[SallyintNorth]

Picking up on a conversation inspired by the 'horse poo as fuel for the fire' tangent on a thread in the marketplace...

Shetlands are small and strong, so an obvious first thought for a pony on the holding to contribute poo for fuel and do a bit of carrying and pulling, also for the kids / grandkids to have a bit of fun with...

I urged colliewoman to think about Exmoors, they're a rare breed and her local one, and have a very special place in my heart, so I just thought it'd be worth her finding out a bit more before choosing.  Being in Somerset, there'll be plenty of Moorland Mousie Trust and other Exmoor afficionados about to give you support, too, Donna - I would hope they would be excited about the concept and work with you to explore another avenue for preserving the breed.

Seymour talked in terms of having a Fell Pony for work about the holding, and of course I adore my Fells.  I would have an Exmoor too if we could justify another, but I could not now bear to be without a Fell or two.

Others on here have Shetlands and Highlands, I know, I think someone has a Connemara?  And there must be plenty of Welsh ? (sorry, no experience with Welshes, is it Section D is a cob?  What's a Section C?)

We have Dales ponies too - a bit bigger than Fells maybe (though my Fell gelding Davy is as broad and strong as any Dales I've ever seen) and a bit less self-sufficient through a harsh winter perhaps.  The Dales was created by crossing Clydesdale into Fell to make a Fell a little bit more of a workhorse about the hill farm, but less massive and a lot more thrifty than a pure Clydesdale.

I could - and no doubt will - go on and on and on .... but would love some contributions from others first.

[Cheviot]

We have coloured cobs, they are as hardy as can be, run out on the hill all year round, last winter they never had any hay at all, and come spring they still had a layer of fat covering their bodies, fortunately the mares foaled with no problems, as we find we get more problems foaling when they are carrying too much weight.

We don't work ours but if they were being asked to work, you would possibly have to feed them, although I doubt it, as they seem to get fat just looking at grass.

Regards
Sue

[clydesdaleclopper]

Well we obviously have a Clydesdale    and we also have an Eriskay. Neither are used on the holding at the moment but I am hoping to use the Eriskay soon. Eriskays are absolutely lovely - really nice natured - and very endangered as a breed so everyone should have one 

[princesspiggy]

we have highlands, one did work in forestry before she was sold, she was ace and knew where to stand and wait everytime while u fussed with chains etc, she also pulled a sledge in the snow. now our little welsh a pulls a cart/sledge, and he worked in forestry too but only managed little trunks.
we have a mule yearling and she will do something when shes older, probably be in harness i some way.


its great working the ponies but its alot quicker to do it yourself with a truck and trailer....

[Ina]

Well we obviously have a Clydesdale 

Certainly the best if you want to go into producing horse poo fuel. My sheep friend has two of them grazing on their fields - maybe I should try and do a bit of poo picking? Believe me, the size of those turds are worth bending down for... So far I've only ever picked a few to enrich my compost!

[Roxy]

My first choice would be my beloved Dales ponies.Closely followed by my Fell ponies!!  They are strong, can live out - mine are on a high fibre diet - without the need for expensive feeds.  They can do any job asked - we have used them for hauling all sorts round the farm, and even have a big wooden sleigh for them to use in the snow. For their size they are incredibly strong .....very useful for carrying bales of hay over deep snow to feed the other livestock too!!
After these breeds, my next choice would be a Clydesdale

[princesspiggy]

For their size they are incredibly strong .....very useful for carrying bales of hay over deep snow to feed the other livestock too!!

not a big round one? thats an idea!

]
Believe me, the size of those turds are worth bending down for...  

lol...we used to have neighbours with newfoundlands, their crap is huge aswell...lol
 

[Roxy]

  Not tried a big bale yet .....maybe if we yoked a couple of ponies up together, and balanced the big bale across their two backs.......

[Brijjy]

And there must be plenty of Welsh ? (sorry, no experience with Welshes, is it Section D is a cob?  What's a Section C?)

I love the welsh breeds but especially C's and D's. Section C's are smaller than D's. I have a little C type mare, 13.3hh, at the moment who is very pretty and still goes like a train even though she is 17. Welsh mountain ponies are the Section A's and Section B's are fine legged riding ponies. As a family we've always had Welsh cobs, my dad has just bought a cracking little Section C filly. The C's and D's make brilliant ride and drive ponies and also jump fantastically too. Less hairy than Fells and Dales and heavy cobs and a bit finer legged too. They are very intelligent and work well but are also just as happy to be turned out and not worked for a while. When you bring them in again they will go straight back into work.

[colliewoman]

Well Sally after you suggesting Exmoors, 3 other people have said the same thing to me sooooo.....
Hopefully one day next week I am going to have a go at contacting some people 

[SallyintNorth]

Well Sally after you suggesting Exmoors, 3 other people have said the same thing to me sooooo.....
Hopefully one day next week I am going to have a go at contacting some people