A pony, short for a pony glass or a pony shot, is another mostly forgotten measure dating from the mid to late 1800s. The name is from the small size of the glass or portion and has nothing to do with horseracing. You may also see terms like the pony bottle or pony keg also referring to a smaller than a standard vessel.
For example, a pony shot equals one ounce (28 milliliters rounded) versus the standard one and a half-ounce shot (43 milliliters rounded). A pony glass refers to glassware and bar tools, with a quarter-pint (5 imperial fluid ounces or 142 milliliters rounded) so ordering a pony of beer in the United Kingdom returns five imperial ounces of your choice. A pony glass for serving a shot is roughly one ounce (28 milliliters rounded) and looks much like the typical shot glass found in most bars. Cordials, liqueurs, and liquors were typically found served in a pony glass. Old bar tools included jiggers holding two imperial ounces (57 milliliters rounded) with another jigger attached at the bottom holding a single imperial ounce (28 milliliters) used to measure pony shots from a larger bottle. Keep in mind contemporary jiggers come in a variety of sizes (both metric and imperial) and ratios so one size does not fit them all. For example, metric jiggers come in sizes like 15ml x 30ml and 25ml x 50ml so in a 25ml jigger a pony shot is a touch short by traditional definitions.
To keep it simple, in modern times the consensus is that a pony or a pony shot equals one ounce or 25ml metricated.
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