A Dartmoor evolved on sparse moor grazing and weather that tests everything living on it, and those origins define his old age. He needs less feed than almost any pony his size, hides condition changes under a dense coat, and endures discomfort with the same silence that served his ancestors. The senior Dartmoor's risks are mostly owner-shaped: too much grass, too little handling, and problems noticed a season late.
Thrift is a feeding instruction
Treat every mouthful as significant. Rich pasture and generous hay, offered out of affection, load a metabolism designed for gorse and coarse grass, and the weight lands as a cresty neck and fat pads that are hard to shift later. Use bare or well-eaten paddocks, soaked hay where your vet advises it, and a balancer-style rationing mindset: minerals covered, calories restrained. Feel for his ribs through the coat every week, because by the time a Dartmoor looks fat in his winter wool, he has been fat for some time.
Movement, little and often
Full retirement to a small pen is the worst prescription for a stiffening native pony. Daily in-hand walks, turnout with a companion who encourages wandering, and gentle work in a carriage or under a light child rider keep his joints oiled and his gut moving. Watch his action on hard ground during those walks; short, pottery steps, reluctance to turn, or resting a forefoot forward are early conversations about his feet and legs that deserve a farrier and vet's attention rather than a longer rest.
Teeth and feet on a fixed rhythm
Small ponies are frequently left longer between professionals than horses, and an old Dartmoor pays for the gap. Worn molars make even soaked hay hard work, so dental checks belong in the diary, with his eating speed and any dropped feed noted between visits. Feet grow slowly but surely into long toes that lever against aging tendons, and in wet winters his heels soften and crack; pick out daily and keep farrier appointments even when the hooves look unchanged to you.
Shelter, coat, and company
Hardiness is not invulnerability. An old Dartmoor still needs a windbreak or field shelter he will actually use, unfrozen water he does not have to break ice to reach, and footing at the gate that does not become a mud slide. His thick coat can conceal rain scald and lice until they are established, so part the hair along his back and neck during weekly checks. Keep him with company; moor ponies are herd animals, and an isolated senior fades in appetite and spirit.
Small records, real consequences
Because he asks for so little, a Dartmoor's dental findings and weight trend are easily trusted to memory until a vet asks a direct question. Rugging is a judgment call rather than a habit for a Dartmoor: his coat is genuine weatherproofing, and over-rugging a thrifty pony removes his need to use energy staying warm while hiding the very condition you should be feeling weekly. Rug the clipped, the genuinely thin, or the pony standing hunched against driving rain, and check under any rug daily, because a sweating, rubbed, or quietly thinning pony under a blanket is a classic senior oversight.
KinsLe Pet Passport keeps those details in one portable packet, ready whenever his care is discussed.