By carrying peat and seaweed on their backs, the small, hardy and docile ponies were once crucial to croft work. Every island family used to have a pony, said Sandra MacInnes, secretary of Comann Each nan Eilean (Eriskay Pony Society). "They wouldn't have survived without the pony. They wouldn't have got peat to keep them warm, they wouldn't have got seaweed to help [fertilise] the crops."
