Considering buying a Shetland

[MarvelVillis]

...I'm probably mad! I've wanted one for a long time (since falling in love with a mini at my previous yard) and have been tentatively looking since and have found one for sale that is local to me. I think my yard would be fairly suitable for a Shettie as it's not lush grazing, it would have free roam of a couple of fields (but both with little grass during Winter) to encourage movement, and we're right on the edge of Dartmoor (which is up a steep track) so the opportunity of plenty of lovely in hand walks to maintain its weight. And then hopefully the potential to lead off my gelding in the future when he's riding away next year. For those that have minis/Shetlands:

• Do you rug them? I think I would only bother with a rain sheet for when it's constant rain but wondered if others do?
• What are your mini's routine in terms of grazing? Out 24/7 or do you stable them at all?
• How do you restrict their grazing in spring/summer? Do you use grazing muzzles and if so what brands are best?
• Do you give them any hay over winter?

 

[jontysmum]

I don't have Shetlands but I do have natives which run to fat if allowed
Last winter - no rugs , no hay, brought in overnight occasionally to dry off - hardly lost any weight!
Summer - use of weigh tape to monitor and brought into small paddock with hardly any grass
They go back out into main field when slimmed down but have to return to small paddock regularly!
Have used grazing muzzles in the past but would rather restrict grazing as I've found muzzles tend to rub.

 

[The Xmas Furry]

My miniature 32" shetland (not to be confused with a miniature horse or std shetland) is in at night most of the year round (March to November usually). She could be out at night now and not muzzled but I havent got every acorn up in the nearer diet paddock yet.
Doesn't wear rugs, is currently sporting a gullet and full tummy clip. I do have an old rug I could put on and a fleece as just in case, but in keeping mini shetlands for many years, it's very very rare I pop a rug on.
Wears a Dinky muzzle when out so can go anywhere with others.
Yes has hay, I average a section a day as she is in at night on non edible miscanthus bedding.
Has a top door cut down and fixed so the std door is pinned right back all the time.

My other late mini shetland was also clipped through winter and only ever had hay if in overnight or if hard frost or snow.

Be warned, most small ponies do not respect electric fence and treat it as a challenge, so a good solid permanent fence is a must.

 

[paddi22]

most of the charities would have shetlands available for rehoming. they are adorable, but def escape artists! I have very rough bog grazing and both my current shetties managed to get laminitis. some just cannot even see a blade of grass without getting it. I also found one of them really cannot be left out 24/7 if there is going to be frost, she gets crippled. so it might be safe to factor in a small free standing areas for it if needed. saying that, then you end up getting another sheathe to keep it company! -

 

[DizzyDoughnut]

I've had my now geriatric shetland for 18 years, she's brilliant. This summer she had a rug on for the 1st time because she's not been well and she got cold in the pouring rain when she only had her summer coat. In winter it can pour down all day and she's still perfectly dry and warm under all her fluff. In the summer I make make a track round the field for mine and in winter she comes in at night only because my other pony is a wimp and wants in. She'd much prefer to stay out. She does get to wander around the yard.

She's been quite good with electric fencing since we were at a yard with a mains powered fence that she tried to limbo under, she quite cautious of a fence now but she knows when my battery has died and will walk through. Also in her younger days I made the mistake of thinking a sheep hurdle would do as temporary gate, she'd been in there less than 5 minutes when I saw her take a practise run up, then on the 2nd attempt she went sailing over it closely followed by my other 1.

They are amazing ponies, but they are clever and sneaky.

 

[ycbm]

I had one which could not manage any grass at all (and this was rough moorland hill grass) by the time she was 4, and although I had two big horses her little friend was bored without her so I sold her to a home with a small child.

I love Shetlands, especially the minis, but in the end they were too much of a stress to manage. I miss them, though, and I'm always tempted to replace them but I'm too scared of getting another metabolic nightmare one.
.

 

[Chinchilla]

We've been lucky with ours, they didn't seem to get fat in summer at all but got worked hard and weren't rugged at all over winter and lived out with just hay if it was frosty (a 31" and a 36" - and we must have done something right because the mini lived until he was 24 and the 36" is still going at almost 31.)
He still pays bugger all attention to electric fences though. I'd have a whole herd of dinky ponies if we had the space.

