Farmers Charlotte Faulkner and Mary Alford serve up pony burgers and sausages at Tavistock Farmers’ Market (Picture: SWNS)

While the saying ‘horses for courses’ may be true, you might find it difficult to imagine burgers made from Dartmoor ponies becoming the latest food trend.

But farmer Charlotte Faulkner says the meat is proving popular with customers at Tavistock Farmers’ Market.

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She says it’s actually helping the under-threat pony population on Dartmoor Hill, which has inhabited the region for thousands of years.

It didn’t stop visitors at the farmers’ market reacting with shock when they came across the unusual delicacy on Saturday.


Ms Faulkner, 55, who set up the Dartmoor Hill Pony Association, said making burgers and sausages from the ponies will help their future in the long-run.

Dartmoor ponies have roamed the moorland for thousands of years (Picture: SWNS)

Turning unwanted ponies into meat is ‘vital for Dartmoor ponies’ future’ (Picture: SWNS)

She said hundreds of ‘excess’ ponies are being culled each year to keep a constant number on the moor.



And the meat is being sent abroad for human consumption or fed to other animals.

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As well as now being available at the twice monthly market, it can also be bought online or at three local pubs.

Charlotte said her idea was to create a meat market for the older ponies to stop foals being shot at birth.

She insisted she was only returning to old practices used in days gone by, when excess ponies would be sold for meat locally.

Dartmoor pony expert Charlotte Faulkner at her farm in Cordon near Newton Abbot (Picture: SWNS)

She added: ‘People travel to us to buy pony meat and we even have return customers.

‘People seem to be surprised to see pony meat but they do understand what we are doing.

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‘The pony meat is high in protein and low in fat – everything we look for in food.

‘It is also important to add that we will never breed ponies for meat.’

The pony meat stall is run by Dartmoor Conservation Meat, a co-operative of various organisations.

Charlotte Faulkner says her pony burgers are proving popular with customers (Picture: SWNS)

Pony burgers are high in protein and low-fat (Picture: SWNS)

It is one part of a pony herd management plan which includes selling ponies to be trained and domesticated to become riding or driving ponies.

Ms Faulkner says up to 750 foals are born each year and 300 foals will be homed, with difficulty, to become grazing, riding, driving or companion ponies.

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She said: ’50 foals go back onto the moor with the herds which leaves an excess of 400 foals which are shot. This is not acceptable.’

Ms Faulkner says by creating a small meat market for the animals not wanted for leisure, it raises the price of all ponies.

Which she says will let farmers fetch more for those sold as riding horses.

She added: ‘A farmer, knowing that there is a meat trade as a fall-back, is more confident keeping that pony until that age so the chance of a foal growing and being trained for life is improved.’

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