Saving the Faroe Pony

The Faroese pony, which averages from 11 to 12 hands, is native to its eponymous island of origin. Like the Icelandic, this breed can tolt, has abundant mane and tail and coat in winter, and is agile over rough terrain.  It was used to carry loads on farms and herd sheep.

 I remember reading in one source written around 1900 that compared the horse and pony breeds of Scotland, Ireland, Iceland, etc., that the Faroe pony was regarded as being smarter than the other breeds since, not only was it used to herd sheep, but it would trap sheep between its legs to move an individual.

In the 1880s, there were 800 such horses on the Island but the population was severely reduced due to exports to the coal mines for use as pit ponies and the changing needs of the farmers on the island.  By the 1960s, there were 5 or 6 known purebreds.  Today there 85 purebreds left because of a strong rescue effort to save the equine heritage of the island, as the above video explains. As of 2017, there are 307 registered Icelandics on the island.

You can view the subtitles to this video by clicking the closed caption button.
Source of most info is Wikipedia.