The workhorse of the Highlands

For centuries, the garron pony has been a steadfast companion to those who spend their time on the hill - a special partnership that continues to this day

- SOPHIE CLARK 

THE GARRON pony is as much a symbol of Scotland's sporting heritage as it is a modern working animal, doughtily getting to places that the Argo can't reach, and a companion to those who spend their time on the hill. Growing up, I had little experience of horses and ponies. All that changed when I started my college placement as a student gamekeeper at Grosvenor's Reay Forest estate, one of the handful of sporting estates that still use the garron for deer extraction. Naively I took this for granted and did not appreciate the rarity of my experience. At 18 years old one of my main responsibilities suddenly became these amazing animals. Each one had their own unique character and personality, some easy-going and gentle, others stubborn and cantankerous.

I quickly learned that as well as the pony having to trust me, I had to trust them to navigate the wild and open hillside. Their sense of direction and memory of the land is exceptional and, on the days when it was just me and a pony, I relied on their sure footedness and company. These qualities I have been talked and written about for hundreds of years.

In Isolation Shepherd lain R Thomson documents his four years in Strathfarrar, Ross-shire in the 1950s. 'Dandy, the hardiest of ponies, small though he was, when once loaded would toddle off home at a fine speed, stag swaying high above his body on the heavy deer saddle. This pony had the sense to stop immediately, should the stag start to slip round his saddle, writes Thomson. 'We often let him go on ahead if there happened to be another pony to load. He would not make any mistake either of path or load and would be waiting at the larder or more likely trying to get into the stable for his feed when we caught up with him. With commendable manners, we were amused that he never dirtied the path, but would step up the hill a little and then carry on.