Dartmoor ponies are an endangered breed native to the moors of England and are famous for their sweet disposition and hardy nature. They grow thick coats in the winter which are shed in warmer months and are usually around 12 hands in height. Considered by many to be the perfect children's pony, they are also strong enough to carry most adults. Native breeds are populations within domesticated ani
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species, but which have lived under wild or semi-domesticated conditions for centuries if not millennia and have been largely selected by nature. Many living native breeds are thought to be direct descendents of the original wild species that existed prior to their domestication by humans. It is possible that Dartmoor ponies are closely related to the Tarpan horse, a wild horse species living in Europe prior to its extinction in the 18th century. Due to factors such as loss of habitat, industrialization, and human conflicts, many of these breeds have dwindled in numbers. Dartmoor ponies, for example, roamed the Dartmoor area in the tens of thousands, but the number of recognized pure-breed individuals became less than 20 after World War II. Although the domestication of animals has been instrumental for people to survive and prosper, ironically the association of domesticated species with humans makes their more primitive related breeds less likely to receive support needed for conservation efforts to maintain them. This is because, although genetically distinct, native breeds are not reproductively isolated from other breeds, and are therefore regarded as part of a larger domesticated species that is under no conservation threat. In other words, those animal species that have contributed most to humans are the ones that are least protected when it comes to preserving their natural, pre-domestication identity. Because of this, networks of private citizens, in zoos or hobby “conservation farms" can have a particularly important impact in the preservation of native breeds.
