Malcolm Snelgrove Photographer

Malcolm Snelgrove Photographer Equine & Conservation Photographer | Dartmoor Workshops | Observation, not Orchestration | Stroke Survivor & Mentor | Dartmoor, UK

Hi, I'm Malcolm, an internationally published horse & conservation photographer based in Dartmoor, Devon, England. I love everything about horses. I’m just as fascinated by wildlife and conservation. Together they’re a lifetime’s affair. My love of the outdoors is a lifetime affair. Observing and capturing images of horses within extraordinary landscapes is a conservation-minded passion that’s roo

ted in a deep affection and respect for the environment. When I’m capturing images of horses, high on the moors or deep in the valleys, I’m at peace, connected with the landscape, in tune with the rhythms of nature. Dartmoors unique place has inspired my contemporary documentary style of fine art photography. I like to think all this passion shines through my images. Observing and taking images of horses within these extraordinary landscapes is a conservation-minded passion, rooted in a deep affection and respect for the environment. I work hard to create clear, dramatic images that reflect the beauty of Dartmoor. I’m proud to be Chairman of the Dartmoor Pony Heritage Trust, working with a lovely team of people to promote the fantastic work they do to secure the future of the native Dartmoor pony. They do such a fantastic job of inspiring and connecting people with Dartmoor’s wildlife, landscape and heritage. I work with The English National Park Experience Collection too, telling the stories of our landscapes and their people. I run photography workshops on Dartmoor. It’s such a privilege to help people discover the hidden gems of Dartmoor along with the fundamentals of great photography in breathtaking places. I’m thrilled my horse and conservation photographs find their way around the world. The more people know about it, the more will love Dartmoor and the better it’ll be protected.

You have to love Dartmoor's changeable weather…One minute sunshine, the next a moody sky rolling across the tors and per...
07/09/2026

You have to love Dartmoor's changeable weather…

One minute sunshine, the next a moody sky rolling across the tors and personally, I wouldn't have it any other way. 😊

This lively bunch of Dartmoor boys were particularly interested in the rest of the herd behind me, which gave me a lovely few moments with all four looking rather alert amongst the bracken and gorse.

And what a backdrop. It was especially nice to see the Belted Galloways dotted across the distant hillside, grazing amongst those wonderful old stone walls and tors.

For me, scenes like this are what Dartmoor is all about native ponies and cattle grazing across a working landscape, huge skies, ancient granite and weather that can completely change the character of the moor within minutes.

Lovely place to spend a morning … 😊

A fabulous day out on Dartmoor with Dartmoor Riding Holidays…Bringing a taste of Western riding to Dartmoor for well ove...
05/09/2026

A fabulous day out on Dartmoor with Dartmoor Riding Holidays…

Bringing a taste of Western riding to Dartmoor for well over a decade, it was great to spend the day out with the team, their riders and wonderful horses, travelling across some of the open country that makes Dartmoor such a special place to explore from horseback.

There’s something rather fitting about Western riding here too. Long before quad bikes, horses were an integral part of working and tending livestock across the moor, and Dartmoor Riding Holidays continue that connection today with their Western riding experiences and cattle drives.

A brilliant group, fabulous horses and some wonderful Dartmoor scenery, I’m looking forward to working my way through the images from the day. 😊

05/09/2026

Lunch break with Dartmoor Riding Holidays 🥰🥰

Beneath a Dartmoor Sky.Huge clouds building over Haytor & Lowman Rocks, broken by fleeting patches of blue and sunlight ...
03/09/2026

Beneath a Dartmoor Sky.

Huge clouds building over Haytor & Lowman Rocks, broken by fleeting patches of blue and sunlight moving across the moor. Below the tors, the greys had gathered together to greet two other local ponies that wandered across to greet them, a quiet exchange happening just as the light found the herd.

It is these constantly changing combinations of landscape, weather, light and the ponies within it that I love to photograph. A clear blue sky can be beautiful, but it is the uncertainty of a Dartmoor sky, approaching rain, passing storms and those brief moments of light between them, that can give a landscape its atmosphere and emotion.

You can never quite know what Dartmoor is going to give you. Sometimes you simply have to be there when it happens.

A glorious golden afternoon on Dartmoor…Interspersed showers, wonderful changing light and the gorse turning the hillsid...
31/08/2026

A glorious golden afternoon on Dartmoor…

Interspersed showers, wonderful changing light and the gorse turning the hillsides gold, just one of those afternoons when Dartmoor looks rather special.

And tucked into this beautiful landscape, a Dartmoor mare and her foal quietly taking it all in. I love seeing them like this, surrounded by the open moor they call home, while shafts of sunlight move across the hills between the showers.

