On the slopes of Beinn Sciathan, a rocky outcrop in the Outer Hebrides, white and grey ponies roam freely.
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ponies → roam → Hebrides
They have often been mixed with the Highland pony and other breeds, giving the false impression of higher population numbers.
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They → mix → numbers
Only about 300 to 400 true Eriskay ponies are thought to remain.
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ponies → think → ?
Efforts have been made to boost their numbers since the 1970s, both on their small homeland, Eriskay Island, and on the mainland.
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Efforts → make → mainland
The island’s ponies have a lifestyle fascinating enough to draw tourists.
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ponies → have → tourists
They are neither wild nor kept enclosed.
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They → keep → ?
For half of the year, including winter, they are free to roam the island and its village.
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they → include → island
Each pony has an owner who can easily identify their own despite them looking nearly identical to the average observer.
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them → have → observer
About 150 people live on Eriskay, many of whom speak Gaelic.
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many → live → Gaelic
It is a close-knit community, but over time the island
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It → knit → time
“It all makes Eriskay what it is today,” says Sandra MacInnes, the chair of Comann Each nan Eilean, the island’s pony society, who owns several of the animals.
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who → make → animals
In the 1850s, thousands of families in the Outer Hebrides were forced from Barra and South Uist during the Highland clearances.
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thousands → force → clearances
For many, Eriskay became a crowded refuge.
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Eriskay → become → many
MacInnes says: “[The landlords] thought it’s rubbish for grazing so they sent them here thinking they’ll never survive.
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they → say → them
They came here and made their houses …
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They → come → houses
They were cleared from crofting communities and had to learn fishing, but then they thrived.”
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they → clear → fishing
Once the Eriskay community was established, the ponies thrived because of their role in the region’s social fabric.
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ponies → establish → fabric
Originally used for crofting, they would be fitted with creels to bring peat up the hill and move seaweed as fertiliser for crops.
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they → use → crops
In the 1970s, however, their population shrunk to a low of about 20 purebreds.
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population → shrink → purebreds
Mechanisation was one of the main reasons for their decline, and Comann Each nan Eilean was founded in 1972 to restore the breed.
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Eilean → found → breed
Community members also note that the climate crisis has begun to affect their island.
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crisis → note → island
Recent winters have hit hard, and the beaches are starting to erode.
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beaches → hit → ?
But the ponies adapt well to harsh and fluctuating winters with their hardy coats and their ability to navigate the island to stay out of the wind.
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ponies → adapt → wind
Triona MacKinnon owns two ponies on Eriskay and a few others on South Uist.
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MacKinnon → own → Uist
“Winters are getting longer and wetter,” she says, noting that the community is having to help more in feeding the ponies – but at the same time that milder weather encourages ticks, which affect the animals.
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which → get → animals
“This winter’s been particularly long,” she says.
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she → say → ?
“You can get loads of rain.
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You → get → rain
Some ponies can get rain scald, and you’re not used to seeing that.”
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you → get → that
The ponies have shaped the town’s culture over time.
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ponies → shape → time
Local people quote the former parish priest Father Calum MacLellan, who once said: “Without the people of Eriskay there would be no pony, but without the pony there would have been no people on Eriskay.
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who → quote → Eriskay
Or as MacInnes says: “They both needed each other.”
The ponies’ population has increased in the last 60 years, but there is still work to do.
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population → say → years
nan Eilean is developing a breeding programme, and it manages the herd numbers to ensure the the grazing land can sustain the animals without them overrunning the community.
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them → develop → community
One foal was born on the island this year, and the community hopes for a few more next year.
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community → bear → few
When first born, the ponies are almost black and then become lighter as they age.
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they → bear → ?
Most turn white, but adults have brown coats.
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adults → turn → coats
In the winter months, the ponies need extra food and their owners feed them with support from the island’s pony society.
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owners → need → society
In the summer, the ponies are kept up on Beinn Sciathan to allow the soil on lower slopes to recover so it can be used for farming.
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it → keep → farming
Owners hike up and down whenever they can to check on their ponies.
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they → hike → ponies
Some tend to their own ponies’ hooves, but many need to pay for a farrier, as well as veterinary care when needed.
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many → tend → farrier
The work is financially demanding and time-consuming, but many islanders see a life alongside the ponies as something beautiful and part of their heritage.
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islanders → demand → heritage
…and 4 more, not listed.
The Aporia
