SHETLAND PONY FESTIVAL
15-23RD AUGUST 2009
Our trip to Shetland was just amazing. The scenery was breathtaking, the people so friendly and seeing all the ponies in their natural habitat – altogether made this trip an unforgettable experience.
Our busy week started on the Saturday with a visit to Gott Farm to watch the Stallion Evaluation sessions. The ponies were assessed by three judges and scored a % mark for each category which gave them an overall award of Gold, Silver or Bronze. From there we attended a welcome reception with lunch in Tingwall Hall hosted by the SPF chairperson, Morgan Goodlad – this was our first taste of Shetland hospitality which can only be described as superb.
On Sunday we travelled to Unst which involved two ferry journeys. Unst is the most northerly isle in Britain and its here where e the ponies graze and roam free on the scattalds. During the course of the day we visited eight studs including Houlland, Muness and Clivcast, stopping for another lovely lunch at the local hall in Baltasound.
On Monday we headed off to the West Mainland. A long drive took us through one of the most scenic and unspoilt areas of Shetland. During the morning we visited six studs in Tresta and Walls followed by lunch in Skeld Public Hall. The buffet lunch was a banquet of traditional dishes, prepared form local produce including seafood, fish and Shetland lamb. Local crafts were also on display and a demonstration of spinning and knitting using Shetland pony hair proved very interesting. In the afternoon we visited another six studs with a short stop in the village of Aith where we had afternoon tea.
On Tuesday we covered the Central Mainland, visiting a total of seventeen studs!! In the morning we called in at nine studs, two of which were Lunna and Oligarth, where Susie Nicholson and her helpers gave us a very interesting talk and demonstration on riding shetland ponies. Here we sampled more delicious food and enjoyed traditional music played by pupils form the local school.
In the afternoon we visited another nine studs including Berry and Merkisayre. Whilst there we were lucky enough to watch the seals at closehand basking on the beach. Later we had the opportunity to look around a traditional Shetland Croft trail and had some of Mary’s delicious bannocks!!
On Friday we took the ferry to Bressay to visit the Island of Noss, the original home of Lord Londonderry’s stud and the Shetland Pony Pund. The isle is a Scottish National Heritage Reserve and is home to some of the largest seabird colonies in Great Britain.
On Saturday we went to the Clickimin Leisure Complex for the main event of our trip – SPSBS Breed Show. During the show we met many breeders and got the opportunity to see a lot of well known ponies in action. Congratulations must go to friends, Eileen & Roy from Dumfries whose pony Dryfesdale Dekateriona won Senior Champion and Reserve Overall Ring Champion. Also fellow members of the Central Group, Brenda and John Laing from the Eynhallow Stud did very well with their homebred ponies. A hospitality tent was available all day, where we sampled a dram or two to celebrate!!! The day carried on into the evening with a dance and music by local musicians accompanied by a tremendous buffet of traditional Shetland food and wine. 
On the Sunday morning our weary legs just managed to carry us back to the Leisure Complex to watch the qualifier for the Shetland Pony Grand National followed by a Shetland Pony Pageant. It was very entertaining and a unique experience to see the modern day pony in competition, in contrast to the very important role the pony has played throughout the ages. From there we went to the Town Hall in Lerwick for a Civic Reception followed by lunch. The town hall is a beautiful historic building and was a super place to say goodbye to all the friends we had made during our trip. 
Finally I would like to say a big thank you to the organisers, the volunteers and all the studs for all their hard work and above all their hospitality which made this trip one we will be talking about for a long time to come!!! I have included a small selection of the photos that I took of our furry friends - hope you like them as much as I do - enjoy!!