For me, these are the moments that capture Dartmoor at its best, ponies, landscape and that wonderfully unpredictable light all coming together. 😊

This is why I love Dartmoor's ever-changing weather.Those moments when the clouds roll across the moor but allow a brief...
30/08/2026

This is why I love Dartmoor's ever-changing weather.

Those moments when the clouds roll across the moor but allow a brief spell of sunlight to break through can completely transform the landscape.

Add a Dartmoor pony wandering towards you, showing off that wonderful natural gait, with the sunlight catching their coat while the moody sky remains behind, and I'm a very happy photographer. 😊

I often find it's the unsettled days that give me some of my favourite conditions, constantly changing light, huge Dartmoor skies and those fleeting moments when everything seems to come together.

And, of course, while I'm enjoying photographing them, the ponies are simply going about their day, moving and grazing across this remarkable landscape as they have done for generations.

Well, it seems Dartmoor has finally remembered how to do mist, grey skies and rain… and very welcome it is too! 😊So whil...
29/08/2026

Well, it seems Dartmoor has finally remembered how to do mist, grey skies and rain… and very welcome it is too! 😊

So while the weather does its thing, I've been spending a little time processing some images of these fabulous Dartmoor ponies enjoying the breeze amongst the heather.

I love photographing the grey ponies at this time of year. Their coats seem to catch every bit of available light and stand out beautifully against the rich purple of the heather and those huge, ever-changing Dartmoor skies.

And, of course, the heather isn't simply a beautiful backdrop. These native ponies are part of the landscape itself. Through their grazing, browsing, trampling and movement across the moor they help prevent more dominant vegetation from taking over, opening up areas around the heather and creating the varied mosaic of vegetation and pathways that can benefit so much other wildlife.

Beautiful to photograph, certainly but also quietly helping to shape the Dartmoor landscape as they have done for generations. 💜

15/08/2026

Conservation Grazing — One Mouthful at a Time
Sometimes the most important changes on Dartmoor are happening right beneath a pony's muzzle.

Watching the ponies graze, I am always struck by just how selective they are. Sensitive lips search through the vegetation, choosing grasses growing between and around the heather rather than simply grazing everything in front of them.

At Bellever, research by the University of Plymouth and the Dartmoor Pony Heritage Trust has helped show what this apparently simple behaviour can do.

By grazing Molinia (purple moor-grass), the ponies reduce its height and dominance, allowing more light to reach the ground. Their hooves also disturb the dense vegetation and create small areas of bare ground where dormant heather seed — which can remain viable in the soil for decades — has the opportunity to germinate.

In the published study, targeted pony activity resulted in a 9% reduction in Molinia cover and an 18-fold increase in heather seedlings compared with ungrazed control plots.

But perhaps the wider story is the pattern this creates.

Ponies don't graze every square metre equally. Their grazing, trampling and repeated movement create shorter areas, taller vegetation, exposed ground and transitional patches. Over time these differences form a mosaic of habitats rather than a uniform sward — providing different conditions for plants, invertebrates and other wildlife.

It's something that is very easy to walk past without noticing.

So for this little film I simply stayed close to one pony and watched what she was actually doing.

Conservation grazing — one mouthful at a time.

Research: University of Plymouth / Dartmoor Pony Heritage Trust, including Lunt et al. (2021) and subsequent studies at Bellever.

These two may be rather stunning Dartmoor ponies standing amongst the heather, but there is something else in this image...
13/08/2026

These two may be rather stunning Dartmoor ponies standing amongst the heather, but there is something else in this image that I find equally fascinating.

Look at the pathway beneath them.

As the ponies move across the moor they repeatedly follow these little tracks, grazing and trampling the more dominant vegetation, including Molinia grass, and opening up the vegetation beneath. In doing so they help expose areas of heather and create a wonderful mosaic of different heights, pathways and more open ground.

The ponies will follow existing tracks, widen them and, as they move between different grazing areas, create new ones that eventually join together. These pathways don't just benefit the ponies; they create routes and more varied habitat that can be used by other wildlife too.

It's something I've become increasingly aware of through spending so much time observing the herds. We tend to think of conservation grazing simply as what the ponies eat, but it's also about how they move through the landscape.

And at this time of year, when the heather is in bloom, you can quite literally see the mosaic their grazing and movement are helping to create.

Beautiful ponies, certainly — but also rather remarkable little landscape engineers. 💜

09/08/2026

Good Morning 🌅 🥰🥰 One of my Happy Places 💕

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