CHOICE OF A HORSE. 29 



breeder constitution in sire and dam is a sine qua non. 

 Some capital ponies are bred in the western isles of Scot- 

 land, and the establishment of an extensive pony farm on 

 Achill Island, off the coast of Mayo, is projected. 



The popularity of Galloway and Pony racing, and of polo, 

 already referred to, is certain, at no distant date, to furnish 

 us with a race of the most perfect miniature horses in the 

 world. Seeing how easy the Arab is to handle at speed I con- 

 sider him above all others the best calculated to beget polo 

 ponies. Ridden with a mere halter he answers immediately 

 and intelligently to the voice of his rider, to the sway of his 

 body, or to the pressure of knee and thigh, stopping short 

 from full gallop, going about on his own ground, and at 

 once springing into " full power ahead " again, doubling or 

 jinking, and managing his legs as nimbly as a chamois. 

 There is a pliancy about the Arab such as no other horse 

 can boast of, he can " pat butterflies " when at the verge of 

 speed. That his pace is of no mean order was amply proved 

 by Hermit in his great race with the imported EngHsh mare 

 Voltige, in the Calcutta Trades Cup. He comes of a long 

 ancestry, seldom exceeding 14. i^ hands high, so that the 

 breeder has, to some extent, the power to control and keep 

 down the height. That he can stand the rigours of a Euro- 

 pean climate was testified to by the correspondent of the 

 Timcs^ who inspected Bourbaki's army when, in order to 

 escape total defeat and the bitterness of surrender, it 

 sought asylum in Switzerland. " The horses," wrote that 

 gentleman, *' present a still worse appearance than the men, 

 seeming more fitted for the knacker's yard than to bear their 

 burdens; although, undoubtedly, the Arabs justify the 

 established reputation of their breed by the very tolerable 

 condition they present, and the comparative elasticity of 

 their paces." 



