176 COMPARATIVE SHAPE OF HORSES. 



regard to this point, we may study Ormonde (Frontis- 

 piece) and Persimmon (Fig. 277). Could a horse be 

 reserved for races up-hill, like on the old Cambridgeshire 

 course, which finished at " the top of the town," in- 

 creased height at the croup would be an advantage ; 

 but such a policy would hardly be practicable. We may 

 conclude from the foregoing remarks, that if a race-horse 

 be higher over the croup than at the withers, he will 

 require, all the more, to have sloping shoulders, oblique 

 pasterns and powerful loins, and to be light in his head, 

 neck and shoulders. 



We have now to consider the very practical question — 

 which, no doubt, every man who goes in for pony racing 

 has asked himself — is it an advantage for a pony which has 

 to pass the standard at a certain height, to be considerably 

 higher over the croup than at the withers ? The results 

 of my experience make me reply " no " to this query. 

 The statement, which has often been put forward, that a 

 pony which measures, say 14.3 over the croup, and which 

 can pass the standard at fourteen hands, must have a 

 " pull " over others of its own class which are as high at 

 their withers as over their croup, is not borne out in 

 practice. The best racing ponies I have seen, had no 

 great difference between these two measurements — cer- 

 tainly not more than two inches. In this list we 

 have the English ponies Predominant (Fig. 278), 

 Lord Clyde, Maythorne, Mike (Fig. 279), Water-lily 

 (Fig. 337), St. Helena, Selena, and Sylvia ; the New 

 Zealanders, Little Wonder and Parekaretu ; the Aus- 

 tralians, Mayflower, Achievement, Chester, Bob, and 

 Jeannette ; the Arabs, Caliph, Little Hercules, Blitz 

 (Fig. 593), and vSweet William ; the Barb, Kangaroo ; 

 the Indian country-breds, Kuby, Bonnie Doo, and 

 Daphne ; and the South African, Coachman. Skittles, 

 which belonged to Captain Mowbray of the Black Watch, 

 and which was a very good fourteen hand pony, showed, 

 I think, the maximum of comparative height behind. 



