Why are "normal" horses afraid of Shetlands?

I think its because they know if they kick them, their height means they will get them right in the cannon bones and possibly cause a very serious injury or broken leg compared to a kick from a bigger horse higher up on a more fleshy part of the body...
 
My girl isn't afraid of Shetlands, as the yard where she raced had two that roamed around the yard/stables/feed room (when they managed to open the door)/walker/track/down the lane. She was quite used to being in the crossties and having a small dog-sized horse sprint past, and then five minutes later come running back the other way with either myself or my boss swearing loudly at it and waving a broom.

She is however terrified of grey ponies, particularly with children sat on them. The first time she set eyes on them (there were three at the first fun ride we went to), her eyes were out on stalks, she kept snorting at them and she couldn't wait to get away from them! The only reason I could come up with was because she was used to seeing small horses, but not used to seeing them being ridden. So maybe in fact she's scared of small children?!
 
My girl is terrified of them, I was hacking once and a Shetland came trotting over from his field to the path, my horse bolted in the opposite direction with me! Problem was there were cows in the next field so she bolted back the other way only to come face to face with the Shetland - I had no hope, I had to get off to walk her past! I now avoid cows and shetlands!:)
 
My horse used to be terrified of them too. There is a man with a helicopter up the valley, and they have two mini shetlands graze in the field around it. One day I was hacking past, and the helicopter was landing, my horse didn't even notice as she was too busy shying at the shetlands!

When we got a section A for company when we moved her home, she was terrified, you'd have thought we had turned a lion out with her. It took nearly two weeks before she would go anywhere near the poor baffled pony! I think she simply had never met any ponies before! Alpacas and llamas don't bother her at all, yet sheep did at first! Strange towny horse...
 
1 of my horses is fine with Shetlands (and other small ponies) but has an overwhelming fear of donkeys, sadly (for her) there is one stabled just up the lane from our place and he grazes just across the road from us too, she's ok if she cant see him but heaven forbid if he should move/look at her/ bray. He was tucked up in his stable not so long back and we were returning from a ride and he vocalised his prescence - we could hear him but not see him, she stopped dead, grew to 17hands, eyes on stalks in an 'ok where is it' kind of way, i could feel her heart pounding, we stood still until the noise stopped, took a deep breath and carried on with our ride, at a much quicker walk i hasten to add :)

his paddock runs along side a small river with a bridge over it that we cross on one of our routes - not if he's turned out we dont, i dont fancy a soaking lol
 
When Giant (18hh) Fuzzy arrived in early March last year he was turned out.
I then let Tiny (nearly 33") Fuzzy into the adjacent paddock and all hell was let loose :eek:.
TF wadled across to say hello under the bottom rail of the fence - GF shot off & stood in the corner shaking like a leaf & high snorting :eek::D Thank goodness the fence in that paddock is over 6ft 6 as I think he'd have gone over it in his haste to get away!
Left them while we had coffee & I also put BF in the paddock the other side of TF so they were in 3 adjacent paddocks with TF in the middle.....

Hour later I went to put hay out, did BF 1st, then as I was going in TF's paddock she whinnied & trotted down to me - GF's eyes were popping out at this & he stayed where he was.
At tea time I left her out & she was fed by the fence near GF & his greed over came him & he also had his grub about 8 feet away.
Took him about 3 days to realise she WAS equine & if he gets the chance he will now slobber over her if she is ever in a paddock close to him.
I will never put her in with him tho as he can be a thug on occasions & am not willing to take a chance, tho she is happily out with NH, who loves her to bits from the day he arrived in December :)


Meanwhile, she doesn't give a monkeys about anything & will square up to anything... apart from any person wearing a hat with a brim! :confused::D
 
Mine have never had a problem with shetlands or minis..when they first were put out at their new yard they went out with a mini who managed to keep up with my cob who charged off inspecting his new home!they don't bat an eyelid with donkeys either as their old field was next to a donkey sanctuary. When a donkey arrived at the yard, a couple of horses almost climbed out their stables when they realised what was stabled next door!my 2 just ambled up to the door and said hello and walked off:-)
 
The first yard I actually kept my old mare was a private yard and the owner bred miniture ponies...Doll loved them and in fact, when I moved 'up North' a couple of years later, the owner very kindly let me borrow a little mare to keep mine company as she was pregnant and the new YO wasn't keen to turn her out with new horses, just in case.

