A garron or garran (from ) is a type of small sturdy

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 mi ...

pony A pony is a type of small horse, usually measured under a specified height at maturity. Ponies often have thicker coats, manes and tails, compared to larger horses, and proportionally shorter legs, wider barrels, heavier , thicker necks and s ...

. The term occurs in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, and generally refers to an undersized beast. In Scotland, a garron is one of the types of

Highland pony The Highland Pony is a native Scotland, Scottish pony, and is one of the largest of the mountain and moorland pony breeds of the British Isles. Its Pedigree chart, pedigree dates back to the 1880s. It was once a workhorse in the Scotland, Sc ...

. It is the larger, heavier type, bred on the mainland. The Isles' type of pony is generally smaller and slightly finer, but still within the standard of the Highland pony breed. There is less difference today than there once was between these two types. The word ''garron'' may also characterise a

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally, ''upland'' refers to a range of hills, typically from up to , while ''highland'' is usually reserved for range ...

cross A cross is a religious symbol consisting of two Intersection (set theory), intersecting Line (geometry), lines, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of t ...

of a

Clydesdale horse The Clydesdale is a horse breed, breed of draught horse which originated in the seventeenth century, and takes its name from the Clydesdale (district), Clydesdale district of Scotland. The first recorded use of the name "Clydesdale" for the bre ...

with ponies. Farmers used such garrons, especially in the

Highlands and Islands The Highlands and Islands is an area of Scotland broadly covering the Scottish Highlands, plus Orkney, Shetland, and the Outer Hebrides (Western Isles). The Highlands and Islands are sometimes defined as the area to which the Crofters' Act o ...

where a full-sized Clydesdale would not have been as economical. These horses were valued for their hardiness and ability to work on slopes. Highland deer-stalking estates kept garrons to bring the stags off the hill, as some still do, for tradition or where ATV access is not practicable.

Mentions in literature

Garrons are mentioned a number of times in George R. R. Martin's fantasy series ''

A Song of Ice and Fire ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' is a series of high fantasy novels by the American author George R. R. Martin. Martin began writing the first volume, ''A Game of Thrones'', in 1991, and published it in 1996. Martin, who originally envisioned the ser ...

''. There, Garrons are used in cold mountainous areas, generally to the North near the Wall. The word is used by R. S. Surtees in the first chapter of ''Jorrocks′ Jaunts and Jollities''. The author Nigel Tranter mentions Garrons frequently in his novels about Scottish history, for example "Macbeth, the King". In the Irish folktale "The Tailor and the Three Beasts", the tailor meets a garron along the way who asks the tailor: "Would you make me a hole ... where I could go a' hiding whenever the people are for bringing me to the mill or the kiln".

References

{{Horse breeds of the British Isles Types of horse Horse breeds Horse breeds originating in Scotland

Mentions in literature

See also

References