12 October 2016

Independent: Scottish island has more miniature horses than people

The island of Foula, an isle off the north-eastern coast of Scotland, contains 50 ponies to every one person.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Foula is where the Shetland breed originates from, and the ponies are said to have lived there since the Bronze Age (3200-600 BC).

With just 38 human inhabitants, Foula is one of Britain's most remote inhabited islands and is often referred to as “The Edge of the World”.

Measuring just three-and-a-half miles long by two-and-a-half miles wide, it is located twenty miles from its nearest neighbour and transport links to the island are sparse.

Foula even uses a different calendar to the rest of Great Britain, operating by the Julian calendar, meaning Christmas is celebrated on 6 January and New Year's Day is on the 13th.

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