Perhaps someone with an interest in horses and ponies and shetland ponies could answer the question: what use are the latter ?

There are many riding stables in this area and when I drive past the horses are doing a variety of horsey things: eating, galloping about, peeing or sh*tting or rolling, being saddled up or heading off for a promenade.

OTOH, the shetland ponies INVARIABLY - and I mean that - are standing with their heads in the manger stuffing themselves. Wet or dry, hot or cold, wind snow or fog, the same little crowd of tubby shetland ponies are standing around the feeder gorging their faces.

Is there any use to them at all ? If so, what ??

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 mid-19th century, thousands of Shetland ponies travelled 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.
Today, Shetlands are ridden by children and are shown by both children and adults at horse shows in harness driving classes as well as for pleasure driving outside of the show ring. Shetlands are ridden by small children at horse shows, in riding schools and for pleasure. They are seen working in commercial settings such as fairs or carnivals to provide short rides for visitors. They are also seen at petting zoos and sometimes are used for therapeutic horseback riding purposes. In the United Kingdom, Shetlands are also featured in the Shetland Pony Grand National, galloping around a racecourse with young jockeys.
From:- Shetland pony - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shetland_pony#History)

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:rolleyes:

I always enjoy watching the Shetlands hurtling round pulling
the small traps with the kids clinging on to them.
Horse of the Year Show wouldn't be the same without them.
(The Shetlands, not the kids.)
They're like the Jack Russells of the equine world. Real characters.

Thnks, One Green., now that is what I call a real use for a Shetland Pony !

Another use is as a companion for a lonely horse. They are easier to manage than the other alternative, a donkey, and some even had to have their companion travel with them to race meetings etc..

Donkeys shouldn't be kept with horses.
They generally carry liver flukes that can be passed on to the horse.
Someone told me that years ago.
Dunno how true it is. I've never owned a donkey.

Companion? I can just see that.


At the starting line. "Well, come on then! I'm not running without you."



What use? About the same as a Tribble.

More use than the Engerland foopball team


(I know it's spelled wrong, but it wasn't football last night)

Thanks Lon, Hee Aww, Hee Aww, Hee Awt to have played a
different formation.

Back when certain films were only in black and white, and came in a plain brown wrapper, I saw in action an interesting use for a Shetland Pony that I had not previously imagined. Granted, the two wenches involved tried their utmost which resulted in the Pony mostly standing there and looking bored or confused. I suspect it may have had been drugged to ensure that its being so handled didn't result in something dangerous happening on the set ...

A couple of 2x4's and some straps and they make great portable sawhorses.

Weren't they introduced for young girls and Mr Thelwell?

http://thebloghorn.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/thelwell.jpg

Vicious little sods by all accounts.

Lon More More use than the Engerland foopball team

Could be worse mate... you could have had the Froggie imposters... Engerlund were heroic in comparison :ooh:

Back on subjet, while I'm partial to a bit of "steak hachée de cheval" I couldn't see myself dropping that low...

I was in Amsterdam a few years ago, when a procession of horse-drawn carriages came past - something like fifty of them
The biggest was a stage coach hauled by eight Shetlands - trotting away at quite a lick and easily keeping pace with the other carriages. The little things are actually quite powerful for their size - remember they were commonly used in coal mines
On a more domestic note, you often see them used as "first rides" for pre-school kiddies, but when the kids progress to a bigger horse they've becomes pets - and the parents can't sell them on for fear of childish tantrums

Shetland Ponies are cute.

That is enough!

heli-cal - Agreed! :ok: :ok: :ok:

Donkeys shouldn't be kept with horses.
They generally carry liver flukes that can be passed on to the horse.
Someone told me that years ago.
Dunno how true it is. I've never owned a donkey.


Not true.....

I have two donkeys and a mule, all working animals, and they get the same vaccinations and wormings as horses. And the farrier, etc etc. Still only cost the equivalent of two cats per equine over the year......(five of them)

At the risk of pointing out the bleedin' obvious, horses can't survive on the Shetlands. Shetlands and other miniature ponies are great for English uplands also, e.g. Yorkshire Dales.
It is very hard for them to forage in winter in these places, hence the reason they'll eat whenever they can.
And they are great for learning to ride when small.

And they are great for learning to ride when small.

You mean they eventually get bigger ?

when one is small.

I just hate sounding like Prince Charles, even if the grammar is better!

not sure about shetland ponies but aparently young kittens are quite good for wiping your bottom on, errr someone said you have to mind the claws?

gs

A bear and a rabbit are both taking a crap in the woods and the bear asks the rabbit "Tell me Mr. Rabbit. Does the crap stick to your fur when you take a dump?"

"Why no Mr. Bear" says the rabbit." "It does not."

So the bear wiped his ass with the rabbit.

Shetland Ponies are cute
No they bloody well aren't, the Nac Mac ponies are probably the most dangerous creature you'll ever come across!
It's not when you can see them with that smug look on their faces it's when you can't see them.....................:uhoh:

"young kittens are quite good"

Small white dogs like Tibetan terriers are better as they actually LIKE licking themselves clean afterwards. And of course they're easier to train than cats...

