TYPES AND MARKET CLASSES OF LIVE STOCK 433 



position one hunter will rush at his fences in a reckless and 

 headstrong way, and another will even walk to his jump and 

 clear it in a businesslike manner. It is because so many Thor- 

 oughbreds have bad dispositions, that horses having a small 

 amount of draft blood are often more desirable as hunters than 

 are those of straight Throroughbred breeding. 



Production of hunters. There is no breed of hunters. 

 They are largely of Thoroughbred breeding, about seven parts 

 Thoroughbred and one part cold (draft) blood being a gen- 

 erally accepted formula in breeding hunters. This proportion 

 is secured by mating a three-quarter-blood mare with a Thor- 

 oughbred stallion of correct type to get hunters. The infusion 

 of cold blood gives greater size and ruggedness and a better 

 disposition, but is said to lessen to some extent the staying 

 qualities and gameness of the animal. Some most excellent 

 hunters have come of straight Thoroughbred breeding. Ireland 

 has long enjoyed a wide reputation for the rearing and sale of 

 the best hunting horses the name "Irish hunter" carrying the 

 idea of super-excellence in this type of horse, even if some so 

 named were in reality bred in places far removed from the Emerald 

 Isle. 



The Polo Pony. 



Modern polo is largely a rich man's game. It is played 

 with four mounted men on a side, the object being to drive a 

 wooden ball between goal posts at the ends of a field 300 yards 

 long and 120 to 150 yards wide. Each player carries a long- 

 handled mallet of regulation design. It is a very fast game 

 for both ponies and men, requiring quickness and precision. 



History of polo. Polo existed in Persia and Turkey be- 

 fore the tenth century. Thence it spread to Central Asia, 

 Thibet, and Central India, being found at Calcutta in the fif- 

 teenth and sixteenth centuries. It is said to have also existed 

 in Japan a thousand years ago. English officers returning 

 from India, in 1874, started polo at the Hurlingham Club, Ful- 

 ham, England. Hurlingham has since been recognized as the 

 great center of the sport, and the rules it has laid down have 

 been accepted as authority in every country except America, 

 where a few changes in these rules have been made. 



The game was introduced into this country in 1876, and 

 from a small start made in that year it has steadily grown in 

 favor. In 1911 there were 42 civilian clubs and 38 military 



