St. Andrew's Society of Detroit Annual Highland Games

10/20/2026

09/06/2026

In the early 1970s somebody counted the last of them and got to about twenty. Twenty animals left of a native Scottish breed that had been on those islands for centuries. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

The Eriskay pony is the last survivor of the old native ponies of the Western Isles. Small, compact, deep chested, usually grey, with a dense waterproof coat and a temperament that is almost unnervingly gentle. They were never a riding animal for show. They were the working engine of the croft, carrying peat home from the moor in creels, seaweed up from the shore to fertilise the machair, and the children to school when the weather was foul.

What made them unusual is how they were kept. They were not stabled and hardly handled as stock. They lived loose about the townships, in among the houses and the people, which is why Eriskay ponies to this day are famously unbothered by human beings. Generations of island children grew up beside them.

They nearly went for the ordinary reason. Crofting mechanised, larger imported horses were crossed in, and by the middle of the twentieth century the pure island type had almost disappeared. It hung on in the most remote corner of the most remote island. A small group of people, including a local priest and a vet, took the surviving handful seriously enough to start a breed society and pull them back. 🤍

There are a few hundred now, spread across Britain and beyond, and the breed is still classed as being at real risk.

That is the whole story of Hebridean life in one animal. Not dramatic. Not famous. Just something that survived because a very small number of people refused to let the last of it go.

Everything your people needed carried, that pony carried. It got down to twenty. 🪻

08/30/2026

Enjoying some good Scottish weather today! ☔️ Come check us out across from the Heavy Athletics. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

08/26/2026

Live Irish Music Sessions
Every Wednesday 5pm-7:30pm

08/18/2026

Thanks for being a top engager and making it on to our weekly engagement list! 🎉

Jean MacLeod Wingblad, Lynn Rehahn, Bob Richardson, Pamela Thomson, Cheryl L Mayle Guthrie