Any thoughts on Eriskay's as a breed?

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littleladylou

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I am considering one. 13'1 - I am 7 and a half stone and 5'4. I would want her as a hacker and to show; possibly hunt. Any thoughts welcomed
 
There were two Eriskay's at the yard I used to help out at, one was the perfect pony, gorgeous, would jump anything, do well in shows and was generally a pleasure to be around and the other was a total menace but I think that he was a lot younger and needed a lot of work so he could have come good with a bit of TLC. I think they are lovely ponies :)
 
Nice wee thinks so far as I've known. Their conformation can be a bit "suspect" in my experience, but for hacking (as opposed to seriously competing at some sports) and showing, not a major issue.
 
one used to be at my yard and he was nightmare im sorry to say.. he terrorized the others in the field for ages, everyones horses would be covered in bald patches and wee nicks from where he bit them, eventually settled down though. he was a lazy turd to ride, even when you were flapping like a loon he hardly moved, if you used a stick he would buck. the only way he would move would be if you were riding while being lunged. he was so stubborn, used to stand in the yard and refuse to be led anywhere. never met a pony who gave anyone such a hard time, his owner was quite wary of him! hes now living wild in a field north somewhere haha.
 
weesophz said:
one used to be at my yard and he was nightmare im sorry to say.. he terrorized the others in the field for ages, everyones horses would be covered in bald patches and wee nicks from where he bit them, eventually settled down though. he was a lazy turd to ride, even when you were flapping like a loon he hardly moved, if you used a stick he would buck. the only way he would move would be if you were riding while being lunged. he was so stubborn, used to stand in the yard and refuse to be led anywhere. never met a pony who gave anyone such a hard time, his owner was quite wary of him! hes now living wild in a field north somewhere haha.
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All owner-induced faults in my experience. Such a shame that the pony was never taught manners in hand or under saddle.
 
Emilieu said:
Ha ha i know both pony and owner and was about to jump to his defence with exactly this argument. I think he was a great wee guy really.
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Relieved to hear it. I don't like horses being damned for faults which are not their own!
 
JFTD said:
All owner-induced faults in my experience. Such a shame that the pony was never taught manners in hand or under saddle.
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thats what we used to say aswell, she was too scared to do anything except chase him around with a lunge whip. however the girl that now shares fox used to share the eriskay, she has the patience of a saint and is amazing with fox and even she couldnt get bratty pony to behave. she was bringing him in once and he suddenly went berky, ended up stomping on another girls foot and she ended up in hospital for it.
 
errrrr. Think that would be the one breed id never like to own - and I am a native lover having a new forest pony (which i think you should get instead!)

There were two at my yard, one had to be put down because of severe laminitis - you have to feed them nothing, literally starve them all year round.

And the other one who is 10 this year still acts like a 3 year old, takes off literally like a rhino, stubborn, pulls faces, kicks, wont hack by self, wont really hack at all, no manners, the list goes on....

the most stubborn breed ever!

get a new forest :D

eta - partly owners fault of course, but they even have a profesh ride her and its a disaster

get a new forest :D
 
Some people say they were left behind on an island for a reason....:eek:

(see conformation comment above)

i'm not a fan, sorry.
:)
 
weesophz said:
thats what we used to say aswell, she was too scared to do anything except chase him around with a lunge whip. however the girl that now shares fox used to share the eriskay, she has the patience of a saint and is amazing with fox and even she couldnt get bratty pony to behave. she was bringing him in once and he suddenly went berky, ended up stomping on another girls foot and she ended up in hospital for it.
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Key word there - share. Shares are part time and (often) short term. Can't expect a pony to be reformed by inconsistent handling between owner and sharer over a relatively brief period of time.

Besides treading on people's feet is just a space issue / ignorance, hardly evidence of a serial git.



eta - for balance, I've never known a nice NF personally and have seen 2 shot after laminitis (there are some crackers on here, but in RL all useless. But owned by useless people too!). Doesn't mean they're a duff breed - it means the ones I've known have been owned by idiots who couldn't manage their weight school or be trusted to handle a living animal. I'd get a highland myself, but there's nothing inherently wrong with an eriskay (confo aside, not an issue for hacking!).

Only thing you can really do is go and try the one in question and see if you click! :)
 
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JFTD said:
Key word there - share. Shares are part time and (often) short term. Can't expect a pony to be reformed by inconsistent handling between owner and sharer over a relatively brief period of time.

Besides treading on people's feet is just a space issue / ignorance, hardly evidence of a serial git.
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okay fair enough, she did have him for over a year though, yes i know thats not a very long time but youd think there would be a little progress! and no its not a case of serial git but its not the only thing he ever did.. but yes i agree i would put it down to owners fault also, but there was defo something very stubborn and a naughty streak about the pony
 
weesophz said:
okay fair enough, she did have him for over a year though, yes i know thats not a very long time but youd think there would be a little progress!
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How old was he when she started? how many years of crap handling was she trying to undo? How many days a week did she try and instill manners into the pony and how many days was it back to the original handler?