 

[southerncomfort]

I had one which could not manage any grass at all (and this was rough moorland hill grass) by the time she was 4, and although I had two big horses her little friend was bored without her so I sold her to a home with a small child.

I love Shetlands, especially the minis, but in the end they were too much of a stress to manage. I miss them, though, and I'm always tempted to replace them but I'm too scared of getting another metabolic nightmare one.
.

Sadly I agree with this.

I adore my little mini shetland but she's absolutely no use as a companion as she spends about 75% of the year in a pen on her own next to the others. She hates it and it makes me feel wretched but she is pretty much permanently at risk of laminitis. I try everything but she still won't lose weight. I spend an awful lot of time worrying about her.

 

[Quigleyandme]

I love Shetlands but I’ll never have another because their management is constant stress/guilt. With regard to rugging I found my Shetland’s coat would form the most efficient waterproof layer by almost weaving itself. If you parted the long hair he was dry as a bone and toasty underneath.

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

I do sometimes think people mollycoddle them too much and create problems. If you look at most studs their ponies are living out in herds in big fields with no issues. Yet you bring them into a more domesticated society and things go wrong.

I had 4 mares living on 4 acres of cattle pasture and yes they got really quite fat in summer they dropped weight in winter and neverhad any issues - until Joe Public intervened and I had to put a bale of hay in the field to appease them so the ponies would come out of winter just as fat as they went into it. Then I had to restrict their grazing and divide the field up with electric tape which then Joe Public would deem in cruel that they were in 1/3 of the area they normally had and would let them out into the full field.

Basically - if you get one neglect it and it will be fine ??????

 

[southerncomfort]

I think its buying them as a companion and trying to make them fit in with bigger ponies (like I did!) that causes problems. I imagine keeping Shetlands with other Shetlands is much easier.

Maybe when I'm too old to ride any more I'll get a little herd of Shetlands. ?

I do love their personalities. They just make you smile.

 

[cauda equina]

It depends what they're a companion to - mine was bought for chaperoning a much bigger but more grass sensitive pony and their management is planned accordingly so he's no trouble at all.
The mini is also very respectful of electric fencing; perhaps I just got lucky with him

 

[Bellaboo18]

Do you rug them? I think I would only bother with a rain sheet for when it's constant rain but wondered if others do?

No, he grows such a long coat , whatever the weather he's always dry underneath the fluff.

What are your mini's routine in terms of grazing? Out 24/7 or do you stable them at all?

Out 24/7 with access to a shelter. If for whatever reason my tb comes in though he also comes in. He'd happily stay out but I dont like to leave anything out alone.

How do you restrict their grazing in spring/summer? Do you use grazing muzzles and if so what brands are best?

I dont, i'm very lucky he seems as hard as nails. His friend insists he plays with her though so he has plenty of exercise. If he was out on his own I know I'd have to restrict grazing in someway.

Do you give them any hay over winter?

Yes

I think it depends what you want one for, I love my little chap and it works for us.

 

[welshpony216]

Shetlands are a very natural breed, so they don't need rugs unless you live in Antarctica.(and I don't now anyone who wants to live permanently on a giant iceberg so...) A shelter is a must have though.

Yay on hay. (there will not be much grass, just mud, and snow.)

our pastures are a bit over-grazed so we need don't use grazing muzzles, but I found a few different styles

 

[ycbm]

A shelter is a must have though.

Shetlands don't need a shelter, mine had a two layer coat inches thick. In Scotland they eat seaweed on the shoreline, no shelters.

 

[welshpony216]

I guess...

Shetlands don't need a shelter, mine had a two layer coat inches thick. In Scotland they eat seaweed on the shoreline, no shelters.

it really depends on where you live!

 

[ycbm]

I guess...


it really depends on where you live!

I'm not sure you understand the climate in the Shetland Isles where these ponies originate and many are still bred?

