Wow. I don't know much about horses, but I had no idea Shetland ponies looked like anything but the original. I had no idea that someone had bred an "American" shetland pony. Not only is that kind of sad, but kind of silly. A Shetland pony comes from the Shetland Islands, just like a Shetland Sheepdog. The Shetland Islands are a long way from America, last time I checked. That's kind of like breeding an American German Shepherd or an American Australian Shepherd.
The American pony looks just like a regular horse to me, although I assume it's indeed smaller. The original Shetland pony looks like what I've always seen and thought of as Shetland ponies.
Don't mess with Mother Nature!
"We give dogs the time we can spare, the space we can spare and the love we can spare. And in return, dogs give us their all. It's the best deal man has ever made" - M. Facklam
"We are raised to honor all the wrong explorers and discoverers - thieves planting flags, murderers carrying crosses. Let us at last praise the colonizers of dreams."- P.S. Beagle
"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost. From the ashes a fire shall be woken, A light from the shadows shall spring; Renewed shall be blade that was broken, The crownless again shall be king." - J.R.R. Tolkien
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