Papil (United Kingdom) (AFP)

Small, pretty and therapeutic, Shetland ponies have seen their prices rise during the pandemic.

A few days before the annual auction held in the eponymous Scottish archipelago, breeders hope to return to last year's record prices.

"People couldn't go on vacation, they had accumulated money so some spent it buying a pony," Sheena Anderson, president of the Shetland Pony Breeders Association, told AFP.

Demand has had its ups and downs but last year prices hit record highs at over 3,000 pounds (3,500 euros) for a pony, while some sell for no more than a few hundred pounds in bad seasons.

The next auctions, online for a few years, will be held on October 1st and the breeders are on the starting blocks.

Sheena has put two animals on sale this year.

"They have to look good, the tail, the rump, the mane… it's like a beauty contest," she explains, stroking Dester, a beige miniature barely three feet tall.

A Shetland pony in a field in Papil, Shetland Islands, September 10, 2021 in Scotland ADRIAN DENNIS AFP

What distinguishes the Shetland ponies, known all over the world?

"They're small," easier and cheaper to maintain than larger horses, very strong for their size ... And, "they're cute," Sheena lists.

Breeders are counting on strong demand again this year, in particular thanks to the holding of the online sale, which widens access to buyers all over the world: "We have already received expressions of interest from people in Germany, Norway ... "Buyers sometimes come from Russia, Canada, Dubai ...

Sheena notes, however, that Shetland ponies are still priced much lower than other horses, and breeders - around 100 in the Scottish Archipelago - often find it difficult to make a living from them.

"I do it as a hobby, I don't make any money," admits Sheena, a nurse by profession, noting that in other countries like the Netherlands, the profession is more regulated, organized and lucrative.

Sheena Anderson and her Shetland ponies in Papil, Shetland Islands, September 10, 2021 in Scotland ADRIAN DENNIS AFP

- Companion or therapy animal -

But for Sheena, ponies are an integral part of the culture of the Shetland Islands.

Everywhere on the windswept hills of the archipelago, or on the beaches with white sand and turquoise waters, we see them grazing peacefully, or shaking their manes, as at Elaine Tait.

This breeder's daughter fell in love with these tiny horses when she was little.

When she was five, she says she harassed her father ("I want a pony, I want a pony, I want a pony!") Until she succeeded.

She had the second at ten, won horse shows ...

Shetland ponies in a field in Papil, Shetland Islands, September 10, 2021 in Scotland ADRIAN DENNIS AFP

Now on the fringes of the family business, she has founded her own children's riding school and a tourist activity company, the Shetland Pony Experience.

Among the hundreds of breeders in the archipelago, there are many women.

"I imagine the profession was more masculine before but women have always been involved" especially because the men looked after the farms or worked elsewhere, explains Carole Laignel, vice-president of the Shetland Pony Association.

Their small size is said to be due to their adaptation to the harsh climate of these islands in the far north of the United Kingdom, near the Norwegian coast.

When winter comes, grass is scarce and only the smallest builds managed to survive in the past.

Shetland ponies in Papil, Shetland Islands, September 10, 2021 in Scotland ADRIAN DENNIS AFP

This makes them very strong horses for their build and a century ago they were used in agriculture or coal mining.

Today, we buy them to show them in competitions, for horse races, for our own breeding, or as a pet, or even therapy.

Shetland ponies in Papil, Shetland Islands on September 10, 2021 in Scotland Libby Morrison, therapist, explains on her website that "interactions between humans and horses are beneficial for those who suffer from anxiety, depression, and post-syndrome. traumatic or autism "and said to work with" for facilitators of Shetland ponies raised in the archipelago ".

© 2021 AFP