Connemara Ponies 57 



for mating with light mares are courage, action, and compactness. 

 Avoid any leggy, split-up, long-backed horse like the plague. I do 

 not say he will never sire good horses, but he is not so likely to do 

 so as the compact, well-balanced horse. The ideal sire should have 

 well-placed shoulders, his neck should be a fair length and well 

 arched, and he should have a bold eye and a masculine appearance. 

 His back should be short, he should be well ribbed up, and his 

 quarters should be lengthy and elegantly turned. His hocks and 

 knees should be big and his hocks well let down; his arms and 

 thighs muscular; and his bone flinty in texture, and flat, with the 

 sinew well defined. This I consider of more importance than mere 

 measurement. His action should be free and well balanced, the 

 foot well put out, and the hocks well flexed and got well underneath 

 him. A little knee action is a good thing, as the produce will prob- 

 ably have to hack considerable distances at times. At any rate, a 

 " daisy cutter" should be avoided. And so should a straight pastern ; 

 and whilst it is better that a horse should turn his toes in than turn 

 them out, provided he does not brush, it is wise to avoid both 

 extremes. 



PONIES 

 Connemara Ponies 



[Plate, facing p 1/2) 



Undoubtedly one of the breeds of ponies indigenous to the 

 British Isles is the Connemara pony, which at one time flourished 

 exceedingly on the mountains of Ireland, but which is now very 

 rarely to be seen in its original type. In many respects it is very 

 similar to the Highland pony, has good riding shoulders, and can 

 jump like the proverbial cat. 



But if the original type of Connemara pony has decreased in 

 numbers till it has become exceedingly scarce, the district of 

 Connemara is full of excellent small horses or ponies, which are 

 used for carrying seaweed and other manurial substances in creels 

 in those parts of the country where carting is a physical impossi- 

 bility. Ponies of similar type are found on some of the islands, but 

 they are of smaller stature, rarely reaching over 12 hands 2 in., 

 which is perhaps the average size. On the mainland, however, 

 they grow up to 14 hands i in. This, of course, is the result of 

 better food and, of what is of quite as much importance, better 

 climate. 



