Shetland ponies are known for being two things: fancy and gorgeous. Many horse-loving youths dream of owning a Shetland, and they strive for that in adulthood. It doesn’t help that their little tippy-taps are so adorable it hurts.
One Shetland haver was kind enough to share a video of their ponies strutting their stuff:
@teddytheshetland Your daily dose of heart melting ASMR #pitterpatter #horsehoof #trottinghorse #horsesoftiktok #asmrsounds #shetlandpony #dailyfloof #foryoupage #shetlandponytiktok
Teddy the Shetland means everything to me. He’s so gorgeous.
Shetland ponies come from the Shetland Isles of Northern Scotland. The Northern Isles are very cloudy, chilly, and damp: summers are notoriously mild and winters are harsh as anything.
The unforgiving climate of the Northern Isles is what led to the development of the Shetland pony’s trademark dense coat and thick hooves. If you’ll notice, Shetlands are short and stocky, while other horses have bigger, slimmer build because they don’t need to keep warm nearly as much.
Another interesting aspect of a Shetland is the fact that their manes typically grow over their eyes. Though most caretakers choose to shave or cut that down, it’s incredibly useful to the breed as to keeps snow and rain out of their eyes. Though there aren’t wild Shetlands anymore, at one point, that feature must’ve been vital.
As far as actually keeping a shetland goes, they’re mild-mannered and many horse lovers claim that they’re easy to care for, barring their intense coat maintenance. Unfortunately, though, a Shetland pony will certainly cost you: depending on the color and the lineage of the animal, you could be looking at $4,000 and up!
