remember I have many of my pony images for sale in my Etsy shop 

First off, I'm sorry I have been away for so long, but I'm back now and will try and be more regular with the posts...I have a lot of photos to post !

I wanted to share a few more photos of Dartmoor ponies, as I have a few nice ones of some pedigree registered Dartmoor ponies.

Dartmoor pony 

As I explained in my last few posts there are different types of ponies running on Dartmoor national park.  Whereas the Dartmoor hill ponies are all different shapes, sizes, and colours the ponies that are bred and registered as pedigree Dartmoor ponies by the Dartmoor pony society are all bred to a certain standard.

 

 

 Dartmoor pony

 

 

Their height should not be more than 12.2hh, their colours are bay, brown, black, grey, chestnut and roan.  Piebalds and Skewbalds are not allowed.  Excessive white markings are discouraged.  They should be sturdily built, but with quality.

 

Full breed standard here

Dartmoor pony foal

The pedigree pure bred Dartmoor is not so often seen on the commons beacuse they are too valuable to be left out, and also to prevent uncontrolled breeding with non-registered animals, but there are some especially if you know where to look.  I got some insider knowledge of where to find some from Lowertown Farm because they breed pedigree and heritage Dartmoor ponies, and keep a few out on the moors.

They told me where I might find some of their ponies, so I went in search of them.  After struggling through lots of gorse and bracken I found them !

Mare and foal

These wonderful little ponies are still on the endangered breeds list at the moment, but let's hope that with some successful breeding they will be able to come off that list.

Please click on the photos to see them larger.  

 

And don't forget you can check out my Etsy shop to buy prints and canvas of my horse and pony photos.