Pony Snowshoes

Much has been written about the fate of the ponies during Scott’s Terra Nova expedition. Scott talked at length in his journals about the ponies’ ability, or lack thereof, to walk across land covered in soft snow, and it was obvious he felt frustrated and distressed by the hardship the ponies suffered. They were fine, apparently, walking on hard icy surfaces, but with all their weight borne by their relatively thin legs and small hooves, it was inevitable that they would sink in soft snow, making their going very difficult.

Anticipating this problem before leaving England, Scott had had snowshoes made for the ponies. Once on the ice, though, it appears that the ponies were reluctant to wear them. Scott wrote in his journal ‘Have been discussing pony snowshoes. I wish to goodness the animals would wear them–it would save them any amount of labour in such surfaces as this.’

Examples of the original English-made pony snowshoes. © Shannah Rhynard-Geil/AHT

While we’ve been conserving artefacts from Scott’s Terra Nova hut at Cape Evans, it has been interesting to see that there are slight differences in the design of the snowshoes. I initially thought these were adaptations made by Scott’s team to make the snowshoes more comfortable for the ponies and less easy for them to kick off. But it transpires that there were two different shipments of equine snowshoes sent to Cape Evans: those brought from England by Scott, and others purchased later in New Zealand for the expedition to retrieve Scott’s body. The snowshoes made in New Zealand were actually made for mules. Presumably mules are even more resistant to footwear than ponies, as their snowshoes were made of much sturdier stuff!