Shetland pony grand national

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Millyard Rejects

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When I was a little girl I always wanted a shetland pony.:)And wanted to ride in shetland grandnational.
Now recently I became the owner of a chestnut filly shetland :D(see sig below 2nd from left)
Recently the conversation came up re-the shetland national and its possible rules over riders age and height.
So have any of you-
Ridden in a shetland national-what age were you and what ages are allowed to ride.Also what was your height.
Owned a pony-am I right in thinking a lot of them are owned by one person who just finds riders for the ponies and "controls" the races in who wins etc?

By the way it is just a query I have no intention of ever sitting on my shetland, she will be broken to drive unless I find small child to ride her.:D:rolleyes:

And how many have you watched the shetland races and thought...I could do that! :D
 
I remember reading once about what one had to do to qualify for the Olympia grand national - it was a ridiculous amount of races and qualifying criteria, and very much not for the half-hearted!
 
Mike007 said:
The races at olympia are fixed , ..But the rest arent!:D
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aww no! I thought I was lied to about that! :( why are they fixed at Olympia and not elsewhere? isnt there some sort of primary jockey club that frowns on that sort of thing? ;)

Naturally-if there is qualifying then there should be a ruling body to contact??

Pixie-if it turns out your too old then you will just have to become a trainer??;) I shall send Honey to you and I will take all her winnings!! mwhhaaaahaaa :D
 
thats fine by me! in returning your breaking in my anglo arab! :D would much rather have injuries from a shettie than my girlie :) hehe would love to be a trainer for the kiddies, unfortunately i wouldn't be sympathetic eg....if you don't wanna ride then tough i am tying you to that saddle then you don't have to worry about falling off on her bucks?! :D
 
x1xpixiex1x said:
thats fine by me! in returning your breaking in my anglo arab! :D would much rather have injuries from a shettie than my girlie :) hehe would love to be a trainer for the kiddies, unfortunately i wouldn't be sympathetic eg....if you don't wanna ride then tough i am tying you to that saddle then you don't have to worry about falling off on her bucks?! :D
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I used to teach kids...Ive had therapy since:eek:

But you might need more than one shetland for race fixing? can you wash your filly in the machine and shrink her to shetland size? :D

I think I want Yellow and blue to be my racing colours? covers the old Leeds/Roscommon thing with family!
and Id need a racing name for the shetland?
Oi and stop telling everyone she bucks!! she only does it when its windy...or if shes annoyed with oliver...or ok she bucks :rolleyes:
 
Millyard Rejects said:
I used to teach kids...Ive had therapy since:eek:

But you might need more than one shetland for race fixing? can you wash your filly in the machine and shrink her to shetland size? :D

I think I want Yellow and blue to be my racing colours? covers the old Leeds/Roscommon thing with family!
and Id need a racing name for the shetland?
Oi and stop telling everyone she bucks!! she only does it when its windy...or if shes annoyed with oliver...or ok she bucks :rolleyes:
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I dont even like kids to be honest lol hence the harshness! :)

oooo shes a filly too! yellow and blue is good, hummm her stable name is honey? (thats sooo cute) how about...Hippodamia Really Fast Horse Honey :D

Lol my girly is bum high again and last measured was standing at 13.2hh, I am hoping she stops growing very soon! a tumble dryer might shrink her :D

Maybe we could start rescuing them! turn them in to little racers! uh oh maybe moving to Ireland would result in lots of land and big house (lottery win please!)
 
Marchtime used to race shetties. They belonged to our old YO. It was great fun but very fiercely competitive. Some mums did not speak to mums of kids that had qualified until their kids had too:eek: Cheating also happened:eek:

The rules used to be under 14s then they changed to weight/height then they changed back again.

The shetlands were really fed and fit and naughty. The qualifying races were "real" but the olympia races are fixed as the ring is so small that it would be dangerous for all the competitors to be going for it at once. You can see people going wide and letting others through if you look carefully. Great fun but an expensive hobby too - lots of travelling and staying at shows. Also you have to use the horses for other things - PC, showing, showjumping etc and get enough attendance points for other things to qualify, The ones my daughter raced were also a scurry pair so they were nuts:D
 
I raced from when I was the minimum age (7 or 8 I think) untill I was 9 or 10 :) Adults definately arn't allowed :p And olympia is def fixed ;) Although qualifying isn't.
 
Yes I did from the age of 9 until I was 12 by which time I was rather leggy on them. I actually gave up to spend more time with my pony as she was barely getting a look in.
It's bloody hard work, you have to be mega fit and very determined. I think from memory we used to do about 8-10 shows a season and at each show there would be a minimum of 2 races. The first is normally the qualifier and the second is purely for demonstration.
The olympia ring is tiny compared to the usual course thus they fix the races. The rumour was when they previously tried not fixing them there were a few big accidents :eek:
If you want to take part you need the right Shetland but more importantly a fearless little jockey. The younger they are the better they bounce!!! Most of the Shetlands are a nightmare to handle. The ones I rode tanked everywhere and could buck and rear for Britain but were great racers. They also did WH classes and used to jump 2ft6 easily.
How I'd love to be small again...
 
