Faroe pony

The Faroe Pony ( Faroese: føroysk ross ) is considered a separate breed of horse that is different from Iceland Pony Fjord horse and who are on the Faroe Islands now in the majority.

The Faroe pony is slightly smaller than the Iceland horse, with which it is closely related. Just like in this race, there are individuals who mastered five courses ( walk, trot, tolt, pass, canter). There is a separate breed, as evidenced by blood tests and finally a DNA analysis in September 2004.

Around the turn of the century ( the 19th to the 20th century) there were on the islands, many of the original ponies Faroese race. In the travelogue of the English Mary expedition of 1854 it is called a ride of Hvalvík after Vestmanna:

In the same report from 1854 says:

Before the Second World War, many ponies were exported as pack animals for British coal mines to Britain, where they were used as the Shetland ponies. While the Faroe Pony was exported, other ponies from Iceland and Norway were imported.

The Faroe pony was continually crossed, and its characteristic features gradually disappeared. In the 1960s there were only 4-5 copies in the Faroe Islands. Today, there are again about 50 individual animals of this rare breed.