This small stud was established on the island of Unst, in the Shetland Islands in the 1800s. The stud is now based in Dunrossness. My great grandfather had entries in the first stud book of 1891. Gue ponies have been exported all over the world including to as far afield as Australia.
My aim, when I started, was to breed ponies which go back to Gue bloodlines. I am achieving this (I currently have 21 who do go back to Gue) but, in the process, realise that I must like a particular type of pony as a lot of my stock has Berry, Tawna, Houlland, Kerswell and Fairy in their backgrounds. Brandon Fiery Jack, purchased from the Tawna Stud in Cornwall 16 years ago, has been a massive influence on the Gue stud and currently 20 out of the ponies here have Jack in their background.
I started breeding chestnuts but have diversified and now have a variety of other colours including bay, skewbald and roan. I have also bred my first three mushroom ponies and at least 50% of our ponies tested are mushroom carriers. Although we have never had an issue with dwarfism in the stud, we have just finished testing for Skeletal Atavism (SA) and are pleased that all our stock bar one have tested clear or are clear through parental testing. We are retaining the pony who is not clear and will continue breeding with her (she has lovely foals) by putting her to SA clear stallions and hope to get a filly from her who can carry on that line.
Our ponies get lots of attention and are worked with regularly which, I believe, is evident as they are all friendly and easy to handle. My own belief is that there is no point in having ponies if they don't have a good nature. They are also all wormed frequently and have their hooves trimmed on a regular basis.
Before acquiring my own stallions I was fortunate to be able to use stallions from some of the best Shetland Pony Studs in Shetland and for this I am very grateful.
We hope you like them as much as we do.