Moorland Ponies. 43 



generally growing to 14.2, but they lost some of the Exnioor 

 characteristics and were not true to colour. 



Pandarifs, a thoroughbred, succeeded the Dongola horse, 

 and foals of his get were true to colour and smaller, being from 

 13 hands to 13 hands 2 inches. Oanopus, another thoroughbred, 

 succeeded Pmidarus, the result being equally good in respect of 

 size and conformation, but these cross breds could not endure 

 the hardships of wintering on the moor, so Mr. Knight 

 eventually gave up the use of these horses and used his 

 own stallion ponies. To this day the ponies in the Simonsbath 

 district are somewhat larger than Sir Thomas Acland's ponies, 

 and many of them retain the thoroughbred look transmitted 

 by the Arab sires introduced by Mr. Knight. 



At the present day it is the aim of all breeders to get their 

 ponies true to type, and for those interested in these ponies it 

 would be as well to give the following description furnished 

 to the Polo Pony Society for Volume V. of their Stud-book l)y 

 local committees. 



The Exmoor Division. 

 The Exmoor potiy should average 12 hands and never he 

 above 13 hands ; moorland bred, gf^nef^ally dark bay or brown 

 with black points, ivide forehead and nostril, mealy 7wse, sharp 

 ears, good shoulders and back, short legs, with good bo7ie and 

 fair action. 



There are a few grey ponies in Sir Thomas Acland's breed, 

 but no chestnuts. 



Of late years more interest has been taken in these ponies 

 by the small breeder, one reason being the desire to win a 

 prize at Exford, South Molton, or Lynton Shows, another 

 reason being the chance of selling a pony or two at a good 

 price to one of the numerous visitors who come to Exmoor 

 during August and September to hunt with the Devon and 

 Somerset Staghounds. 



The Lynton Pony Show has been instrumental in bringing 

 about much improvement in the ponies in the Lynton and 

 Brendon district, more improvement being noticed among 

 the ponies run by the farmers on the skirts of the moor than 

 among those who run their mares on the Common. 



The majority of breeders give no especial care to their 

 ponies even in winter, and it is surprising how well they do 

 oil the poor keep. Other breeders dui-ing the roughest weather 

 bring their ponies in off the moor to I'ather better keep and 

 to more sheltered spots, but even then hay and corn are the 

 exception rather than the rule. 



The herds remain more or less in their own localities, and 

 the enclosures of the moor assist materially in this. On 

 Brendon Common there is a certain amount of mixing, but 



