Saving Dartmoor ponies sounds easy until you try and do it

Take a deep breath, put down the protest placards and whatever you do, don’t publish that complaint about the Dartmoor pony cull on social media. Get the facts right first before you complain, shout, scream, get angry and call for Sir Keir Starmer to resign (again).

The background story about the Dartmoor Pony ‘cull’
The ‘culling’ of the Dartmoor ponies is not through an explicit government order, but the indirect consequence of new conservation rules that:

• drastically cut total grazing numbers,
• force farmers to prioritise commercial livestock,
• and frame overgrazing as an ecological emergency.

Campaigners argue these policies amount to a de facto cull, even if not officially labelled as one. So now emotions are running high. How can you KILL a pony?! Even Conservative Party leader Kemi Badendoch has weighed in saying that it’s “total madness” and that it could lead to the “mass slaughter of Dartmoor ponies”.

It’s understandable why the public are up in arms about the Dartmoor Ponies’ potential fate. They are cute, furry and…well, who doesn’t love a pony? But let’s say, for arguments sake, the culling of the ponies doesn’t go ahead. What are the alternatives and have we thought it all through? Let’s look at the various solutions that people have suggested.

Solution 1: The Dartmoor Ponies deserve to stay where they are now, right?

Well, they can…but they could potentially face an even bigger problem than a quick death through a ‘cull’. Overgrazing is a big problem. Natural England reports that more than 90% of Dartmoor’s SSSI-designated land is in unfavourable ecological condition, with overgrazing identified as a major contributing factor. To deal with the overgrazing problem there are several options. The ponies would either need to be culled or moved. But if they’re moved – where would they go to?

Solution 2: The Dartmoor Ponies would be perfect riding school ponies!

Lots of people say that they could go to riding schools as they’d make excellent riding school ponies. I don’t disagree with this. But this brings its own dilemmas. Riding schools are in decline. According to the British Horse Society (BHS) 250 riding schools closed between 2018 and 2022. A further 84 closed between 2022 and 2025. On average, there are 48 closures of riding schools a year.

There are several reasons for that, of course. There’s a lack of financial support for riding schools across the country. And, let’s be honest, riding lessons is a luxury that few of us can afford. Some of us can’t even afford to pay for our kids’ swimming lessons, let alone have enough money for them to join the local pony club.

We’re in a cost-of-living crisis and the average riding lesson costs £31 in the North and £54 an hour in the South with the national average around £25-£45 an hour, according to Horse and Hound. Riding schools are also incredibly expensive to run and the margins are thin. So where would riding schools suddenly get the money to break in hundreds of Dartmoor Ponies. Breaking in ponies can take weeks, if not months. And it takes specialist care and training to get this right, especially if you want to take your time and be kind. Who will pay for this? Any ideas Kemi Badendoch?

Solution 3: People can take them, love them and keep them!

Kemi – I believe you have three children? Perhaps you could buy each of them a pony? Remember that each pony needs about two acres of land. Please don’t forget to have them checked by the vet and vaccinated for equine flu (there’s lots of cases around). 

Solution 4: Get the farmers to help save the Dartmoor ponies

If you want the farmers to step in then they would have to allocate some land to the ponies and sacrifice land they’d give to livestock, which (let’s remember) support their livelihoods. They would need to take the cost burden on themselves. You could argue that they’re wild ponies and could live off fresh air. But even wild ponies need medical treatment, land, rotational grazing, etc.

Solution 5: Just feed the Dartmoor ponies hay!
If the Dartmoor ponies have run out of grazing due to overgrazing then surely we could just toss some hay over the fence, right? Unfortunately, this would be at a massive cost. Hay prices have skyrocketed by 83% year on year in 2025 due to restricted supply after a dry summer in the UK. I’ve paid between £6-7 for small bales of hay, but I’ve heard of some people paying as much as £10, if not more. So, who will foot the bill for that?

Solution 6: Get the welfare charities to save the Dartmoor ponies

That’s a good idea! Welfare groups do some stellar work in protecting our ponies and horses in the UK. However, there’s problems with this too. Rising costs are forcing the closure of many horse sanctuaries and Redwings is a case in point. These charities, if they’re going to survive and help our horses and ponies need financial support and they need it now, especially if they’re going to rescue hundreds of Dartmoor ponies.

It’s not only horse sanctuaries that are suffering financially – it’s charities across the board. In Charities Aid Foundation’s UK Giving Report 2026 it highlights that the total amount donated by the British public fell from £15.4 billion in 2024 to £14 billion in 2025 - a drop of almost 10%. Bottom line, the British public can’t afford to give as much as they have before.

What’s the solution for the Dartmoor ponies?
There are no easy answers here. There are only difficult trade‑offs and everyone will need to work together rather than pointing fingers at Starmer, Badendoch, Natural England, etc. But acknowledging those trade‑offs is the first step toward a sustainable plan that protects both Dartmoor’s ecology and its iconic ponies. Instead of shouting into the void, we need collaboration between conservationists, farmers, policymakers and the public. The ponies deserve more than outrage; they deserve a future built on informed, workable solutions.