108 ON AND OFF THK TU£f. 



Pony-racing has obtained a great hold in Aus- 

 tralia, to the detriment of horse-racing. This class 

 of sport is all very well in its way, but it ought to 

 be kept within reasonable bounds. 



I have seen ponies running on racecourses round 

 Sydney that could beat horses for speed over four 

 or five furlongs. There are measurements for 

 ponies and galloways, and they have to pass under 

 the standard before they are eligible to run. I 

 fancy the measurements are a bit mixed at times, 

 as I have seen good big horses running as 14-2 

 and less. All sorts of dodges were at one time 

 resorted to in order to get horses *' under the bar," 

 and so have them classed as galloways. 



Paring a horse's hoofs is a common practice, and 

 sometimes the poor brute sufiered intense pain on 

 account of the hoof being so cut down. A hot iron 

 placed across the wither a few times caused the 

 horse to shrink from the touch when the measuring 

 bar was put on. 



I have seen a horse measured at full stretch with 

 his hind legs and fore legs as far out as he could 

 2fet them. This made a considerable diflference in 

 his height. 



Some of these measurements were obviously so 

 unfair that an outcry was made about them and an 

 improvement for the better effected. It was not 

 the fault of the oflficial measurer but of the men be 



