The Highland Pony is a native British pony and is the largest pony of the nine British native breeds. Its pedigree dates clear back to the 1800s. The breed was once a workhorse of the Scottish mainland and islands, but today they are used for trekking and general pleasure riding. The Highland Pony is one of two native breeds of the Scottish mainland and islands, and because of this it has adapted to the many different environmental changes. The Highland Pony is one of the oldest breed of ponies in Britain, they were once known as the mountain or moorland ponies; this includes breeds from Ireland, Scotland, England, and Wales.
Because this breed of pony had evolved over the years in different types of climates, its coat of fur developed different layers for each season. The winter coat has a thick, strong badger-like hair over a softer undercoat; then in the spring it sheds this coat to reveal its smoother summer coat. This pony comes in a variety of different colors. A foal's coat often changes colors as it grows older, as many ponies do; this is particularly true if they have a gray color impressed in it original coat. Others tend to show a difference in color between seasons, particularly winter and summer.
In the category of color, there are some colors or markings that the Highland Pony Registry does not allow on any pony that is being considered for official registration. Stallions are not allowed any white marks beyond a small star, nor any white legs, or white hooves.
It was in the 19th century that a need for a larger pony was put in demand, so at an attempt to make the Highland Pony into the large pony that it is today. Arabian blood was added so that the pony could pull heavier loads; they particularly wanted them to be able to pull loads of logs in the forest.
The ancestor of the Highland is believed to be the ancient Northern European pony. The McNeil clan, of the island Barra off the coast of Scotland bred the Highland mares with Arabian stallions, out of this cross breeding came ponies with excellent temperaments, a better appearance, and of course speed, which the Arabian horse was famous for passing onto many different breeds of horse and pony throughout the centuries.
The Highland Pony or as it was referred to by a Gaelic word, a Garron, was used for a long time as a crofters horse because it could do all the work on crofts in all of the Highlands of Scotland. For the longest time they were used as pack ponies for transporting goods as well as being used to pull carts or other types of wheeled modes of transportation. In fact, they are still widely used for carting on the hills as well as general driving and riding. There is around 5,000 to 6,000 Highland Ponies worldwide; a majority of them are in Scotland.
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