Who's who
Ponies
A pony is a small horse, typically measuring under 147 cm high at maturity. Unlike baby horses (foals), ponies are small, fully grown adults with distinctive features including thicker coats, shorter legs, thicker necks, and wider barrels compared to full-sized horses
Learn more
- What do they weigh?
Ponies can weigh up to the equivalent of 5 people (400kg)
- What do they eat?
Ponies are herbivores (eat only plant matter) and, like us, have a singular stomach with no chambers. Instead of chewing their cud like cows and sheep, they rely on bacteria from an organ called a "caecum" to help breakdown tough grass and hay.
- Why are they on farms?
Ponies originally come from the northern parts of Europe and Asia. Ponies are stronger than horses relative to body weight so were used for carrying and pulling heavy loads. Today, they are often used for children to ride on like here at Myuna Farm, but some larger pony breeds can also take adults for rides too. .
- What's the difference between a hoarse and a pony?
All the animals in this paddock are ponies, even if some of them do look like horses! That's because technically, ponies are horses – they're the same species. However, ponies are defined as a small horse whose height is lower than 142 cm (14 "hands"). Ponies have shorter legs and stockier bodies than horses. They also tend to live longer and are known to be a bit cheekier than your regular horse. All of the ponies in this paddock are fully grown adults. Baby horses and baby ponies are actually called foals.
- Lifecycle
A girl horse is called a mare and a boy horse is called a stallion. A baby horse is called a foal. A horse’s pregnancy is 11 months (approx 330 days) and they usually only give birth to one foal. From 180 days the foal will stop drinking milk and by 5 years old the foal will be fully grown.
- Fun facts
During the industrial revolution ponies were sent into the mines to haul loads of coal out.
Sustainability fact: Ponies (and horses) do something incredible in the paddock that's very good for the soil. Can you see it? Manure (animal poo) acts as a slow release fertiliser for plants and crops, providing nutrients that help the plant grow bigger and stronger. Using manure is one way to avoid using chemical fertilisers that can run off into nearby waterways. The manure in this paddock is used in the community gardens.