SHETLAND PONY 



151 



Fair Isle, and Bressay. For example, on Fetlar, Lady Nicholson, 

 a Scotch breeder, has used Arab pony stallions on Shetland 

 mares, producing a pony of considerable refinement about 46 

 to 48 inches high. These are known in the trade as Fetlar or 

 Lady Nicholson ponies. On Bressay, Iceland ponies have been 

 crossed on Shetlands. Visitors to the islands have there seen 

 work horses weighing from 1200 to 1500 pounds, some of which 

 have been bred to Shetland stallions. 



Characteristics of the Shetland pony. The height ranges from 

 36 to 44 inches in choice specimens, but with variations outside 



Fig. 56. A pony mare in winter coat on one of the Shetland Islands. 

 Photograph from John Anderson & Sons, Lerwick, Shetland 



of this. Eli Elliott of Iowa, who has bred and imported many from 

 the islands, says : " I never saw in any country what I believed to 

 be a 'right Shetland ' that was as much as 46 inches high. As 

 a rule they are 40 to 43, and some as small as 36 to 38 inches, 

 and the smaller the better." The smallest pony ever seen by 

 Mr. Elliott was 34 inches high, weighing under 200 pounds. 

 Feeding and care, however, will affect the height and weight. 

 On the prairies of the American corn belt the pony tends to 

 increase in size from generation to generation. In the American 



