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The Boys Of Summer (Ataris Version) Issue

Pygmy Shetland Ponies

Don’t let their size fool you, pygmy Shetland ponies like to pig out big time. Carrots, apples, grass—they love it all, and will do just about anything to get food in their mouths. Running through barbed wire or risking a zap from an electric fence...

Don’t let their size fool you, pygmy Shetland ponies like to pig out big time. Carrots, apples, grass—they love it all, and will do just about anything to get food in their mouths. Running through barbed wire or risking a zap from an electric fence? Doesn’t faze them. At least not the adorably naughty ponies we visited at Misty Meadow Farm in Kent, England. One of the highlights was their daily exercise routine, which consists of trotting and jumping over tiny pony hurdles. When they leap, their stunted mini-legs swish in the air, and it’s so precious we almost died. Sometimes, if they’ve put on a few too many pounds, they have to wear muzzles when they leave their itty-bitty stables so they don’t eat everything in sight. They hate that! But it’s for their own good, and watching them try to push the muzzle off makes you laugh and feel sorry for the chubby li’l guys at the same time. These peewees are also quite intelligent, and some are even trained as guide horses for the blind. How noble!

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