470 HORSES DARTMOOR PONIES 



them are from 12.2 to 13.2 high, according to the portion 

 of the Forest in which they are reared. If taken off the 

 Forest when they are weaned, and well kept during the first 

 two winters, they are said very often to attain the size of 



14.1. There is sometimes an apparent deficiency of bone, 

 but what there is should be of the very best quality. The 

 feet are wide and well formed. They are often considered 

 goose-rumped, but their hocks should be all that could be 

 desired. In colour they may be said to range through every 

 variety, though there are not many duns, and few, if any, 

 piebalds left The flea-bitten greys, which are still very 

 common in the Forest, show strong traces of an Arab cross. 

 The shoulders, though not always what might be desired 

 in point of depth, are almost invariably fine and well laid. 

 It is a great characteristic of the New Forest pony to be 

 always gay and alert, and, though they are extremely good- 

 tempered and docile when fairly broken, they are quite 

 indomitable until they are completely cornered. The true 

 Forester is never sulky." 



Dartmoor Breed. The height does not exceed 14 hands 

 for stallions and 13.2 for mares. Pure specimens free from 

 Hackney blood are not over 13 hands, and are rarely over 



12.2. Black, brown, or bay is preferred; roan and dun are 

 very rare ; grey and chestnut result from crossing. The head 

 should be small, well set-on, and blood-like ; the ears small 

 and sharp at the points, and the neck strong but not too 

 heavy, graceful, and of good length ; the chest well let down, 

 and the fore legs short with a good amount of extremely hard 

 bone of the finest quality. 



" The feet are almost invariably excellent, but, owing to 

 many ponies never being shod till they are four or five years 

 old, the walls of the hoofs sometimes break away when the 

 shoes are first put on. The backs of the stallions are rather 

 shorter than those of the mares, but the loins are powerful 

 and the middle well ribbed up. As in the case of most 

 horses and ponies which have been bred out in the open for 

 generations, there is an unfortunate tendency towards a 

 droop of the quarters. It must be further admitted that some 

 are more or less cow-hocked. In all probability both these 

 defects are due to the life of hardship the ponies lead on the 



