It has become apparent to me that people rarely have just one Shetland pony. I call this The Shetland Pony Effect.
My first encounter with the breed was when my sister decided she wanted a black Standard Shetland pony as a companion for her racehorse. After scouring the For Sale adverts, we found a three-year-old gelding for sale and, long story short, Melland Jackson Jive came home with us!
A herd of Shetlands from the Melland Stud
The following year we decided to show him, and the results were amazing: Best Gelding at Lincolnshire County and the winner of the gelding class at Great Yorkshire. Since I’m shorter than my sister and more into showing, I handled him in the ring and had so much fun. I was hooked!
I resisted getting my own Shetland pony for several years until the Melland Stud offered me Melland Queen of Scots, aka Diva, who arrived as mentioned in my first blog.
Since then I have become a little obsessed with all things Shetland. I have been watching any TV show with the Shetland Isles in them. I have discovered the detective show, Shetland, based on the books by Ann Cleeves, and I’m busily catching up by watching the box sets.
But perhaps the greatest sign that I am suffering from The Shetland Pony Effect is that in July I will be heading up to spend a week on the Shetland Isles to view some of the studs and to watch the Shetland Pony Studbook Society annual breed show, which is back on Shetland for the first time in years.
We’re hoping to see some wildlife—puffins and otters in particular—but the real draw for me is to see Shetland ponies in their natural environment.
There are some fantastic horse associations to be found in the UK, all with their own unique cause, protecting and promoting the interests of horses and their owners. As someone who’s interested in horses, having an awareness of these associations is absolutely crucial, as you don’t know when you might need to lean on their support and expertise.
The weather recently has been providing perfect conditions for an increased risk of laminitis to horses and ponies, with cold frosty nights and sunny days increasing the sugars in the grass. The next week or so sees warmer overnight temperatures and some rain, so the grass will be growing rapidly. Laminitis is such a horrifically painful condition and leads to the death of many horses and ponies each year.
What do you need to know about taking care of a pregnant mare? How should you stable her, feed her, and exercise her? And how can horse insurance help you keep her healthy throughout that long gestation period? Read on for our guide.
We’ve finally had some of the wet stuff from the sky hurray! Hoping the grass will now shoot up as I was reverting to using a sprinkler on the grass seed (although as sad as I am I did find it fun especially when trying to soak my partner if he got close to it)!