168 VARIETIES OF THE HORSE 



better ponies can exist, and consequently diligent search should be made 

 by intending breeders in the neighbourhood whence the Wilson ponies 

 came. 



The Shetland. — There is not much to be written about the Shetland 

 pony that is not generally known, but it is satisfactory to be able to assert 

 that these useful little horses are making steady headway in the south 

 of England. Possibly the Shetland is the only variety of the equine race 

 of which specimens can be found that possess the blood of no outside 

 cross, and it is upon the sterile moors of Shetland that this pony can be 

 found in all its native purity. Beyond all doubt the inclemency of the 

 climate and the poverty of the fare to which he and his ancestors have been 

 subjected are responsible not only for the diminutive proportions of the 

 Shetland, but for the robustness of his constitution, for no animal unless 

 absolutely sound could exist and propagate his species amidst the hard- 

 ships which have been the daily lot of the Shetland for generations. 

 He is a sturdy, cloddy-built little animal, standing about 10 hands at the 

 shoulder, though of course both taller and smaller specimens are to be met 

 with in plenty, and no doubt owing to climate influences the coat of the 

 Shetland is extremely dense. For his inches he is a marvel of strength 

 and activity, which properties have rendered the Shetland's services invalu- 

 able in coal-mines, where the exertions of undersized animals possessed of 

 plenty of power are most useful in bringing coal to the bottom of the 

 shaft. This variety is being a good deal benefited by the Shetland Pony 

 Stud-book Society, which is doing good work by interesting the public 

 in the breed; but the inherent good qualities of the Shetland will always 

 ensure his finding friends in all parts where his merits become properly 

 understood, his docility and intelligence rendering him a very useful 

 animal for the purposes of juvenile equestrians. 



The Irish. — The Irish ponies can scarcely be accepted as being in- 

 digenous to the Emerald Isle, as, though they chiefly come from the 

 Galway districts, any originality of type which they may have once 

 possessed has become so defaced by the various crosses which the breed 

 lias been subjected to that it has quite disappeared. Some enthusiasts 

 hold that the original ponies were rescued from the wrecks of the Spanish 

 Armada, but there is no real authority for the belief. The most famous 

 of them are the Connemara ponies, a long, low, heavy-boned, very useful 

 type of pony. In colour they are usually chestnut, and they run from 

 about 14 hands upwards. As a rule they are excellent workers, but as 

 foundation stock for commencing breeding operations upon, the Irish pony 

 as a race scarcely possesses enough of a pronounced type to be recom- 

 mended, though beyond all question the introduction of a number of 



