BREEDS OF PONIES SUITABLE FOR POLO 315 



a matter for reflection if their example should not be more 

 widely followed. 



And now to glance at Barbs. These have all the good 

 points of Arabs, and as a rule have better shoulders. Moreover, 

 they are far cheaper, not only costing less money in their own 

 country, but, as Morocco is within only a few days' sail of Eng- 

 land, they cost less to import. This, with their wear-and-tear 

 constitution and the ready way they take to the game, makes 

 them by far the most suitable polo ponies for a poor man or 

 a beginner. Many of these Barbs are imported to Gibraltar 

 and Malta, and are often wrongly called Maltese ponies, and 

 thence find their way to England. Smuggler, Spider, The Bay, 

 Saracen, Awfully Jolly, and other well-known ponies are all 

 Barbs. 



A word here with regard to the history of the last named, 

 which is not only curious, but has a dash of humour connected 

 with it. Awfully Jolly was stolen in a raid with several other 

 ponies and women, and brought into Tunis. Here the ladies 

 were sold as slaves and went to various harems and other more 

 menial occupations, the ponies being exported to Gibraltar and 

 Malta. So highly were these ponies thought of by their plun- 

 dered owners that they sent a message into Tunis, saying that 

 if the plunderers would only return the ponies they might 

 keep the women, and all would be forgiven and forgotten ! In 

 1877, at Malta, Lord Harrington one day saw Awfully Jolly 

 drawing a cabbage cart, and noticing the animal's shape entered 

 into conversation with his owner and bought the pony, as he 

 could not persuade any one else to do so. He was then only 

 two years old. Lord Harrington rode him, and thought him so 

 good that he entered him in the races. The little animal won 

 six out of seven races for which he ran. Lord Harrington gave 

 i5/. for this pony, and within a week after purchasing he 

 played polo on him. His owner brought Awfully Jolly with 

 several other Barbs over to England, and the little animal soon 

 earned a great reputation as a polo pony. After playing for a 

 couple of seasons, however, he went to the stud. Here his 



