Old Photograph Crofter With Pony Shetland Pony Scotland

Old photograph of a Crofter with a Shetland pony on the Shetland Islands, Scotland. Shetland ponies originated in the Shetland Isles, located northeast of mainland Scotland. Small horses have been kept on the Shetland Isles since the Bronze Age. People who lived on the islands probably later crossed the native stock with ponies imported by Norse settlers. Shetland ponies also were probably influenced by the Celtic pony, brought to the islands by settlers between 2000 and 1000 BCE. The harsh climate and scarce food developed the ponies into extremely hardy animals. Shetland ponies were first used for pulling carts, carrying peat, coal and other items, and plowing farm land. Then, as the Industrial Revolution increased the need for coal in the middle off the 19th century, thousands of Shetland ponies traveled to mainland Britain to be pit ponies, working underground hauling coal, often for their entire, often short, lives. Coal mines in the eastern United States also imported some of these animals. The last pony mine in the United States closed in 1971.



All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

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