I once watched a Shetland pony 'terrorising' a full-size horse by persistent chasing and kicking when they were both put in the same paddock - and I've been 'nipped' (more than once) by another Shetland.

Weren't they introduced for young girls and Mr Thelwell? Vicious little sods by all accounts.

As the father of two I can only wholeheartedly agree!

http://images.fanpop.com/images/image_uploads/St--Trinian-s-st-trinians-530831_410_308.jpg

They're actually quite intelligent. I was once driving along a narrow (paved) road in the Shetlands not far from Fitful Head and came up behind one walking along in the same direction. He looked round at my car, pulled off to the side and stopped until I went past, then moved back onto the road and continued on his way.
Having said that, I have to agree they will give you a nip if you either ignore them or fail to give them some sort of titbit to eat.

11fan

Actually the joke goes ....

"Why yes, Mr Bear, it does"

Because whats the point in wiping with something that the stuff don't stick to??? Like trying to use that old, hard, shiny loo paper so loved by the armed forces!

tu chan go: Because the bear has some empathy? Anyway, you've just ruined my all time favourite joke of all time.

Back to the original question. The answer, as already pointed out by Vulcanised, is one word: Thelwell.

As the father of two I can only wholeheartedly agree!Crikey, that's a surprise! If I may ask a rather delicate question, I wonder if their mother was one of my old flames? Here's my favourite picture of her, taken when we were together. Oh, happy times!


http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff141/picshooter/pony.jpg

Actually, it's not just "what use are shetland ponies" but "what use are horses?"

Round here over the last 10 years I have watched various farmers give up & retire, selling off the buildings for "barn conversion" and individual fields to the highest bidders, which bidders are generally townies who will outbid any sensible farmer.

Then in each field we see (a) the area inside the field by the gate paved over (b) ugly 20 or 40-foot see containers as temporary housing for (c) between 1-3 horses/ponies and eventually (d) the sea containers replaced with a more suitable horse-stall type structure, sometimes 2 storeys with pitched roof etc that could almost be a house (well what a surprise)

Meanwhile we import way too much food instead of making sure that the countryside meets it's primamry function - growing food, grazing for appropriate food animals.

Not only that all the footpaths, cycle ways and narrow country roads are inches deep in horse-apples and ....... aaargh

Put 'em on yer rhubarb I say!!!

Norm, the only problem with that is they trample it underhoof!

primamry functionBit of Freudian slip for the breast-feeders!

Not only that all the footpaths, cycle ways and narrow country roads are inches deep in horse-apples and ....... aaargh

Whereas aeroplanes (shhh - this is JB) are noisy & unenvironmentally friendly as hobbies . . To each, their own.

Fernyt - grew up riding the typical Thelwell character (& have the bite scars to prove it), continue horse riding, & owning our own (noisy etc, etc) planes ;)

This lot has now made me start to miss my horses.
A trip down to Cornwall may well be on the cards before too long.

And why not, what use for OFSO (being retired and all that nowadays)...?! :rolleyes:

PS. Goodbye "lonesome George". Might have seen you when travelling through that part of the globe in the late '80s?! Sorry you never managed to produce any offspring, despite all our best efforts and a whole sub-species of tortoises died-out and became extinct with your own demise.

Unlike our own human species, when some continue to pose the completely irrevelent question of "what use are xxx (anymore)?". Inviting replies which I shall not indulge in, contrary to my nature at this time. :yuk:

Another use is as a companion for a lonely horse. They are easier to manage than the other alternative, a donkey, and some even had to have their companion travel with them to race meetings etc.. There was quite a successful racehorse that had a goat as a companion. He went everywhere with him. It was quite amusing to see the two trotting up the ramp onto one of our 727s on their way to England for some racemeeting.

Flew on a horse charter once. The smell is quite impressive. But got a very nice tip from one of the grooms.:ok:

Siseman

Are you referring to the girls or the ponies?

Shetland or Sh!tland? My only experience with the latter was a little buggar named Cocoa. After being hoisted aboard, Cocoa took off for the trees so he could bang my legs into the trunks until I either fell or jumped off. Cocoa then lowered his head in victorious glee and started filling his belly with grass.
I am sitting in the grass rubbing my bruised and bleeding legs.

Cocoa's owner then comes and gets us and we head back to the yard.
"A real cowgirl gets right back on. Show Cocoa you're the boss!" says he and I get hoisted back on again. Cocoa then -- surprise, surprise -- heads for the tree trunks, but I'm ready for it this time. So, I try to jump off, my foot gets caught in the bloody stirrup, and I am dragged to the trees and end up with a big goose egg on my head and a black eye. :ouch:

Whoever came up with the term "I ride for pleasure"????

