The Dales Pony

HISTORY OF THE BREED

The Dales pony was originally bred for pack work for the lead mining industry. Their ancestry can be traced back to Roman times when the lead mining industry first started to flourish in the area. It is believed that because modern Freisian horses strongly resemble the Dales pony, only standing taller in size, and since Freisian auxiliaries served with the Roman legions, that this breed played a strong role in the development of the Dales pony. The Dales pony carried ore, fuel and lead on its back and became renowned for its strength, endurance and ability to travel over rough country with speed.

In the Middle Ages the breed became popular for pack work in the army as well as for the lead mining industry. The abbeys of the time also had large studs for breeding them. Ponies bred for the lead mines tended to be Black and bay, whilst the abbeys tended to encourage the rarer grey and roan colours in the breed. Today, as back then, most ponies are black or bay with only a few white markings.

The Scottish Galloways (now extinct) played a major role in today's Dales pony, as they were bred extensively to the Dales herds on the hills. They were famous for their depth, clean legs and sure footedness over rugged mountainous country, which obviously contributed to the Dales breed of today.

When the railways took over the job of the pack pony trains which transported lead from the Dales to the North East coast, the Dales pony found use in agriculture and became a favourite breed with Dales farmers. Although they were not as big as the draught horses of lower farms, they could cope with the hill farming conditions and were better footed on steep slopes than the larger breeds. They were also recognised to be a comfortable ride for farmers to get up on and ride into the hills and fell country to check on the sheep, and were strong enough for small farm draught work. A pair could pull a plough or reaper all day long and a single could pull a ton in a cart. Dales ponies were also expected to carry 12st of hay plus a rider through deep snow to feed the livestock. Those from pack work that did not go into agriculture were used for work in the lead and coal mines of the North East.

By the mid 19th century, stylish trotters became the trend and the Norfolk trotter came North to be bred to the Yorkshire breeds to produce the Yorkshire roadsters. These were then bred to the Dales to give a little extra sparkle to the Dales trot. This added style to the breed without spoiling their toughness for farm work and riding. In fact farmers found greater use for the Dales as not only did the ponies work the farm but were flashy enough to arrive in style with the trap on market day and would also perform enough to jump with the best of them and provide a good days hunting.

REGISTRATION OF THE BREED

In 1916 The Dales Pony Improvement Society was formed. During the First World War the army enlisted 200 Dales ponies for pack work to carry equipment over the Alps. With this number lost from the country, the society introduced registration just in time to prevent the Dales ponies from being cross bred out of existence.

Hundreds of registered Dales ponies worked in the Northern towns in the mid 1920's, however the breed suffered in numbers again by another world war. The ponies which served in the army artillery were left on the continent to feed the starving Europeans, and many of the Dales ponies in this country were slaughtered after the motor vehicle and availability of petrol led to the end of a working need for them. Dales ponies disappeared from industry and agriculture and registrations lapsed as their importance for working life ceased. Figures hit an all time low since the registrations were introduced in 1955, only four ponies were registered all of them fillies.

The breed slowly picked up despite there being only a few good stallions left. In 1963 The Dales Pony Society was reorganised and lost ponies were sought and inspected for type, height and colour before being registered.

The grading up register which helped recover those whose papers had been lost or who hadn't been registered was closed in 1971 and numbers had increased to provide a strong basis for full recovery. Until 1969 there was a shortage of Dales stallions and a number of stallions with Fell pony sires which had Dales bloodlines were used to increase numbers without compromising Dales characteristics, which shows how closely related the two breeds are. Recently the Rare Breeds Survival Trust upgraded the Dales from vulnerable to rare breed status showing how the breed has made a remarkable recovery, all thanks to dedicated Dales lovers who were determined to see the breed live on.