DEFRA has just brought in new EU regarding the passporting of horses, requiring that any animal be fully passported and microchipped before it goes to a new home.  Whilst this is easily executed for domestically bred equidae, for semi-feral horses such as those found on Dartmoor, Exmoor, the Fens and the New Forest this is basically impossible to fulfil logistically. 

I have personally witnessed the nightmare legislation in place that almost forced the Dartmoor Hill Pony Drift Sale 2018 to be cancelled - had this happened, all the 250+ ponies presented for sale would have had to be destroyed.  It is impossible to find enough vets to carry out such a massive passporting scheme in advance of sales, let alone to get them to attempt to get near essentially wild ponies to microchip and draw them. 

Furthermore, the sale this October only went ahead due to the enormous efforts of Charlotte Faulkner, lead of the Friends of the Dartmoor Hill Pony, who devised a "Pony Photobooth" which had to be run by a huge team of volunteers.  The cost to the Friends Charity is in excess of £3,000 and the operation is unsustainable in the long term. 

DEFRA clearly hasn't run a decent consultation on this.  Just as we are starting to see a way forward for the semi-wild ponies of areas like Dartmoor, we find this future blighted by legislation.  There have to be exceptions to these regulations for circumstances such as this.  Please, please, sign and share.  This isn't just about pony-petting - it's about the environmental implications for areas like Dartmoor, and the effect upon the farmers who breed these fabulous ponies.  Thank you so much for taking the time to read and share.