American Shetland

Breeding of the American Shetland centers on the state of Indiana, although the pomes quickly grew in popularity and can now be widely found all over the United States.

By crossbreeding the Shetland pony with Hackney ponies, and later with small Arabians and small Thoroughbreds, a new and distinct type began to emerge.

Shetland ponies arrived in American 1885, when 75 of them were imported by Eli Elliot. These ponies formed the basis for the development of the American Shetland, which now bears little resemblance to the original Shetland pony.

In 1888, the American Shetland Pony Club was formed and the club now keeps two studbooks -Division A and Division B.

Division A is maintained to register pure Shetlands, while Division B is open to ponies with one parent from Division A and the other parent being either a Hackney pony, Welsh pony or a Harness show pony.

Typically these small ponies are full of quality and character, resembling the Hackney pony in build and stance while maintaining the Shetland pony's endurance and toughness as well as their luxurious mane and tail.

They are extremely versatile ponies and, although they arc ideally suited to harness work, they also make excellent children's ponies.

The American Shetland can be seen competing in any manner of competitive fields, including show classes under both English and Western saddle, jumping, dressage, gymkhana, harness racing and various driving competitions.

The breed is now extremely popular in the United States and top class ponies will sell for phenomenal amounts of money.

In appearance, the American Shetland pony has an intelligent and fine head, which is often long and not of typical pony character. They have muscular arched necks that are set and carried in a similar way to the Hackney pony.

They tend to be quite long and narrow through the back, with broad muscular hindquarters, and unusually high withers for a pony breed. The shoulders have a good slope, which allows for their extravagant action of a similar nature to the Hackney pony.

Often they are long and fine in the leg, with long cannon bones, and retain the Hackney pony stance with the hind legs stretched out behind the body Any solid color is acceptable within the breed and they stand at anything up to 11.2 hh.
 
Horse Fact
Four-horse chariot races were first introduced to the Olympic Games in 684 B.C.

Top
The American Shetland bears little resemblance to its hardy ancestor from the Shetland Islands in Scotland.

Center and Bottom
Often used in driving competitions, the American Shetland has the stance and gait of a Hackney pony.
 

Breed  Inforrmation
 
Name                    American Shetland
Approximate Size   Up to ll. 2 RR
Color Variations      Any Solid Color
Place of Origin        United States