The beloved Shetland Pony lives in Northern Scotland’s Shetland Islands and is renowned for its small size. It has a short, but muscular back and legs, and sloping shoulders. Its tail and mare are thick and its small wide head features large eyes, small ears, a broad forehead and large nostrils. Black and dark brown are the most common colors although any color is acceptable. They also have a long shaggy coat designed to protect them from the harsh elements in their native Scotland.

The Shetland Pony is very intelligent, healthy, and fit. It can carry a large amount of weight and was often used as a pit pony in the mines of England or to pull carts that were filed with seaweed or peat.

Despite being naturally independent and a touch stubborn, the Shetland can be very gentle. It's known for being very good with children and is a popular children’s riding horse or harness pony. It makes an excellent driving or riding pony and can compete successfully with horses of a much larger size.

The Shetland Pony has been living in the Shetland Islands, located in the north of Scotland for more than two thousand years. Because of the harsh climate and remote location of the islands, the Shetland Pony has been forced to adapt to survive. This has resulted in a very small and hardy breed. In 1822, there were more than ten thousand Shetland Ponies living in Scotland. Unfortunately, there are currently only a thousand of these unique horses left on the Shetland Islands. That said, the breed exists all over the world and countries all over Europe and the Americas each have large populations with healthy breed registries.

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Shetland Pony - Horses for Sale