Meet Digby
Digby is our Miniature Shetland Pony, he’s a Stallion and originates from the Shetland Isles, Scotland.
Shetland ponies originated in the Shetland Isles, located northeast of mainland Scotland. Small horses have been kept on the Shetland Isles since the Bronze Age. People who lived on the islands probably later crossed the native stock with ponies imported by Norse settlers. Shetland ponies also were probably influenced by the Celtic Pony, brought to the islands by settlers between 2000 and 1000 BCE. The harsh climate and scarce food developed the ponies into extremely hardy animals.
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 traveled 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. The last pony mine in the United States closed in 1971.
Today Shetlands are ridden by children and are shown by both kids and adults, also more recently starting to be used by young jockeys now making appearances at county shows and game fairs.
Breakfast, Hard feed, hay and apples as a treat
Fun Fact
When Digby goes out at night into the field the first thing he does is drop to the floor and roll over in the dust
