Dartmoor ponies in danger from drivers.

I visited the Dartmoor National Park visitor centre at Haytor yesterday to top up their supply of Active Dartmoor magazines and was virtually surrounded by Dartmoor pony mares and their very young foals. They are absolutely enchanting, who can resist them! Lots of people were enjoying taking photographs of them in the car park, on the grass outside the centre, and on the edge of the road when a white van came hurtling through, clearly hell bent on getting to his next stop as fast as possible. Not one of these ponies, mares or babies, even batted an eyelid, regardless of the fact that they were literally inches from potential injury or death. Small wonder then that we hear of so many of these iconic and wonderful ponies meeting their end at the hands of reckless and dangerous drivers across Dartmoor. What can be done to educate people? To teach them that just because the way looks clear between the ponies on either side of the road, a split second is all it takes for a mare or foal to step innocently into the path of an oncoming vehicle leaving itself no chance of survival?