PONY expert Sam Goodwin will be marching from Dartmoor to Exmoor in protest at proposals to sell Dartmoor’s ponies for meat.

Sam will be taking his ponies Jasmine and Ebony on the 164-mile trek linking both moors as part of his campaign to find alternative ways to manage the moor’s pony population.

He has trained five moorland ponies to be a pack of animals, walking in a line as traditional ponies did historically carrying tin and wood.

His vision is to train these packs to act as guides on the moor and carry bags.

The Dartmoor Hill Pony Association (DHPA) has proposed the meat scheme as a way of preserving the breed and reducing the need for shooting foals.

Mr Goodwin said: ‘For those of us who love the moorland ponies, we simply cannot stand by and silently watch as pony meat is openly marketed and the ponies’ plight is exploited for financial gain.

‘There is no reason to turn ponies into sausages or salami.

‘It’s time Dartmoor ponies were given a break, breeding only for a market that seeks to do them no harm.

‘The image of the moorland pony has been blackened through the ongoing media campaign and discussion by members of Dartmoor Conseration Meat and the DHPA as they attempt to educate us by suggesting we should eat ponies to save them.

‘Primarily this is because members of the public have been told that many of the ponies bred on the open moor have little or no other value than for meat.

‘Many of us believe that proposing a pony meat market is in fact likely to further reduce the value and opportunities for private pony sales and that alternative methods are already available.

‘To date, a number of charities have suggested strategies and are helping to implement those proven to be working by effectively reducing the annual number of foals born, and adding value through careful breeding and promotion.

A study by moorland farmer and scientist Robyn Petrie-Richie has demonstrated how other methods really do exist which are humane and retain the herd structure and dynamics and, importantly, that allow all types of pony to exist on Dartmoor without conflict, thus doing away with an issue of contention which has dogged all efforts at finding a solution for the last 95 years.

The DHPA says the idea is to stop foals being shot in the year they are born, which can be in excess of 400 animals.

Selling them for meat at the age of three is one of a number of measures being looked at which also include contraception for mares, reducing the number of breeding mares and increasing the number of young female stock returned to the moor who will not breed until they are three.

The association says the three-year-old ponies would have a value and would be the correct age to train or go to meat, giving the foals currently shot before they are one, three years running on the moor.

It also says that farmers, knowing there is a potential meat trade to fall back on, would be more confident keeping a pony until it is three, improving its chances of growing and being trained.

Mr Goodwin sets off on the trek on Thursday.