Livestock checkers

Lucy Wilshaw, NWT Trainee Grazing Officer

There are currently 27 active volunteer livestock checkers who assist us with checking the herds of Dartmoor and Konik ponies across the county. Checking one herd of ponies can take between one and four hours depending on the site and the number of ponies in the herd, most volunteers check a particular herd once a week. Livestock checkers really enjoy seeing the pony herds’ natural behaviour and interaction with the habitats, they also enjoy seeing the flora and fauna and a good walk!

On Monday, we invited Richard Broad from the Rare Breed Survival Trust to Buxton Heath to run a livestock checkers course specifically for checking conservation grazing equines.  This was a good chance for 14 of our volunteers to improve their checking skills and to meet other volunteers from different reserves and share their experiences.

If you would like to find out more about volunteer livestock checking please have a look on our website where you'll find a role description of what is involved.