The true Dartmoor Pony has been very close to my heart since I was a young girl, so it was with delight that I accepted the honour of being a patron to the Dartmoor Pony Heritage Trust.

The Trust does such important work with supporting farmers who breed the ponies on Dartmoor, as well as their role within conservation, tourism and our cultural heritage.

The grazing of heritage ponies on the Moor helps a great deal with biodiversity and of course it is a great joy to our tourists to see Dartmoor Ponies in their natural wild habitat.

The ponies when working, have a wonderful empathy with the young people who are taking part in the Equine Assisted Learning programme and ponies and children get a huge amount of love and understanding from each other.  This programme has been running since 2005 when the charity opened its doors for the first time and is a firm favourite with everyone.