Shetland or something else?

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251libby

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Going to get a companion for my mare and have applied to a few charities and they are in the process of looking at my application.
I need a pony that will live out all year round (with or without a rug) but will have a stable avail.
Is a good doer
Will stay in field alone
Can catch it!

These are my only real requirements other than the usual no vices, can lead it etc.
I was thinking of a standard shetland but wondered if you had any other ideas of breeds I could consider?

If it could be ridden or be able to be broken to ride, I'm thinking of that as a bonus, priority is a good conpanion.

Thanks in advance, I wouldn't be getting it till late feb early march but know charities take their time to vet potential loaners (and rightly so!) so thought I'd start the process
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We had little Shetland up until Feb when she had to be PTS
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RIP Babs. She was a fab old girl, kids could do anythnig with her, she never would bite or kick, although not all little ponies are so well mannered....... The only thing I would say is we more or less had a constant battle with laminitus with her, and in fact she really was more work than my cob as she was brough in at night all year round, and had to be muzzled for most of her turnout time. Just something to bear in mind.

We now have a little welshie for my daughter, and he's a fab wee chap
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Haha ive had the worst experiance ever with companions ..
I got a welsh a free to good home.
To live out 24/7 rugged up, But madam doesnt like being out so she jumps the fencing/runs through the fencing to get to the yard
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Soo got her a stable and reacently found out she gets stressed easily and gets colic all the time
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But her & Hon are best friends so didnt work out completely bad
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Trouble is i love her too much now
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I have a shetland for companion purposes, we did break him to drive, but to be honest I don't have the time to do it properly. He is very rarely ridden by my neice. He is a lovely pony and hard as nails, but he is a fat pudding and I have to work very hard to stop him exploding. He wears a grazing muzzle all year. But I expect pretty much any other native pony would have the same issues.
 
Thanks everyone!
I am well practised in watching weight as my mare is a welsh D and its a constant battle to keep her weight down even in winter. Although I do that with electric fencing and have heard that shetlands are expert houdinis!
4leggedfurries - I hadn't thought about a donkey, do they have any special requirments. I think my horse would be a bit confuzed lol
 
We have a 2 1/2yr old mini Shet, I show her in hand and am maybe going to drive her when she's older. Shetlands can be so much fun but also incredibly frustrating
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I've lost count of the number of hours I've spent trying to stop her from escaping...it's worse when not only does she let herself out she then toddles round the fields letting all my other ponies out too
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I have a Shetland my mum uses as a Companion for her horse, however he comes in at night with said horse.
He's started to wear a muzzle during the day at the height of summer..... and he's rugged outside in the winter too, but mum's soft. He loves fuss and attention, but has decked every child that's ridden him - he's a monster but we love him. Oh and he also periodically demolishes the electric fence in the winter.

As for Donkeys, their coats are not waterproof liked horses, so you would need rugging / shelter in the winter, plus they can live till they're 50. Also they need worming rigourously as I heard they carry lung worm.
 
i have a miniture shetland as a companion, he is the sweetest little thing and does his job very well
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the only thing i would say is that they are very hard to keep in electric fencing!! Just didnt work, he could limbo under pretty much anything or otherwise just charge through it!!
 
Maybe aim for something that needs as simialr management to yours as possible? Could be easier if they both need similar grazing etc, etc. Possibly describe what your Welsh D needs and see what they have that matches? You could get a lovely surprise of almost any breed I think...
 
TelH hahaha thats hilairious!
I'm still swaying towards a shettie :P
My horse is a very good doer and I would idealy like her out all year round as she has COPD (RAO) so need a po to match these specs although do have stables for them both if need be
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Is it sad that I cant wait to buy a little headcoller and matching buckets?!!
 
I used to have a miniature shetland as a companion. I used to take him out on ride and lead with my Andalusian, it was hilarious. We used to go off for miles. The little beggars tiny legs could go faster than a speeding bullet. I used to end up screaming along being dragged at full pelt by the little devil. He loved it and so did I. Never had any probs with him escaping and never with lami but he did used to get an awful lot of exercise. Brilliant fun! People used to stop me and ask if they could take pictures of the 3 of us!
 
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