348 POLO 



by an Arab out of a Deccanee mare. Blair began life as a 

 grass-cutters ' tat ' in the Poona Horse. During the campaign 

 in Afghanistan Mr. John Watson spotted him, and in exchange 

 for 70 rupees he was soon transferred to that gentleman's 

 stable, and subsequently to Captain MacLaren's, where for nine 

 years he has fairly earned his corn and gained a great reputation. 

 To see the way this little pony pushes and shoves, twists and 

 turns, and the pluck, staying power, and speed he exhibits, is 

 simply marvellous, and he is indeed a multum in parvo. Jenny, 

 a dun mare by Gamester, and nearly clean bred, is another good 

 pony belonging to Captain MacLaren, who bought her from a 

 Cumberland farmer ; and though she and Blair are light-weight 

 ponies, yet they are so good that they both deserve a word of 

 notice in these pages. Captain Chaloner, of the 3rd Hussars, 

 who now owns the bloodlike Belinda, is a fine player and 

 brilliant ' forward,' as is Captain Oswald of the same corps. 

 Captain the Hon. H. Ormsby Gore, of the nth Hussars, who 

 possesses a marvel in the shapely Dorothy, a pony that has 

 proved herself fast enough to win on the flat at Baldoyle, is 

 good all round. Major Peters, of the 4th Hussars, is a brilliant 

 ' forward ' and indefatigable player. Captain Duff, Captain le 

 Gallais, and Captain Vesey, of the 8th Hussars, are also quite 

 in the front rank. The former shines as a ' back,' and the latter 

 as * No. 2,' and is a fine hitter on the near side. All these 

 show that the army is no bad school to turn out polo players. 

 The yth Fusiliers have earned a name in the annals of polo 

 by winning the All Ireland Open Cup in 1878, and turned 

 out some good men, inter alia Captain Keyser, who owned 

 a twin-brother of Mr. Stewart's beautiful little dun pony Mouse, 

 which played for twelve consecutive seasons. The 5th Fusiliers, 

 the 6oth Rifles, and the 23rd Welsh Fusiliers, that horsiest of 

 foot regiments, the 25th K.O.B.'s, and the 33rd also, all counted 

 some good and keen players amid their ranks. Messrs. Mey- 

 rick, Hargreaves, and Dundas, of the i5th Hussars, are all fine 

 players, and in old days in India none was better than Captain 

 Tidy, of the 54th. 



