PORTLAND has a rare new addition to the population – two-week-old foal Quiddles.

The little filly was born on April 24 and is very strong and inquisitive.

The new arrival at Fancy’s Farm on the isle, is extra special as she is a rare Eriskay Pony. There are fewer than 300 registered females in the world according to the Rare Breeds Survival Trust.

The farm, which looks after all sorts of animals in Tophill, adopted two adult Eriskay ponies- Quintus and Quiver – back in 2015.

Sue and Jon Illsley at Fancy’s Farm worked with rare horse expert Emma Massingale to mate Quiver with Twilight, an Eriskay pony stallion.

Quiddles is now living happily out in the fields of Portland with mum Quiver.

Sue and Jon said Quiddles, which is the local Portland word for squid, said the foal was “very inquisitive,” loved attention and loved a “cuddle and a scratch.”

Sue said: “Her mum Quiver is 18 now, so she was getting older and it was a case that if we don’t breed from her now then her breeding line would be lost. It was a case of see how she goes to do it again maybe. She’s done really well.”

They could look to breed from her again, in order to try and grow the Eriskay pony population, but Sue said that because the gene pool was so small they had to make sure they found a mate that wasn’t closely related to Quiver to breed with.

In this they can turn to the Eriskay Pony Society who have a list of all the ponies and stallions and they help them find a suitable match.

Quiddles was born overnight and came as a bit of a surprise to the Fancy's team.

Sue said: “There were no complications with the birth. We checked her on the Sunday and I said we will have to start staying over with her on ‘Foal Watch’ from Monday night.

“We got to the farm on Monday morning and there was a foal.”

She added: “She has a very inquisitive character. She will nibble on your arm. She’s beautiful. She’s a gorgeous little foal.”

Visitors to the farm can see Quiddles. She is currently brown but will fade to grey as she grows.

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