THE PONT BREEDS OF HORSES 171 



200. Feeding and care of Shetland ponies. In the 

 winter time, it is usual to feed the ponies. In May, they 

 are turned on common pasture lands to shift for themselves. 

 In the autumn, the ponies come down from the hills and 

 feed on the patches of fresh grass which have been pre- 

 served around the cultivated areas. In severe winters, 

 when feed is scarce, they eat the seaweed. Contrary to 

 the popular impression prevailing in America, the ponies 

 do not run wild. They are all definitely owned and cared 

 for more or less. There are few large herds. Most of the 

 ponies are held by the crofters or farmers in small numbers. 



201. Organizations and records. The American Shet- 

 land Pony Club was organized in 1888. The office of 

 its secretary is at Lafayette, Indiana. Thirteen vol- 

 umes of the American Shetland Pony Stud-book have 

 been issued, registering over sixteen thousand ponies. 

 The Shetland Pony Stud-book Society, with the secretary 

 at Aberdeen, Scotland, is the official organization of the 

 breed in Scotland and Shetland. 



202. The Welsh pony. The Welsh pony is more nu- 

 merous than any other breed that comes from the British 

 Isles. It is difficult to discover the exact number, as 

 there appear to be no statistics on the subject. He 

 wanders over the hills and waste-lands of all the twelve 

 counties of Wales and also on the borders of Shropshire, 

 Hereford and Monmouth. Inured from the earliest 

 foalhood to the roughest and poorest pasturage, he is as 

 sure-footed as the goat, has good shoulders, strong back, 

 neat head and the best of legs and feet. Many of the 

 best hunters in England trace their origin on the side of 

 the dam to a Welsh mare. The breed has been improved 

 from time to time by the introduction of superior alien 

 blood, chiefly Thoroughbred, Arabian and Hackney. 



