156 VARIETIES OF THE HOESE 



exactly what his owner wants. A foal dropped in the early spring gets 

 all the best of the grass, and so does his dam, with the result that her 

 milk is richer and more plentiful than it need be; whereas one which 

 comes later on in the season obtains less luxuriant fare, and with Ijene- 

 ficial results so far as the intentions of his owner are concerned. That 

 all horses can stand cold and privations fairly well is an accepted fact, 

 but it is equally true that there is in this respect, as in all others, a 

 limit to their powers of endurance. The colder the latitude in which he 

 resides the smaller in stature he will be; therefore it may once more be 

 suggested for the guidance of pony-breeders that the three cardinal points 

 of their creed should be a cool mountainous climate, a sufficient though 

 not over- liberal sujjply of food, and late foals. 



There is, however, another and a very important subject to be dis- 

 cussed in connection with the raising of ponies, and that is the desirability 

 or otherwise of practising a system of close breeding. That " sibbing " 

 has been most successfully practised by the leading pony-breeders of 

 the day is incapable of being disputed, and certainly Mr. Christopher 

 Wilson of Kirkby-Lousdale carried this practice to an extreme which was 

 absolutely daring in the case of the well-known pony stallion Sir George, 

 whose victories at the Eoyal Agricultural Society's shows were so frequent 

 as to become almost monotonous. Mr. Wilson bred Sir George to a 

 daughter of the little horse, and then again to the female offspring of 

 this union, repeating the experiment a third time, and yet he not only 

 lost nothing by doing so, but actually gained immeasurably, as in this way 

 he produced one of the very finest pony mares that ever looked through a 

 bridle. Strange to say, too, he did not lose any bone nor an ounce of 

 strength; on the contrary, the mare in question was bigger below the 

 knee, and as sound in constitution as any member of his stud. Having 

 regard to Mr. Wilson's experiences, it can scarcely be contended that in- 

 and-in breeding, so far as ponies are concerned at all events, is a bad policy 

 if judiciously carried out, and doubtless the system will be found necessary 

 in order to impress type and keep down size. In inbreeding, however, as 

 in everything else, there is a limit that must be reached sooner or later, 

 and breeders who adopt such methods must always be on the look-out for 

 evidences of deterioration in stamina and constitution amongst their stock. 

 One can scarcely avoid suggesting, moreover, that it is quite possible that 

 some particular animals or some strains may be more peculiarly adapted 

 for the purposes of inbreeding than others; and here again is a jjossible 

 danger on which the attention of breeders must be fixed in carrying 

 out their crossing experiments. It is obvious, too, that any sire which 

 may be selected for inbreeding purposes should not only possess a strong 