I've never really got on with horses, and I am not convinced they are totally vegetarian as one tried to eat part of my leg once. It's a long story. :suspect:

Crikey, that's a surprise! If I may ask a rather delicate question, I wonder if their mother was one of my old flames?http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/archived_content/people/reagle/dog.jpg
Or a horse, it would seem. :suspect::}
Flew on a horse charter once. The smell is quite impressive. But got a very nice tip from one of the grooms.http://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/src:www.pprune.org/get/images/smilies/thumbs.gifThere's nothing like a goat charter for impressive smells. Fortunately I've never had to fly in one, because boarding a 747F stuffed full of the little buggers is quite bad enough. :yuk:

Crikey, that's a surprise! If I may ask a rather delicate question

Are you referring to the girls or the ponies?

FFS. Has everyone had a sense of humour bypass pill?

Weren't they introduced for young girls and Mr Thelwell? Vicious little sods by all accounts.

Perhaps I ought to have included Mr Thelwell's picture as well just to make it really clear but that wouldn't have fitted in with my claim to be a father.

Oh, all right then.... Norman Thelwell at his desk and on his horse!

http://www.thelwell.org.uk/images/Biog2.jpghttp://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQvliEktX8Pgx-Km4ZYnQyNzEHbMVlaXbP2ybOnPNTF_gORxUjJ



http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ3FoFfhb1-ZBqfZfm1SSoOWq4S5p6QIoytRbSBYkGO4UPJ9Oor

I was suggesting that it wasn't quite clear if the 'vicious little sods' referred to were the young girls or the ponies......

Having seen some of Mrs. Radeng's Girl Guides, I would argue that there can be doubt.....

But not a sense of humour failure - more a comprehension problem!

When I was on family holidays in Shetland half a century ago, we used to visit old rellies on the family croft, where I'd play in the garden.

They had some lovely Shetland Peonies.

:O

Shetland ponies? They knit them into Shetland "jumpers", don't they?

'vicious little sods'

Our godchild is a beautiful young lady of 10 years, angelically fair of face and form, charming, polite, very good at schoolwork, the perfect daughter.

She is also a TaiKwonDo gold medalist who when asked why she hits competitors so hard explains that she likes to hear them cry out before they fall down. She makes the spectators wince, never mind her opponents.

I was suggesting that it wasn't quite clear if the 'vicious little sods' referred to were the young girls or the ponies......

Aha! Now you're getting why I made the post. That's what happened with the original poster's efforts :}

As the original poster of "vicious little sods", which has provoked such discussion as to whether I was referring to young girls or ponies, I can advise you that the answer is Yes.

There is another, important use for Shetland Ponies - as the subject of a thread on PPRuNe thus keeping you out of michief ro the few minutes it takes to read it and, if you so wish, post a reply. ;)

0oG4efp7XeE

A friend tells me that his almost 11 year old daughter has said that after they move house next month, she wants him to get her a horse. As he lives in France, I told him that it's much cheaper to go to the butcher's.....

A friend tells me that his almost 11 year old daughter has said that after they move house next month, she wants him to get her a horse.
Same happened when my daughter was that age. Although we lived 'in the country' our garden was small and the cost of the horse is but a small part of the resulting 'overheads'.
Daughter earned a substantial sum as an extra in filming, and repeated her request, stating that she could afford said horse.
I agreed to her spending the money on riding lessons on a farm where she was expected to 'muck-in' and contribute manually to looking after the horses - and she thoroughly enjoyed (and appreciated) the responsibility of 'owning' a horse.
When she left school she took a degree in equine management (involving practical and theoretical subjects) and afterwards started work as a vet-nurse in a university large-animal teaching hospital. This was as far as her qualifications would take her, and in an attempt to progress she became a 'drug dealer' - visiting veterinary practices and trying to sell them pharmaceuticals (something that she hated).
Next she worked with troubled youngsters providing animal therapy to encourage emotional sympathy (most of the youngsters were from families where adults were either drug dealers or were in prison and empathy was lacking). Again this was as far as her qualifications would take her, and, although she was successful (and enjoyed the work) she was replaced by a qualified teacher (with no experience of animal therapy).

Now she works as a nursery nurse (with human children), but is married into a family that breed and show Clydesdale horses, so she has ultimately achieved her ambition to 'own' horses . . .

The tall and the short - Clydesdale and Shetland:

http://www.sciencephoto.com/image/178382/530wm/E7640520-Clydesdale_and_Miniature_horses-SPL.jpg

The little guy's saying "She's kinda cute. Somebody get me a stepladder".

Looks more like a fallabella than a Shetland to me (the small one that is) but I'm not an expert.

"fallabella"

Is that a posh kind of kebab?

Chevron,

I'd agree that's not a Shetland. They don't have such fancy markings, usually. More in keeping with the terrain - mud/peat brown or mud/peat grey or mud/peat black or mud/peat whatever....

Oops! I was simply looking for a small one to go with the Clydesdale and found that photo. Apologies to all, it is a miniature horse.

Apologies to all, it is a miniature horse. Now they're cute. I'd love to have one but the unit manager would probably object. :}
Seriously, they're such pretty little things, though presumably even less use than Shetlands.
http://founditsharedit.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/25687458_full.jpg?w=500&h=333