Ditto Highland ponies. There is lying snow here in the Peak Park on a wild hillside at 1200 feet and the local Highland pony stud has 20 in foal mares out in it naked with no shelter, natural or man made and no supplementary food.

Shetlands and Highlands in the UK don't usually need a man made shelter.

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

I guess...


it really depends on where you live!

They don't necessarily need something over their heads but a wind break is appreciated by them in winter.

The weather never truly gets skin deep on a proper winter coated Shetland hence why snow and frost stays on their backs - they are so well insulated the heat doesn't escape to melt it!

American Shetlands on the other hand only resemble a true British Shetland in height. In fact most of them are taller too.

 

[paddi22]

our shetlands happy dug through snowdrifts to look for grass rugless for weeks in the bad winter and still stayed chunky and warm. they are so hardy, I would worry rugging them would overheat them or else damage their natural temp regulation. our always felt toasty under their hair even in the worst weather ever. they also seem better at finding shelter spaces in hedging and stuff as they are smaller.

 

[welshpony216]

I have never been to the uk (wish I have though), and here in the USA we get tons of snow, and very dry winds. I personally like to give them a shelter, because I figured in there natural habitat they would have caves and cliffs for shelter from wind and stuff. Is this right?

 

[ycbm]

I have never been to the uk (wish I have though), and here in the USA we get tons of snow, and very dry winds. I personally like to give them a shelter, because I figured in there natural habitat they would have caves and cliffs for shelter from wind and stuff. Is this right?

EoaS has just explained that USA Shetlands are not the same as British ones.

Mine would never have needed shelter. They might have used it if offered, but needed it, no. The Highlands a mile up the road from me don't even have any trees, just a bare hillside. And they are pregnant too. In this weather, with no supplementary food:

 

[FinnishLapphund]

I have never been to the uk (wish I have though), and here in the USA we get tons of snow, and very dry winds. I personally like to give them a shelter, because I figured in there natural habitat they would have caves and cliffs for shelter from wind and stuff. Is this right?

Shetland ponies have evolved to survive in the harsh weather conditions on some islands out in ocean, on the border between the Atlantic, and the North Sea. Most pictures I've seen from Shetland, is like these two pictures I found by Google, quite bare nature:

 

[poiuytrewq]

I love the bones of mine. I’ve had him about 10 years I think. He’s not that bad! Yes, I need to make sure I turn the fencing on, I also need 3 strands of electric where 2 might normally do.
He spends much of the time in he same fields as the horses but wears a muzzle when required.
I have a turnout pen which he also gets a lot of use out of. Mine has a companion Welsh A who to be honest he’d rather not have ?‍
He’s just awesome. A wonderful character and perfect to have around.
He has a few rugs, I don’t think he’s a proper Shetland but a bit less hardy.
I don’t rug generally but there have been times. The beast from the east being one ?
There have also been a few occasions of prolonged wet rough weather that he’s been cold and miserable so it’s nice to have a few as back up.

 

[welshpony216]

Yes, I need to make sure I turn the fencing on, I also need 3 strands of electric where 2 might normally do.

?ponies will always be ponies!

 

[poiuytrewq]

?ponies will always be ponies!

Yep, tbh if he puts his head down and charges fast enough 3 is perfectly do-able if I dare try and bare paddock him ? hence the muzzle

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

Yep, tbh if he puts his head down and charges fast enough 3 is perfectly do-able if I dare try and bare paddock him ? hence the muzzle

4 strands is failing to keep my foal where he should be ... I dread to think what I am going to have to concoct as he grows up! I jokingly say to people to build Fort Knox and then add more ... I may well have to with this bugger!

 

[poiuytrewq]

4 strands is failing to keep my foal where he should be ... I dread to think what I am going to have to concoct as he grows up! I jokingly say to people to build Fort Knox and then add more ... I may well have to with this bugger!

Ah, it’ll be worth it ?
I did once build a paddock “within a paddock” it was literally Fort Knox. 4 strands with a zig zag from post to post. He refuses to explain his actions... but was in with the big boys the following morning ?

 

[horseman1985]

My first horse was Shetland. Had a really good with that one