DARTMOOR’S iconic ponies could soon pass for attendees at one of the illegal raves that occasionally blight the national park.

The Dartmoor Live-stock Preservation Society is trialling a scheme that could see the shaggy-haired equines daubed with bright reflective paint to make them more visible to motorists.

The society’s livestock protection officer Karla McKechnie said that more than 60 animals have been hit by vehicles this year alone, leading to ‘horrific’ injuries.

She explained how the scheme came about: ‘In my job I deal with livestock accidents on the moors caused by traffic and dogs.

‘I saw a picture on a social media site of a reindeer with these reflective strips on and I thought “that’s what we need”.

‘I went to a paint manufacturer Nettex to try and find out whether their paint would stay on the coats of ponies.

‘They gave us two complimentary tins and we painted it on the ponies that we own ourselves. It’s called Pro-Mark paint and it’s already established for use on sheep.

‘If it stays on, we’ll look at getting reflective beads mixed into it and see how it works.

‘The message we want to get across is that Dartmoor is a working landscape, and the animals should be a priority. This year 63 animals have been involved in road traffic accidents.

‘The Dartmoor Live-stock Preservation Society is trialling the scheme. The paint’s been on three weeks this Friday, so we’ll give it another two to three weeks, then try it with the beads.

‘It is very much a trial at this stage, but we’ve got the support of the farmers, and the Dartmoor Commoner’s Council. Anything we can do to help reduce the number of accidents is worth a try.’

The society works for the welfare of livestock on the moor, campaigning to raise awareness and reduce threats to animal safety. Current campaigns include urging dog owners to keep their pets under control to reduce attacks on sheep and a drive to create a DNA database of dogs, so sheep-worriers can be identified.

The society also campaigns on speeding and feeding the ponies, two factors that increase the risk of road accidents involving animals.

It has produced an emergency help card for drivers on Dartmoor, with details of who to contact in the event of a problem, available to download from www.dlps.org.uk.