Eriskay Pony

Found off the coast of Scotland on the Hebrides Islands, the Eriskay Pony breed is the only variety of Hebridean ponies remaining.  The breed is almost extinct, and they originated with Celtic type horses and no imported bloodlines.

Eriskay Ponies and other Western Isles type of horses were used throughout the Hebrides Islands through the middle of the 19th century, handling tasks like cart pulling, hauling peat and seaweed, and bringing children to and from school.  The ponies evolved and learned to survive on limited food supply and coats that grew thicker to adapt to harsh, cold and windy climates.  In the early years, while the men were working at sea, women and children handled the work of raising and caring for horses so only those that would adapt and were willing to be trained would be kept.

In the early 1970's, when machinary really started taking over much of the manual labor and farming tasks, the pure bred Eriskay Ponies dwindled to about 20 horses.  During this time, dedicated individuals joine together to try and save the breed from extinction.  The number of Eriskays have increased to aroudn 300 currently, but are still listed by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust as a critical category "1".

Eriskay Ponies are friendly and make excellent family ponies- even playing football with children, or training to work with special needs children.