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The Dartmoor pony is a rare breed. With only a handful of these delightful ponies left in the entire world, it can be a very satisfying experience to get involved in the movement to preserve the breed.

Membership Fees:

• Full member: $25/year
• Junior member (under 18): $5/year
• Life member: $200

DPRA Forms to view and download.

Membership Application

Pony Registration Form

Transfer of Ownership Form

Stallion Service Report Form

DNA Sampling Form

Who are we, anyway?

(May 2007 by Susan Deutermann)

The Dartmoor Pony Registry of America is a small, private organization which primarily maintains the official studbook for Dartmoor ponies in America.  It has been in existence since 1956.  At one point we were named the Dartmoor Pony Society of America, but, as we examined our real mission for these ponies, the board decided that the word Registry was more apropos. 

Our registry keeps data on the Dartmoors registered with the DPRA, maintains a website, publishes an informational pamphlet, exhibits information at Expos, and advertises in various equine publications. The website supports a sales list (free for current members,) makes various forms available for downloading, and hosts an information bulletin board.

The DPRA is not a regulatory body.  Basically, we do not tell our members what to do with their ponies.  We do maintain a well-defined breed standard, and that is what it is, a standard.  As with any beast of nature, breeding programs produce a wide variety of type and size, which is what makes breeding so interesting.  We require DNA samples to be registered with the University of Kentucky and the DPRA, because that has become the identification standard used now by most registered breeds, although we only require it on the breeding stock, stallions and producing mares. 

We have a board of directors that conducts most of the business via e-mail and phone because the breed is so widely dispersed geographically.  Most of our required business is most easily done that way. We have board members in most of the areas covering the greater population of Dartmoors in the USA. Currently they are:

Hetty Abeles,  VA
Lory Eighme, PA
Laurie McClearen, GA
Linda Yutzy, TX
Ned Frybarger, NC
Susan Deutermann, NC
Tracey Morgan, MD

The Board is assembled by invitation from the current board members.  Since our number is so small (currently 76 members).  We try to make the board membership reflect the geographic areas with individuals who are definitely active with the breed. This has successfully worked for many years. We do not maintain by-laws, per se, as we are not a regulatory group. As a result we have avoided the all too common factional wars that many other breed organizations suffer through. The DPRA is a very pleasant group of folks who are mostly interested in keeping track of our ponies, getting together whenever possible, and spreading the word about the breed. 

We have a treasury which is healthy but by no means wealthy. Ned Frybarger (our Secretary) is always happy to send a report to anyone interested. The funds are used primarily to maintain the website, pay postage, periodically reprint the pamphlet, pay for advertising that lists our website in co-op ads (this benefits all members with ponies on the sales list), and pays a small stipend to those attending expos to help with the booth fees. All expenditures other than purely administrative must be approved by the Board.  

So there you have it: the DPRA. We do try to publish a newsletter once or twice a year, but our membership is really bad about sending Ned new information.  Same goes for information on the website.  So we do dig around and feed what we find.  So the plea for pictures and information still stands!