Dartmoor Ponies in Yellow and Purple
An explosion of purple and yellow - late August with the heather and gorse in full bloom
Dartmoor National Park in Devon, UK, is a moorland area covering almost 1000 square kilometres. In late August the moor is carpeted in purple and yellow as the heather and gorse are blooming. It is stunningly beautiful. It was during this time of year that I had the pleasure to spend a couple of days on the moor with Malcolm Snelgrove - a pre-eminent Dartmoor Pony expert and photographer. His knowledge of the moor and its ponies combined with his excellent photography made for a great outing in this magnificent national park. He is good company too ;-)
You can find Malcom’s impressive work here: Malcolm Snelgrove Photography.
There are two types of ponies on Dartmoor: The Dartmoor Pony and the Dartmoor Hill Pony. The former is an endangered distinct breed. Only around 200 of approximately 1000 ponies on Dartmoor are of this native breed. These hardy ponies are solid in colour with thick coats, manes and tails to protect from the rain and harsh weather, and have hard feet suitable for granite and bogs. They only grow to a maximum of 12.2 hands high (125cm).
Dartmoor Ponies below Haytor - Typical dramatic weather with rain one minute and glorious sun the next
The Hill Pony is more common on Dartmoor, and can be found in many sizes, shapes and colours (often spotted or multi-coloured). Some of these are Shetland ponies or Welsh ponies or cross breeds. Most of these ponies on Dartmoor are semi-wild. Whilst owned by farmers most of the year they roam freely on the moor.
Malcolm in action … check out his photography website
We spent a couple of days photographing across the moor but focused most of our time on Haytor. Arguably Dartmoor’s most famous natural landmark. Haytor is situated on the southeastern side of Dartmoor and easily accessible by the nearby road. These imposing granite rocks offer spectacular views in all directions. The rocks are a distinct feature visible from many miles away. Haytor is protected and designated a site of special scientific interest. Our aim was to combine ponies with the flowering heather and gorse and/or with the Haytor rocks as backdrop
The distinct shape of the Haytor rocks in the background
Dartmoor’s dramatic scenery and shifting weather makes it a prime area for photography almost any time of day, and any time of year. There are always opportunities for interesting compositions, particularly with the ponies as subjects. They lend themselves very well for ‘animalscape’ compositions (animals in a wider landscape setting). See my blog post on animalscapes here.
Dartmoor is made for photography, and I can guarantee I will be out on the moor to hone my skills capturing pony images in the future.
Thank you Malcolm for your time and insight.
Gorgeously warm early morning sunshine one minute …
… then it threatened to rain the next minute. The weather plays such a role in Dartmoor photography