Thousands of ponies are being rounded up on Dartmoor in preparation for the annual sales of the animals.

The drift is a longstanding tradition and attracts many onlookers.

Each year, the moor is cleared of ponies; some 3,000 in all.

The hardiest, those best able to survive the winter, are returned to the moor to breed. The others will be sent to market.

It's a bit like seeing the Wild West in the west, isn't it?

Dartmoor drift onlooker

A spokesmen for the Dartmoor National Park Authority said: "The overall aim is to ensure a healthy overall population and to develop public awareness of the cultural heritage of the pony.

"This is done through sustainable numbers regulation and husbandry."

The 2002 drift started in the Merrivale area.

Many people came to watch the first of the ponies be rounded up.

One observer said: "To see several hundred ponies being rounded up is a bit like seeing the Wild West in the west, isn't it?"

The weather on Dartmoor this year has been relatively kind, and farmers say the ponies are in fine condition.

But rounding them up is a challenge.

Farmer Katherine Kent said: "It's amazing how so many people pull them all together over a vast area, really. They all seem to know what to do and where to go."

Minimum price

Ponies elsewhere will be drifted over the rest of the week.

The sales begin in the town of Tavistock on Friday.

This year's sales will be unusual in that a minimum price will be set for the ponies, probably about �5.

It is an attempt to deter impulse buyers and the neglect that often follows, plus to try to revive the market for ponies.