However, a couple of years down the line, after she had foaled and was back in full work (and pony company had returned home to Manchester), I was hacking from a new yard. Person I was riding with recommended a ride but said there was sometimes 2 shetlands in the field which her horse frequently spooked at. Well, as Doll had once had a shetland best pal I said it wouldn't be a problem and Doll would be fine...WRONG!!!

She took one look at these furry little ponies, cantering across the field towards us and tried to escape over the five bar gate we had just come through!!! I think it was because they came charging over and because they were approaching head-on, they looked like rather large hamsters running up the feild!!! I think she felt slightly foolish when they turned side on and she could see they were ponies!!! :D

The absolute best one though was when I took same mare on a fun ride...the route took us through a field of donkeys' - now that was 'fun'!!! lol
 
Mine reacts the same to most little things on first meeting. Follows round for 5 mins then can't contain herself and shoves her nose on dog/pony/donkey (even our stupid stubborn cat). Goes flying back half a step, then realises there's a new playmate. Kind of the same reaction to most horses too, has a habit of not knowing where her nose is and crashing into them :D

Deer was hilarious on my share mare, she used to play jumping along side them, absolutely loved the things. Sheep calling would mean a beeline to find them. A bike meant someone to trot alongside... But a bike without a rider laying down was going to kill her.
 
My friends horse lives with one and adores him!

Ned however...I had him prancing like a dressage horse at an in-hand show because there was a group of around 8 hiding in the long grass haha!
 
"Why are "normal" horses afraid of Shetlands?"

Are you sure they are normal? :D

My gelding tried to kill mine when I first got them over a gate. He lunged teeth bared, he really meant business. I had never before or since seen him really aggressive to any other horse or animal or human. I had to put an electric fence up as well as the normal fence until they were no longer some sort of threat. They get on great now though there is one mare he is a little wary of.
 
I've been on a few yards where the huge horses are scared of my little shettie. Couple of mares in the next field have HAD to get used to him because the little sod keeps going in there with them despite elec fence being on and quite powerful.
 
I really have no idea. My boy is really brave and its the only thing that makes him spook. A house on my favourite hacking route has a shetland and we always go past it sideways at speed with lots of snorting. Its not even near the road, they keep it at the back! He still has a meltdown even if its not out or anywhere to be seen.
 
Natch said:
It's because they can tell that shetlands are plotting to take over the world ;)
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But they already do rule the world.

The best saying I ever heard about shetties is:-

"The trouble with shetties is that they are 17 hands of war horse mentality all wrapped up in a tiny body .......... and no-one has had the nerve to tell them!"

Mine was always best mates with whichever was the biggest horse on the yard at the time. Once they'd recovered from the shock of meeting him they all adored him.
 
Dennis was 2 when I got him and had never seen a shetland so was terrified of Holly when she first arrived, talk about huff and puff it was hilarious. All the while Holly looked on with a very distainful look at on her face.

Two years later I got Minnie, well Dennis obviously didn't realise that they come in different colours!!! He huffed, he puffed, he ponced, again it was hilarious.

