There is a beautiful poem about Shetlands or Shelties as they are known, it’s my all time favourite written by Homer Hawkins in 1932, it’s brilliant I hope you enjoy!
The Sheltie,
Bonny, bijou dray horse
Some forty inches high,
little kiddies’ riding horse
Trotting gaily by,
Constitution hard as nails,
Sound as any bell,
How long you’ve lived in Shetland Isles
Nobody can tell.
You’re a perfect model
Of what a horse should be;
Fine head, arched neck,
Action straight and free,
Good shoulder, short back,
And ev’ry leg correctly placed
To carry you along.
Deep chest, round ribs,
Broad and sturdy loin,
Well ribbed up and well let down
Where flank and stifle join;
Long above the knees and hocks,
Short, flat cannon bone,
Pasterns springy, long and clean,
Tough hoofs as hard as stone.
Then you haven’t bobbed your hair
Like a modern girl,
Plentiful and straight it falls
Far too fine to curl;
Mane to point of shoulder,
Forelock to your nose,
And tail that reaches to the ground
When you are in repose.
You can live on seaweed
If other food should fail,
You can stand the driving sleet
Of bitter winter gale;
Shelter you object to
Because it is your boast
That snug within your woolly coat
You’re just as warm as toast.
Down in deepest coalmines,
Working like a mole,
Many thousand times you’ve dragged
Hutches full of coal;
Formerly you lived there
Till you lost your sight,
Now thank God, you’ve been redeemed
From perpetual night.
Trotting with a rider,
Trotting in a cart,
Everybody looks at you
And thinks your jolly smart;
All the children love you,
Women gush and coo,
And every man admires your style
Who knows what you can do.
Taken altogether,
Ev’ry one must own
You’re the greatest little horse
The World has ever known;
Beautiful and hardy,
Diligent and strong,
I wish I knew more folk like you
To help the world along.
(Image created by Emma Massingale some of my Shetlands driving across Bodmin moor in the rain with little Albert & Ernie in the back)
Nelle's journey 