WITH pony markets ailing and their plight becoming desperate, a plan to save the Dartmoor pony has been hatched — by eating them. The plight of the Dartmoor pony has become particularly difficult over the last few years, with a huge downturn in demand for the animals. This downturn has led to the decline and closure of pony sales, like the one at Tavistock, which ceased earlier this year. It has meant that farmers make next to nothing on the animals, with looking after them increasingly difficult. Charlotte Faulkner of the Dartmoor Hill Pony Association has spent many years of her life caring for and aiming to preserve the Dartmoor pony. She called the current situation, which is seeing hundreds of colt foals shot each year, a 'mass slaughter'. She has made the difficult decision to cull ponies to sell to restaurants and outlets for meat. Mrs Faulkner said: 'If we don't ensure a future for the ponies on Dartmoor, Dartmoor will change forever. People won't be able to walk across it, it will all get completely overgrown and we won't have Dartmoor as we know and love it. 'I think if we can't turn this around in some way within the next couple of years, we will be looking at no ponies on Dartmoor. 'It's not something any of us want to do [eat ponies] but all the studies show that if the ponies are to survive on Dartmoor, or in the New Forest or on Exmoor, we must have a meat trade. 'I do worry. I would be very concerned if people weren't slightly worried about it as well. We all do love ponies. It's not a decision that's been taken lightly, by a very long chalk.' Upon trying the pony meat for the first time, Mrs Faulker was relieved to find that the meat tasted 'delicious'. 'I suppose I am glad it tastes nice because if it didn't we'd have a real job on our hands. We'd have worked all this way to get this far and not have a product at the end of it.' Peter Farnsworth is a partner in Rendells in Chagford, one of the last auctioneers to continue to have a Dartmoor pony sale. The auctioneers has a pony sale planned for October 9, and while there are around 200 ponies entered into the sale, Mr Farnsworth was not expecting trade to be any better than in recent times. He said he supports the move to cull the animals and sell their meat, though felt many members of the public may need convincing. He said: 'Things can't continue as they have been. If they do, we will see the last of the Dartmoor pony. 'Last year, around 40% of the ponies entered into our sales sold, at around £18 a head. There is very little trade for them at the moment. Historically, the markets are gone. 'They used to be sold as pack horses, and later on for recreational purposes. But with the need for chipping and looking after them, everything has worked against us. The percentages being sold is totally uneconomical. 'I think half the public will not want to eat pony meat, but the other half will understand why it needs to be done and give it a go. 'We are not a country of people that eats horse meat, and they are wild animals, but there is a need for an outlet and a way to make money on them. 'Their numbers have been greatly reduced over the last few years, and unless something is done, that will continue until they are gone.'