Ponies for Survival, by Jen's Hens Survivalblog.com Horses will be quite handy in a survival situation to be pack animals, to ride, to do farm work, and many other things. But horses eat enormous amounts of food and generally are not surefooted.
So how are you going to have pack animals, riding animals, and farm workers? Well, ponies of course! Ponies are smaller than horses no taller then 14.2 hands high so they are easier to handle, they are more surefooted then horses, and eat a lot less than horses. (One hand equals four inches.) Horses (Especially Draft horses) require high quality feed, but ponies can easily survive on poor quality feed if worst comes to worst, do to the rugged conditions they were developed in. Most ponies are very easy to train, unlike Mustangs who hardly ever lose their wildness. Many people think ponies are too small to do anything, but that is not true at all. Ponies are proportionately stronger than horses, and all the ponies I will suggest you to research to possibly buy are almost the size of a horse. Most ponies don't even need to be shod, and that will come in handy in a disaster. In our area it costs approximately $430 to keep one horse shod for one year, on top of very expensive feed bills makes one mighty big sum to invest on a horse. Here are a few good pony breeds, and benefits for survival and enjoyment. Avelignese:From Italy Surefooted Unflappable temperament Perfect family riding pony Up to 14.3 hands high (hh) Good for novice riders Used for farm work Color is chestnut w/flaxen mane and tail Connemara: From Ireland Good stamina Hard feet Good for riding and driving Excellent for wet climates Very intelligent Up to 14.2 hh Colors are Gray, bay, and brown Dales and Fells ponies From England Can carry huge weights It was used to carry lead oar out of mines Good riding and harness ponies Surefooted Good in bad weather Sensible temperament Dales up to 14.2 hh Fells up to 14 hh Colors are Black, Dark Brown, and Bay Garrano From Portugal Good for riding and driving Quite temperament Good for woody and steep areas Surefooted Strong 10 to 14 hh Colors are Bay, Brown, or Chestnut Haflinger: From Austria Surefooted Good farm workers Good riding ponies Nice temperament Up to 14 hh Color is chestnut w/flaxen mane and tail Highland: From Scotland Very hardy and sturdy Surefooted Good in bad weather Will do almost anything It was used on deer hunts to haul dead deer out of Scottish hills It also was used to haul peat out of the bogs Very calm temperament Up to 14.2 hh Good riding pony Colors are dun, gray, bay, and black Good in swampy conditions Nigerian From Nigeria Excellent in hot climates Quite temperament Sturdy Good stamina Good for riding, driving, and packing 14 to 14.2 hh Any color Norwegian Fjord: From Norway Good for mountain areas Were used as Vikings war ponies Tireless workers Excellent Temperament Good farm workers Good riding ponies If worst comes to worst they can survive by eating stuff other horses consider inedible Surefooted Very hard feet Remember what you teach them very well 13 to 14hh Color is Dun Welsh Mountain: Up to 12 hh Welsh pony class B: Up to 13.2 hh Welsh pony class C: Up to 13.2 hh Welsh pony class D (or Welsh Cob): No height limit All Welsh Ponies: >From Wales Hardy and sturdy Eat very little Surefooted Good riding ponies All colors except Piedball and Skewball Any of these ponies are excellent choices for survival. Please research which one of those pony breeds will be best for you. I wrote this article so you can choose which pony breeds to research for survival and enjoyment. I hope that if you get a pony you will enjoy raising it as much as I enjoy my Icelandic pony Trigger (I did not include Icelandic ponies in my article because they generally have a bad attitude). My sisters and I also own a 35 year old Welsh Mountain pony whose just a big pet named Sam, a feisty 7 year old American Shetland named Dusty, and a very large and friendly 8 year old Quarter Horse named Sassy. _____________________ Judy http://icehorses.net http://clickryder.com
