We have owned Shetland ponies since 1980 when Elaine got her first Shetland pony at age 5. She got another Shetland pony when she was 10 called Robins Brae Firva. They competed both locally and on the UK mainland which included wins at Olympia Horse Show in London in the Shetland Pony Grand National in 1987 and 1988.

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The Merkisayre Shetland Pony Stud was then formed in 1994 when we started breeding. We are experienced breeders and have sold ponies to various countries including Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Czech Republic, Ireland and the UK. We have had numerous wins in the show ring and we've won many championships at shows including the Shetland Pony Breed Show where our 3 year old filly Merkisayre Dion won supreme champion. Our most recent notable success was when Poppy Dadson was the first to qualify for Olympia in 2018 with Merkisayre Sea Duble where she went on to win a couple of races in the Shetland Pony Grand National.

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After George built an indoor riding facility, we set up the Shetland Pony Riding School in 2012 where our instructors have taught young children to ride and care for a pony ever since. We are now going into our eighth year. We also offer beach hacks to a nearby scenic, sandy beach which proves very popular with visiting children.

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This brings us onto The Shetland Pony Experience which was started last year in 2018. We opened our doors to visiting tourists to Shetland to give them the opportunity to have a unique experience getting up close and personal with our friendly Shetland ponies and to learn all about them. We received a lot of positive feedback last year from our visitors, often saying it was the highlight of their trip to Shetland!

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