Highland Horse

Highland Horse

Origin: Scotland.

Height: Garron: About 14.2hh. Western Isles: 12.2-14.2hh.

Color: Usually varying shades of dun with dorsal stripe, often with black points or silver hairs in the tail and mane. Also gray, chestnut (sometimes with blonde mane and tail), bay, black.

Character: Intelligent, responsive, and very docile. It is a sensitive pony, giving its trust generously to a good owner but tending to be wary of strangers and easily soured by bad treatment.

Physique: There are two types of Highland pony, the Western Isles, and thereon, or Mainland, variety. The Garron, bigger and stronger than the Island type, is a powerful, well-made animal with a short, deep head open. nostrils, bright, intelligent eyes, and short ears. Head well-carried on the strong, crusty neck of medium length; shoulders powerful, chest and girth deep and roomy. Back short, with well-sprung ribs and strong loins, hindquarters full and powerful. Legs short, hard, and strong, with plenty of bone, and thick feathers at the fetlock joint.

Hard, broad hooves. Long, thick tail, well set on, and plentiful mane. Action is straight and free and well-balanced, though it has a tendency to be “on the forehand”. It is a sturdy, hardy pony, and very sure-footed The Western Isles type, grouped into two divisions according to height(those 12.2-13.2hh and 13.2-14.2hh), is a smaller and finer-limbed version of the Garron.

The Highland pony is traditionally associated with deer stalking. It is sure-footed enough to carry a deer’s carcass on the steep and slippery slopes of the Scottish glens, and so docile and trusting that a hunter can fire a gun from its back.

Of the two types of Highlander, the Garron is the type with which the name Highland Pony is most generally associated. It is simply a scaled-upversion of the Western Isles type, developed during the last century in response to the need for a strong working pony that had the weight to pullor carry a big load. The Garron is the biggest and strongest of all the British pony breeds and has been known to carry at a canter (in a circus act) seven adult riders at a combined estimated weight of 60 stone (840lb) without any apparent difficulty.

Highland ponies contain Arab blood; also some French blood and a bit of Clydesdale are thought to have contributed to the Garron. The smaller western Isles type is an excellent children’s riding pony, while the biggerGarron – in the past the crofter’s pony of all work as well as the stalker’s-friend – today makes a first-class trekking pony.

See more: Iceland Horse