Dartmoor Ponies 59 



maximum height is 14 hands for stallions and 13 hands 2 in. for 

 mares. In colour he should be brown, black, or bay. Grey is 

 allowable, but other colours are objected to. 



It has been said that the Devonshire pack horse had something 

 to do with the foundation of the modern Dartmoor pony, and it is 

 quite likely that some of his substance may be derived from that 

 source. It is a matter for regret that our ancestors, either from 

 jealousy that others would copy their example and so make money 

 by what they regarded as their secret, or from carelessness or indif- 

 ference, or from a mixture of all three, made few records of their 

 crossing experiments, and we have consequently to rely entirely 

 on tradition, which, though it frequently embodies a great truth, 

 is as frequently inaccurate about details. In breeding it is details 

 that matter. Mr. Palmer tells us, however, of a Mr. Watkins, in 

 the Brentor district, who had a herd of ponies which were miniature 

 pack horses, and that a Mr. Watts, of Okehampton, bred a similar 

 type of pony. Mr. Watts introduced some Exmoor pony stallions 

 into his herd, and these did so well that other breeders followed 

 his example, and brought Exmoor stallions to improve their native 

 stock. Eventually Mr. Watts's herd obtained a high reputation, 

 and on his death it was dispersed by auction. Horses were dear 

 at the time, and excellent prices were made, some ponies making 

 upwards of ;{^20, and the average for seventy head, including 

 suckers and yearlings, was ;^I5. 



Arabs, as well as Thoroughbreds, have been introduced occa- 

 sionally to improve the breed, but they have not been uniformly 

 successful in so doing, though at times they have done much good. 

 Lord Arthur Cecil notes in connection with this cross, as well as 

 with the Hackney or cart-horse cross, that occasionally it produces 

 " an extremely ugly head, with dull and stupid eyes and large, 

 bat-like ears, totally unlike either father or mother, but apparently 

 some reversion to an ancestral type". Lord Arthur Cecil points 

 out that this is exceptional, and that it is worth bearing in mind 

 when one sees a Dartmoor pony with a big, ugly head. 



At one time Dartmoor ponies were very much used in the 

 Durham and Northumberland coal pits; but the law which pre- 

 vents ponies going below till they are four years old has deprived 

 the Dartmoor commoners of one, and that a very considerable, 

 market. It does not pay to keep them on the moors another year. 

 Whether they will be bought and grazed for the mines remains 

 to be seen; perhaps they will. But the commoners obviously 

 ■cannot keep them, so there again is an opportunity created for the 

 aniddleman. 



