Casper & Toby Join SWEP

The pony we purchased at Tavistock market today has been named Toby, on our way back to the SWEP yard we took a slight detour to collect another small pony called Casper. He was signed over to us by a local farmer. Both ponies took an immediate liking to one another and happily investigated the yard once they were unloaded. Both ponies will be worked on in preparation for re homing.

5/3/2012 : Casper and Toby were soon re homed seperately and are now happy and settled in their  new homes.

Tavistock Pony Market

SWEP attended the annual pony sale at Tavistock market. All ponies were appropriately penned, although only one owner had provided their ponies with fresh water. We purchased a pony who was extremely friendly and small. The sale ran smoothly, although many ponies were left unsold. Most ponies sold for 10-15 guineas, only one made 34 guineas (still an extremely low price). A SWEP representative stayed at the sale site until all the ponies had been safely loaded at the end of the sale.

Report of Filly Foal that had Jumped into Livery Yard During Drift

A call came into the yard regarding a black filly foal who had jumped over a dry stone wall into a livery yard, she had a small wound on her fore leg. The owner of the yard had contacted the farmer who said he would come and shoot the pony, the yard owner did not want this to happen so called SWEP. Our welfare assistant went to assess the pony and offered to take the pony to our yard if the farmer was happy to sign her over to us. He was not happy to do this so the livery owner said she would keep the filly. We were happy with this out come.

Call Out to Pony in Distress Near Pewtor

Our welfare assistant received a call to say a brown and white mare close to Pew Tor was showing signs of colic, they were at the sight within an hour and found the mare in question soon after. The welfare assistant confirmed it was the correct pony by speaking directly to the person who had reported it. The pony was up and lightly grazing and showing no sign of distress. Our welfare officer sat and watched for approx half an hour to ensure the mare was ok, which she was.

Dartmoor Hill Pony Foal Badly Injured After Road Traffic Collision

Late on Sunday night (at around 22:30pm) we received a message from a member of the public who had seen a Dartmoor Hill Pony foal get hit by a car near Pork Hill on the main road between Tavistock and Princetown.  The foal had been hit much earlier in the evening and had a badly injured leg.  We were told that members of the public had stayed with the foal for 4 hours in an effort to get the Commoners or someone in authority to attend the foal and get it treated or removed.  Unhappy with what had happened, and as equine owners themselves knowing the seriousness of the injury, the person had decided to contact us.

Our Welfare Officer attended the moor the following morning and found the foal and its herd.  The course of events over the next two days in relation to the foal were so serious that we are asking Trading Standards (who can bring prosecutions under the Animal Welfare Act) to take this forward as a prosecution case.  For that reason, we will not be publishing any more details, photos, video or other evidence of this case at the current time. 

SWEP worked in partership with vets and the authorities to get a resolution for this foal under the Animal Welfare Act.

Callout to a Tame Dartmoor Hill Pony

On Saturday afternoon we were called out to a village on the edge of Dartmoor.  Some private owners of a young Dartmoor Hill Pony had been caught in an unfortunate situation where they had lost their grazing and had been unable to find anywhere in their locality to keep their pony.  They had tried to rehome him themselves but this had not been successful.

Now the pony was on a housing estate and the owners realised that they wouldn't be able to keep him there.  Desparate to find somewhere for the pony to go, the owners rang SWEP and we agreed to take him in.  This pony had been extremely well cared for by his owners.  He is well handled and in very good condition.  He fitted in instantly with the ponies at our rescue centre.  Because he is in such good condition and is so good to handle, we hope it won't be long before he will be on the "Ponies for Rehoming" page.  Here he is settling in at the yard showing off some of his paces:

Farm Sale of Ponies

Two of our officers on their "day off" attended a farm sale of ponies on Dartmoor.  We were pleased to see that the sale had been organised so that all the horses and ponies for sale had food and water and deep straw bedding.  Mares were with their foals and all the horses and ponies were appropriately penned according to size and temperament.