Harness Ponies 65 



a semi-wild state on the Fells, but I should think they are a very 

 limited number. 



Fell ponies bring a good price when they come into the market, 

 ;^50 and upwards having been given for a stallion. As far as one can 

 gather from observation and hearsay, the market seems a small one. 



It is a pity that a greater effort is not made to preserve and, 

 indeed, revive this excellent breed of ponies, if it is not too late. 



Harness Ponies 



It is so self-evident that in our native moorland and mountain 

 pony breeds we have a most valuable national asset that it almost 

 seems necessary to apologize for referring to such a fact. Yet not 

 so very many years ago the native pony breeds were, generally 

 speaking, but little thought of Pit ponies were wanted as a matter 

 of course, and Shelties and other breeds made excellent pit ponies 

 in the narrow seams of the coal measures. Children's ponies of 

 course were wanted, and in various districts there were enthusiasts 

 — men like Mr. Knight and Sir Thomas Acland in the past, and 

 Lord Arthur Cecil and Mr. J. H. Munro Mackenzie in the present 

 — who devoted their energies to the improvement and develop- 

 ment of our native pony breeds. But it is only very recently 

 that anything like a national interest has been taken in them, 

 and there seems to be good ground for saying that this national 

 interest is due in a great measure to the influence and work of 

 the Polo and Riding Pony Society. 



Before proceeding to discuss that question, however, it may 

 perhaps be as well to refer briefly to the Rigmaden ponies, about 

 which everyone was so enthusiastic some twenty or thirty years 

 ago. Mr. C. W. Wilson, of Rigmaden, working on the native 

 pony foundation with Hackneys and Hackney-bred ponies, by an 

 elaborate system of inbreeding, eventually bred a beautiful little 

 animal with fine action. But he was a miniature Hackney, the 

 pony type being practically lost. The names of many famous 

 winners of this type will occur to anyone who has attended the 

 shows regularly, and perhaps, at the present day, Mr. Walter 

 ClifiTs Melbourne Hall stud is as representative as any in the 

 country. The late Mr. William Foster, of Mel Valley, in Wor- 

 cestershire, was always to the front where ponies were shown, and 

 the name of Mel Valley is well known in every country where 

 harness ponies are shown for valuable prizes.^ 



1 Mr. Foster died after a brief illness whilst this work was passing through the press. 

 VOL. III. 38 



