I want one

I was very taken with the Eriskay ponies on the Island.  I thought they would be very timid and wary of humans, so at first I stayed quite a distance away from them and kept very quiet.  I had my long lens on my camera in order to get close enough shots. 

But within a few minutes I was surrounded by inquisitive and nosey ponies !  They all wanted to know what was going on, and came over to have a look.  Even the little foals and yearlings were coming right up to me and nudging me.  It actually became quite hard to take photos of them as they kept shoving their noses into the camera lens.

  Nosey Eriskay pony

After I had said hello to them all and they knew I was a friend they gradually wandered off to graze, and occasionally popped over to say hello.

 My new friend - I want to take him home !

The Eriskay pony society breed standard says of their temperament:

"Eriskay Ponies should be placid and amenable with no signs of viciousness or aggression".

Breed standard 

This is certainly how this little herd were.  And it's why they made excellent all round, useful ponies back in the old days, when they did a bit of everything, and had to be relied on to be safe and sound for the children to ride.

Quote from the Eriskay pony society: 

"Today, Eriskay Ponies can be seen competing in all spheres of equestrianism. Members of the Eriskay Pony Society regularly take part in activities such as hunting, dressage, show jumping, show hunter, cross country, pony club eventing, team games, western riding and driving. Although they stand between 12.0 and 13.2hh they are strong for their size, have terrific stamina and can carry a light adult with ease. They also make excellent driving ponies, Lesley Cox from Cheshire has had tremendous success with her tandem driving ponies, competing at FEI level and winning regularly.

Other Eriskays make excellent family ponies, with their human friendly characteristics coming to the fore playing football in the garden with the kids, or working with special needs children as RDA ponies."

Eriskay pony society 

From what I saw of these lovely ponies, I would definitely recommend them as a child's or family pony ( or even a small adult like me ) :-)  

 Eriskay pony in the reeds

 Eriskay ponies in the reeds

Black and white

The ponies....not the photos !

A very interesting fact about the Eriskay ponies is that they are born black, but hardly any of them stay black - they nearly all go white or grey and occasionally bay.

Black Eriskay pony yearling

In the small herd that I saw on Eriskay all the adults were white or grey and the 3 young ones were black or very dark grey.

Black Eriskay pony yearling

This mare is so white she is really glowing in the sun, but her baby is really dark black. 

Mum and baby

These photos were taken in March and you can see how lovely and thick their coats are - their coats are really dense and waterproof and they are able to live out on the hills all winter in the harshest of the Scottish weather - which I can tell you is sometimes really bad, especially on the West coast !  It can get very cold, wet and windy, and very often snows.  They have quite generous tails and manes to keep out the weather.

Even though they are quite small ( 12hh - 13.2hh ) they are very strong and can easily carry a small adult ( which is good because I would like to get one some when ! )

Just on a bit of a side note -

I find it very interesting to see that even without much interference from humans these feral horses do really well - some people may look at them and think "poor ponies out on the hills with no lovely lush grass, no buckets of feed, no cosy stable or rugs and no shoes on for the rocky ground" but I look at them and see very well adjusted and happy ponies - none of them are too fat, none of them are too thin and their hooves are in excellent condition.  They don't seem to suffer from so many of the common ailments of our pampered and fussed over horses and ponies.  This sort of terrain and rough pasture suits them much more than our conditioned ideas of what is good for them.  Maybe we should more often consider what is natural to the horse and try our best to imitate this in the way we keep our equine friends at home.

Rocky rough terrain

Thanks for reading, and hope you will read the next post.