Pros and Cons of Shetlands?!

[laurac]

I luv my mini rescue shettie ;D

Pro's
He doesnt eat much
He keeps my big fella entertained
My nieces love him to groom and fuss
He doesnt need rugs or grooming much
Lucky for me he doesnt gorge too much
He respects electric fencing
He is barefoot and does well
It takes 5 mins to scoop his mini poos out of the stable
He keep healthy, just 2 vets visits in 2 years for eye infection/conjuctivitis
He is just gorgeous ;D

Cons
In my case I pay full price DIY livery for him (£25 pwk) so if you have your own land then even better and cheaper
He will escape under post and rail or elctric tape if the electric is not on
Some shetties are prone to laminitis (not my chap though fingers crossed)
IN my case Mild sweetitch, needs bathing quite often in summer & lots of fly repellent

good luck

[anastasia55555]

My farrier charges us less for the little boys trims than larger horses. But did charge more for apollo lol!

[medicinepony]

I love shetlands, we only have mustangs now but I still have to think twice when I see a shetland for sale

the main thing I found with shetlands is that they need a job, they get bored easily as do many ponies and if you don't give them something to do they will invent their own entertainment and you might not like the results

I used mine for poo picking, just dragging a tarp along the field which I filled with poo as we went along

collecting / delivering a bale of hay to various places

they also taught my children to ride and I drove them , they were great fun and cost very little to keep

warning , one is never enough lol

[irishcob]

Thanks guys for all your advice and shared experiences. I guess the first thing I need to do is Shetland-proof my fencing!

It was also interesting that several of you made the point that they are best with a job to do rather than being bored (and finding trouble!).

Medicinepony - how did you attach the pony to the tarp for poo-picking?! I love this idea and it would be brilliantly handy, but can't work out how to do it?

[Spirit of Wales]

I adore shetlands. There are no bad shetlands just bad owners or those that have bad experiences from humans.

My lovely 9hh midi shetland is a sweet heart. He's never tried to escape (standard post, rail & stock fencing), lives alongside a 16.2hh ex-racer TB, 14.3hh Appaloosa x and a 11.2hh Welsh Mountain pony all year round, he is not greedy and keeps a good weight (i've never had a fat pony) even in the summer as he is kept active with is larger playmates and simply because his environment is in keeping with his natural habitat. Same costs has the other horses, with the exception that he eats less hay and that both he and the mountain pony have their feet trimmed less often as they keep them naturally well trimmed on the terrain they are on. He's never rugged and best of all he's happy to grade the sand school. We have a harness attached to a grader that he pulls round the school. Also pulls a small cart round when muck picking and finally, he amuses everyone with his character that comes to ours for a visit.

Shetlands in the right hands are brilliant. They are not paddock ornaments, but active and intelligent large horses in a small body. Treat them with the respect they deserve and they will repay you over and over again...

[emma]

I've got a miniature pony so he's falabella not shetland and I have 2 mini shetlands. I don't see them as any different to a normal sized horse. They are treated the same and don't get away with any more than the others because they are "cute and fluffy!". You have to be careful with laminitis but I don't find mine any more work than the others. It's quite good in this weather as the 2 shets are running out with the sheep and are thriving so theres no mucking out or anything

[Vera]

I'm laughing at some of the replies here as most of the comments are very true!!

I have two and honestly wouldn't be without them. My girls are the best behaved of all my horses. They are very econimical to keep apart from the farrier as mine charges the same regardless of size.
Because of the price of hay this year I have started to feed them half hay and half straw. Feed costs are minimal.

My oldest one is 28 and is not showing any signs of slowing down!

[sharonh]

I love shetlands and would echo all the things Varkie and Spirit of Wales have said. Go for it, it could be the best thing you ever did! I can honestly say I've had more fun with the shetlands I've had than almost any of the others.

[kafee]

I've always been wary of Shetlands, as the ones I've come across have been rather opinionated. So when the grey and white Dartmoor hill yearling colt that I volunteered to have in May, turned out to be 9hh and a very Shetlandesque looking pony, I was determined to treat him like a pony and not a cuddly toy. However, I needn't haven't worried, he is the most delightfully friendly, biddable little character you could ever wish to meet, despite being straight off the moor. He loves being cuddled, and I love cuddling him.



Sorry it's a bit fuzzy, but he was moving!

[june]

Our two are well behaved but as varkie says, they think they are big horses. The mini one we have brings herself to and from the field without a headcollar, just following her big buddies! She's very cute. The other one gets laminitis so isn't allowed any turnout, other than the concrete yard and the arena. That's the downside of Shetlands. They live on air! We used to muzzle them both when they were both allowed out on grass but I don't think it slowed them down very much.

[laurac]

As others have said they are horses in small bodies they just dont know they are small ;D
Guess which one of my 2 boys is about to nip the other ?

[kafee]

Lovely photo of your 2 boys in their summer finery, laurac.

The down side of keeping Shetlands with bigger equines is managing their weight, as they must be VERY good doers. How on earth do you manage to keep Biscuit so slim? Tor seems to be putting on weight now, despite there being nothing to eat in the field, unless, of course, his winter coat is misleading me. I'm not sure how I'm going to manage him next summer, as I won't allow ponies to become overweight, and I don't like to keep one on it's own.

[laurac]

Hi Kafee

I think Biscuit keeps fairly in trim becuase my big chap always wants to play with him and moves him around a lot, he was trotting aorund this morning being chased
And secondly I think I am lucky in as much as that he is not too much of a piggy, he seems to eat as much as he needs and then stands about relaxing
He also gets walked in hand a bit too when friends come over and I longline my fella out Biscuit gets walked along behind
Maybe Tor just has a big coat at the moment? I thought Biscuit looked like he had got big and then he got wet in the snow and his coat flatened and he looked half the size These shetties can grow the biggest coats!
When I first got him i did mussel him as he kept biting my big fella who was always annoying him and he was drawing blood in with bites to my big chaps throat But that didnt last long my big fella worked out how to get the mussel off Biscuit, he used to swing him around with it undo the clip and then chuck the mussel off him (I saw him do it) so i just let them get on with it and they did eventually sort themselves out
The grazing at my new place is much richer so I am going to have to watch both of them next year, but i do have stables now so if they get fat I shall bring them in at night with soaked hay i think or mussel both ;D

[molz]

heyy,
theres two shetties at my yard and they are absolute sweethearts and they never escape! they have plenty of toys and grass and hay so theyre never bored lol!

im thinking of getting one myself, but im unsure because i have a 14.2 fell pony and shes normally "herd leader" and i wouldnt want my little shettie getting hurt. does nayone have any advice on this as i only have one feield so they would have to go together x

[laurac]

Believe you me these shetties are toughies ! Its my mini who beats up my 17 hh warmblood in my pic higher up on page
The shettie has also bitten him and drawn blood, kicked him in the knees (on a regular basis) and is always rearing up at him and makes himself huge, and the little shettie has not been hurt once by my big chap who is 'really in your face' so dont worry that they are fragile they are quite the opposite ;D