LIMIT OF HEIGHT. 



183 



increased about two inches in height during the last fifty 

 years. We should remember that when we refer to 

 certain breeds of ponies, we allude to horses that have 

 for generations been kept small by privation, inclemency 

 of climate, or other influences which have retarded their 

 growth. Were they placed under conditions favourable 

 to their development, their descendants would soon be- 

 come full-sized horses, even in the case of Shetland 



Phutv Oil] 



Fig. 280. — Australian Horse, low at the Withers. 



[M. H. H. 



(Fig. 282), Hebridean (Fig. 283) or Corean ponies. Selec- 

 tion, as in the case of toy-terriers, would of itself, if carried 

 out strictly, enable us to maintain a breed of dwarf horses ; 

 but when with small size we also require physical excel- 

 lence, this application of selection woyld certainly prove 

 too costly for practical requirements. Hence, in tem- 

 perate climates like those of Australasia, and the low- 

 lying lands of England, horse-breeders very seldom under- 

 take the task of maintaining a breed of ponies which are 