Stubborn horses are only stubborn until you get them on your side. Then that stubborn-ness tends to express itself as fierce loyalty and is a really desirable quality. I suspect the pony was misunderstood and probably as unhappy with the situation as his owner. I like stubborn ponies, they're the best sort to get along with in my experience.
 
JFTD said:
How old was he when she started? how many years of crap handling was she trying to undo?

Stubborn horses are only stubborn until you get them on your side. Then that stubborn-ness tends to express itself as fierce loyalty and is a really desirable quality. I suspect the pony was misunderstood and probably as unhappy with the situation as his owner. I like stubborn ponies, they're the best sort to get along with in my experience.
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he was about 5 or 6 im sure, but owner had had him since he was a youngster so yeah i suppose sharer had a lot of work to do.. i like stubborn ponies too, my first pony was a connie cross the most stubborn little ****** ive ever had the pleasure to sit on. he was young when i got him but was a hell of alot easier to deal with. he was a star after the 5 years i had him. anyhoo, im sure little eriskay pony is quite happy roaming the hills now :)
 
I kind of loan (long story!) mouse, a 13hh eriskay pony. He is lovely most of the time but can be cheeky and EXTREMELY stubborn at times! If he doesnt want to do something he wont do it! Hes 20 and still acts like a 5year old but is so much fun. He has character, that's for sure!! He is so sweet though and I love him to bits!
 
Lizzie :) shares/loans the Eriskay gelding that I own - Mouse. I have owned him since he was 6 months old and hold my hands up to admit that any of his faults are of my own making. He didn't have the best of starts due to GCSEs, A levels and Uni and has been passed from pillar to post. He's now 20 years old and lives with me permanently with Jazzy and is a proper member of the family, finally.

They are incredibly stubborn - you need to ASK the, to do something, not make them, and you need to be one step ahead of them. However, he is the pony that has taught me to ride and he is now teaching Lizzie to ride. He is also being used (on lead rein) to do pony rides with some children in foster care. He is an excellent hunting pony and is a lovely hack. I've done dressage, show jumping, cross country and showing with him and he's pretty versatile.

Mouse has never had laminitis despite being on the overweight side but his weight is being monitored more carefully now. He's very cheap to keep as he'll keep a set of shoes for about 10 weeks or so without problems.

PM me if you want any more information.
 
They were crofters ponies, used for many tasks. A guy on south uist I used to know, his children rode them to school and back every day. They generally foal mid winter, which I thought was strange, but hey!! each to their own. I think its different nowadays. Winter they come into the village and just roam round, summer out either at crofts or on the hills. They get very poor feed . Conformation is poor, but they are tough, a good one is very rare. There are two societies, the 'mother society' on eriskay where the priest heads it and the mainland society headed by ya ya's and do gooders, both think they are right. Its a political can of worms .
 
Oh yes, as eriskayowner said, mouse has certainly taught me how to ride properly!! Going from riding school to mouse was a huge step but he's taught me lots!
 
My friend starts and trains Eriskays and loves them. With a good start they can be great. There is a lady called Sheila McKinnon-Wood, from Lochoir Pony Stud, who breeds good quality Eriskays on the Isle of Coll and has pretty much saved them from extinction.
 
Thank you for all of your words of wisdom. I would love to post a pic of her but she isn't my pony yet. I am going to go and see her. I think she has the stubborn streak that everyone has discussed; it just depends if I can get through that and turn it into loyalty. Has has been southern champion and reserve for the last 3 years: she is very pretty. I like the fact she is a weight carrier and I could hunt her. I had heard as a breed they can be very bold?
 
littleladylou said:
Also if you don't mind me asking how tall are you guys- would I look stupid on her at 5'4?
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Same height as you and ride a 13.1 Highland so similar build. I love my highlands and would never have an Eriskay the only ones I have had the pleasure of handling have been very difficult. Both sufffered terrible debilitating bouts of laminitis even on my specially kept grazing as I have a chronic laminitic myself. I did manage to get her sound and she is now leading a useful life but is permanently stabled now. Sadly I couldnt even do that as she wrecked the stable due to separation anxiety
 
littleladylou said:
Also if you don't mind me asking how tall are you guys- would I look stupid on her at 5'4?
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I'm 5'8 and ride a 14,1 and a 13,3, both highlands, both lighter in build than most highlands (mostly because they aren't obese :cool: ) and while I look tall, I don't raise too many eyebrows :D
 
Windand rain- thanks for your response. I think I should be fine on a 13'1 then. I love the small compact ponies - my welsh d was 14'1 but quite fine. He could be a nightmare on the ground and I don't think I can handle that again - although he did bite which was his big downfall
 
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Cost between 1,800 and 12,000 so a huge variation dont be put off by either a highish price or no price on the add if You are right most highland people are happy to dicker
Pity you dont want a youngster best mannered pony in the world and bombproof to boot
My highland is 18 now and is a superb jumper so would love hunting she is here for the rest of her days she has won everything from county showing to one day events and dressage so they dont come much more versatile
 
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Few and far between really. Know lots of quality, very well started youngstock for sale north of the border, but nothing in that age bracket / level of experience.
 
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