Dartmoor Pony Drifts

A drift is the gathering of ponies from the commons into a nearby pound, traditionally in the autumn. The ponies belong to herds owned by individual commoners, whose families have grazed the commons for many centuries.

Once the ponies are in the pound, each owner takes their own back to their farm, and the foals born the previous spring are separated from the mares for weaning. The foals are sold at the local markets in Tavistock and Chagford. Some are kept as replacement stock, branded and returned to the commons, and others become children's riding ponies or are trained to drive small traps.

The ponies involved are the Dartmoor Hill Ponies, often of mixed breeding, and the pure pedigree Dartmoor Pony.