Marchtime said:
Yes I did from the age of 9 until I was 12 by which time I was rather leggy on them...
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ooo - what was the name of the ponies you raced? my shetlands brother used to be used for shetland racing and was on the TV programme that channel 4 did yearssss ago - i bought it on video and still have it somewhere.

i started to train my pony up for it however reallllly struggled to find a jockey the right age and height for him so ended up having to give up :(
 
luckilotti said:
ooo - what was the name of the ponies you raced? my shetlands brother used to be used for shetland racing and was on the TV programme that channel 4 did yearssss ago - i bought it on video and still have it somewhere.

i started to train my pony up for it however reallllly struggled to find a jockey the right age and height for him so ended up having to give up :(
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The one I took to Olympia was "Park View Llyod" and the other one I raced had a Welsh prefix which I have no idea to spell but was "*insert welsh word* Domino". It can be very difficult to find jockeys, luckily these were owned by the local riding school (though not used in lessons) and so they tended to find jockeys that way :D
 
TelH said:
http://www.shetlandperformance.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=107&Itemid=1

These are the basic rules for the Shetland pony grand national :)
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OOOh thers a lot to do then! And there was me thinking it was just for fun!:eek:

I think Id still give it a go if I was a bit younger and bouncier? im bouncier in the wrong way now:D
But really Ive got 4 years to get the pony ready by doing m&m classes and and then find small bouncy,fearless child? easy........:eek::D

ooooooh look a flying pig! :D
 
I think it's done on a rota, so everyone gets a chance to 'win'. Effectively they have all won to qualify to get there, so the racing at Olympia is the icing on the cake. We tried once with a friend's shetland, and there was nothing fixed about the qualifier - they flew round!
 
Rosie did it until she was about 11 I think, so 8 years ago. The pony belonged to someone local who asked her to ride. She won the Shetland Derby so has ridden the finish at Epsom. She went to several places including Windsor and Olympia. She had a ball and went on to do pony racing and then a few p2ps.
 
Thats it! im booking the lypo suction,the tummy tuck and the jaws are getting wired!!!:eek::D

I know with a few more months of *shoulders drop* running and watching what i eat I can get on my 14.2hh but Ive got the next 2 years mapped out for that..but a shetland? im gonna need a gastric band fitting aswell!!:rolleyes:

So did you guys that rode shetties enjoy it? you werent pushed into it by "pony club psycho mums" and did it help your riding?
 
Millyard Rejects said:
So did you guys that rode shetties enjoy it? you werent pushed into it by "pony club psycho mums" and did it help your riding?
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Who are you calling a pony club psycho mum:eek::eek::eek::eek::D
Of course they enjoyed it:rolleyes::p

I know my daughter and her friend who did it with her loved it. They got to stay at all the big shows and meet "celebrity" riders. They went to Olympia and stayed there for a week. It was hard work as it was late nights early mornings and living in a horsebox, but when you are 10 years old and pony mad that is hardly a hardship. I have to admit I enjoyed watching it too.

As for riding - it made her brave and gave her a good seat. Her riding was described by PC instructor as "effective" rather than pretty:D and she was often told "you're not racing now":D She is much much less brave nowadays though.
 
misst said:
Who are you calling a pony club psycho mum:eek::eek::eek::eek::D
Of course they enjoyed it:rolleyes::p

I know my daughter and her friend who did it with her loved it. They got to stay at all the big shows and meet "celebrity" riders. They went to Olympia and stayed there for a week. It was hard work as it was late nights early mornings and living in a horsebox, but when you are 10 years old and pony mad that is hardly a hardship. I have to admit I enjoyed watching it too.

As for riding - it made her brave and gave her a good seat. Her riding was described by PC instructor as "effective" rather than pretty:D and she was often told "you're not racing now":D She is much much less brave nowadays though.
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I wasnt calling you a psycho!;) just some of the mums seemed a bit pushy for my liking!
If someone had said to me at 10 years old your gonna be living in a horsebox for a week, looking after ponies I would have thought Id died and gone to heaven!:p

Why less brave? is it because now shes getting told more how to ride than just letting her get on with it? those little jockeys seemed to be very comfortable even if it wasnt pretty! and there are some national hunt jockeys that could with prettying up!! :D
 
Has anybody got the contact details for the Shetland Pony Grand National as I would like to try to book them for next year. We have had them before but I have lost the contact details

Many thanks

Richard
 
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