History of the Shetland Pony

The Shetland pony is, the smallest of the Mountain and Moorland breeds, standing a maximum of 10.2hh (107cm) at 4 years of age. The Shetland pony is native to the Shetland Isles, which lie some 100 miles to the north of the British mainland.

The Shetland Pony Stud-Book Society (founded in 1890 - the first of the British native pony breeds societies to be formed) is unique among British native breeds in allowing broken-coloured (piebald and skewbald) coat colouring. The ponies’ profuse manes, tails, and forelocks provide necessary protection from the harsh winters in a landscape almost devoid of sheltering of trees and shrubs.

Shetlands are an ancient breed. Although fossils have been found, bones excavated from settlements date from the 6th to the 1st centuries BC. It is speculated that ponies originally came to Shetland over land bridges which still connected the islands to Europe about 8000 BC.

Historically, the ponies had two principal uses in the islands. The first was ‘flittin’ the peats’ - carrying home the peats (used for fuel) in special baskets called meshies (or maishies) attached, one each side, to a wooden pack saddle. The tack was known, collectively, as a ’bend’. They were also ridden, and the fact that they often carried the crofter (farmer) and his wife to market, underlines the remarkable strength of the breed. They were rarely used as draught animals, because roads were virtually non- existent.

In the mid-nineteenth century, the passing of the Mines Act, which banned the employment of women and children in coal mines, ushered in a long and largely unhappy period in the history of the breed. The ponies’ small size made them ideal for pulling wheeled tubs laden with coal along the low-roofed narrow galleries of the mines. The ponies used were all males, and most were stabled underground. Some were treated well; others were not. Almost unbelievably, the last pit pony retired as comparatively recently as 1994.

Records show that Shetland ponies have been exported from the islands, both for work and for leisure, from as early as the 17th century. Seventy-five ponies went to the United States in 1885, while 4 went to Australia in 1887.

Above all, in modern times, Shetlands are children’s ponies par excellence, provided they are handled firmly. They will ‘have a go’ at virtually any equestrian discipline and The Shetland Pony Performance Scheme, established in its present form in the late 1980s, awards points for participation in a huge number of disciplines and, since 1991, has held its own Performance Show. It is also responsible for the famous Shetland Grand National. Youngsters compete in heats to qualify for the grand final at London’s Olympia Horse Show at Christmas time. Not only has the Shetland Grand National raised the profile of the Shetland pony as a performance animal, it has raised many thousands of pounds for children’s charities and organisations.

Shetlands will ‘have a go’ at anything. They even serve in the armed forces, as proud and much-admired regimental mascots!