But now he knows they come in different colours he doesn't bat an eyelid at them now!
 
amandap said:
My gelding tried to kill mine when I first got them over a gate. He lunged teeth bared, he really meant business. I had never before or since seen him really aggressive to any other horse or animal or human.
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My gelding did EXACTLY the same thing, it was awful. But they are quite good pals now.
 
i don't think they recognise them as another equine, the first time the big girl met one of the minis on the farm she peered down at her like 'WFT are you' if mini got too close behind big girl tucked her bum under her and scuttled forward lol, any other horse/pony would have had her feet in their face. since then she's been fine but she still hates sheep and alpacas!;)
 
When my mini girlies got turned out for the first time in their paddock my connie was straight to the netting to talk to them, the cob on the other hand wouldn't come nearer than about 30 yards, eyes on stalks, knees up to chin and doing a fine impression of a hackney trot up and down the paddock for days. Connie pony just loves anything really and we do have all sorts locally, kune kune piggies that trot over to talk nose to nose, highland cattle that are more scared of him, guinea fowl hens in a gaggle of 10, deer that pop up out of everywhere and we met a lovely brown donkey recently, the first time he's seen one.....

When Bobby met Peaches............and Johnny the donkey...
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I was so fed up of my welshie having a heart attack trying to get him past two shetlands that graze next to the gate onto the mountain that I went and bought three shetland x falabella's. He has got used to mine and is rather fond of the yearling but he still shakes and acts like the shetlands on the mountain are going to attack him if he doesn't get passed fast enough. My mare has never been bothered by them at all but she hates cows and chickens.:rolleyes:
 
i took my boy to a different yard for two weeks as i was house/dog/horse sitting while a friend went on holiday, and they had a shetland in with their two horses. But not only that, they also had a donkey on the other side of the fence. We had met a donkey a few months earlier while hacking and he had a meltdown :eek:

Turned them out to get on with it and he slowly (with shaking legs) got closer to the shetland, who just stood there looking bemused, then a bit closer, then touched noses, he then thoroughly investigated him and decided to accept him. They all settled down and started eating peacefully. Until the shetland rolled. you would have thought a bomb had gone off, he was terrified! and it took a good 20 mins of courage to go back up to him rofl

Then he noticed the donkey, which he walked straight up to and the thing brayed right in his face. Of course he went nuts, clubbed together with the scary shetland and was using him as some sort of shield :rolleyes: But as boys do, he kept going back for more and more until he made friends with the donkey and he would trot happily along the fenceline with shetland in tow and donkey following on the other side of the fence.

One good thing, he is now totally fine with donkeys braying! :D
 
Natch said:
It's because they can tell that shetlands are plotting to take over the world ;)
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I swear this must be true...my Arab mare seems to know about some dastardly Shetland conspiracy that I am happily oblivious of :p
She absolutely loathes my YO's Shetlands, I've never seen anything like it! Every time I lead her past their field she will lunge at them if they even dare to look at her, and will lash out with both back legs and turn into a complete lunatic. That said, our gelding absolutely loves them...so maybe she's just jealous!
 
My WB was absolutely terrified of a little Welsh pony..... he is better now but still jumps if it flicks an ear in his direction when walking past, lol. God help him if he even sets eyes on a Shetland! :D
 
We had a horse go bug eyed and snorty at the sight of our shetland x dartmoor once,and she was 12.2 so not tiny.I don't know what it is.

We had some miniatures on our yard and knobberpony wasn't quite convinced that they were equine,but wasn't bothered by them.
 
On my second ever ride on friend's 17hh IDxWB mare who's known to throw very expressive spooks, we had to go past a field with a herd of the little horrors. A loud snort was followed by a very impressive reverse and then a perfect pirouette before I got her moving forward into a rather brisk extended trot :eek: it took her at least half a mile to settle down. Meanwhile baby Arab quite newly backed never batted an eyelid!
 
Dreading the move to summer grazing. HRH Shetland will be back - he's kept away over winter as the winter paddock is divided by electric fence ( when he was in there he lead a mass breakout into neighbouring farmers turnip field - oh dear).

I'm not dreading it because ponio is afraid of him but because HRH guards the gate with his Percheron buddy {rollseyes}.
 
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