Sparky the Pit Pony’s Days in the Sun

The last working horses at a colliery in Britain retired – astonishingly – in 1999. Here’s a story from The Mirror about one of the other “last pit ponies”, Sparky: Since his retirement in 1988, Sparky has been taking it easy at the National Coal Mining Museum and has been looked after by Wendy and …

The Language of Riding: A piece for the New York Times’ Menagerie Blog

Sasa’s name means “so-so” in Portuguese. It’s a little joke, because the gray lusitano gelding is anything but — he’s a beautiful horse who can, like many Iberian equines, claim descent from the war horses of the Renaissance. Look at Uccello’s “Battle of San Romano” and there’s Sasa’s likeness carrying a Florentine general: compact as …

Collateral Damage in Victorian Divorce

From Geoffrey Wheatcroft’s review of Jane Ridley’s new biography of Edward VII in the NYRB. In a scene too lurid for the trashiest episode of Downton Abbey, Sir Charles Mordaunt returned unexpectedly from a fishing holiday in Norway to find two white carriage ponies in front of his country house, and his wife Harriet talking …

The Old Story of the End of Ponies on Dartmoor

The Guardian has a piece on the plight of the Dartmoor Hill Pony. Apparently prices are falling, and by the close of a recent auction only 20 of 60 animals had been sold. The piece goes on to say that “in the last century” the hill pony thrived. This isn’t strictly true. I’ve blogged about …

Whole Heap of Little Horse Links: the Pony Adventure Edition

A sanctuary in Devon provide an orphaned foal with teddy bears for company. Video ensues. (ZapIt) A pony in Canada is attacked by a bear while minding its own business. (Kamloops) A cob called Buddy goes for a swim in Kent, and requires the help fo the fire brigade. (Kent Online) A pony in Essex …

I Think I’ve Found the Model for the US Army’s New Robotic Mule

Thanks to Jane Badger for the link to America Blog and a video of the US Army’s latest combat buddy (seen in action below). I think Kate Beaton should have a cut of the royalties. If you’re curious about Kate’s inspiration for Fat Pony, take a look here.

Plus Ça Change: British Ponies To Slaughter

Letter to The Times, September 22nd, 1928: “I am taking all possible measures to find out whether the Dartmoor ponies are going to Belgium for slaughter, and, if so, how and where they are killed. We have already traced one truckload which was travelling from Friday to Sunday in England. Miss A. M. F. Coles, …

Whole Heap of Little Horse Links

The US Equestrian Federation has finally – yes, FINALLY – banned the chains, weighted shoes, pads, collars and rollers used to produce the monstruous “big lick gait. Good news for the beleagered Tennessee Walking Horse. (The Horse) This week was, mercifully, a week in which images of Shetland ponies wearing woolly jumpers flooded the internet. …