In autumn when crops have been carried the ponies come down from the hills to their own townships, where they feed on the patches of fresh grass which have been preserved round the cultivated areas. The nights being now cold, they remain in the low-lying lands sheltering under the lee of the yard walls; and “when winter has more fully set in the pony draws nearer his owner’s door, and in most cases is rewarded with his morning sheaf on which, with seaweed and what he continues to pick off the green sward, the hardy animal manages to eke out a living until the time rolls round again that he is turned on the hill pasture, never being under a roof in his life.”
At one period the ponies were apparently regarded almost as public property; for, among the “Acts and Statutes of the Lawting Sheriff and Justice Courts of Orkney and Shetland,” was one passed in the year 1612 and frequently renewed, which forbade the “ryding ane uther manis hors without licence and leave of the awner,” under penalty of fine; and also provided that “quhasoever sall be tryet or fund to stow or cut ane uther man’s hors taill sall be pwinischit as a theif at all rigour in exempill of utheris to commit the lyke.”
The number of ponies on the islands has decreased in recent years by reason of the steadily growing demand from without. The latest available Government returns are those of 1891, and for the sake of comparison the returns of 1881 are given below:—
| 1881 | 1891 | |
| Horses (including ponies) as returned by occupiers of landused solely for agriculture | 921 | 787 |
| Unbroken horses and mares kept solely for breeding | 4,323 | 4,016 |
| ——— | ——— | |
| 5,244 | 4,803 | |
| ——— | ——— | |
The ponies are little used for farm work in the Shetlands; they carry loads of peat from the hills to the crofts, and apart from this are used only for riding; they are beyond question the most wonderful weight-carriers in the world, a 9-hand pony being able to carry with the greatest ease a full-grown man over bad ground and for long distances.
They owe their value to the combination of minuteness and strength, which renders them peculiarly suitable for draught work in the coal mines. Many ponies will travel thirty miles a day, to and fro in the seams, drawing a load, tilt and coals included, of from 12 to 14 cwt. The Sheltie’s lot underground is admittedly a hard one, but his tractable disposition usually ensures for him kindly treatment at the hands of the boy who has him in charge.
These ponies, says Mr. Brydon, were first used in the coal pits of the North of England about the year 1850. Horse ponies from 3 to 5 years old could then be purchased for £4 10s. each delivered at the collieries. Since that time prices have risen enormously, though for the smallest animals they fluctuate from time to time in sympathy with the price of coal. As the cause of the influence of the coal market upon the price of Shetland ponies is perhaps not quite obvious, it must be explained that the chief value of these little animals is their ability to work in the low galleries of thin-seamed pits; when the price of coal sinks to a certain point these thin seams cannot be profitably worked, the pits are “laid in,” or temporarily closed, and the ponies withdrawn. In 1891 the average yearling was worth £15 and a two-year-old £18, while full-grown ponies were scarcely procurable. In 1898 a four-year-old could be bought at from £15 to £21, owing to the depression in the price of coals and the suspension of work in thin-seamed pits.
It will be understood that only small animals of the commoner sort suitable for pit work are affected by the coal market. Horse ponies of the right stamp with good pedigree and suitable for the stud still command from £30 to £50, and in some cases even more. Mare ponies of good pedigree also command high prices; at the last Londonderry sale, the mares, Mr. R. Brydon informs me, sold at an average of £19 per head; but the average obtained for second-class mares would little exceed six guineas per head.
The docility and good temper of the Shetland pony make him, above all, the best and most trustworthy mount for a child. Captain H. Hayes has remarked that “a comparatively high degree of mental (i.e., reasoning) power is not desirable in a horse, because it is apt to make him impatient of control by man.” The Shetland pony is the rule-proving exception; for he combines with the highest order of equine intelligence a disposition curiously free from vice or trickiness. Mr. Brydon has never known a Sheltie withdrawn from a pit as wicked or unmanageable; withdrawal for such reasons being very frequent with ponies of other breeds.
