314 Effective Farming 



followed true lines of breeding that have given Arabian horses 

 of to-day beauty, style, stamina, and endurance that is not 

 excelled by any other breed. Arabian horses have had a 

 marked influence on the improvement of other breeds. They 

 were used extensively for improving the Thoroughbred and 

 the Hackney and, to somewhat less extent, the French Coach 

 and the German Coach horses. 



Regarding the height and weight of Arabians, H. K. Bush- 

 Brown, Secretary of the Arabian Horse Club of America, 

 states : " Horses of the Maneghi-Hadruji family of Arabs 

 are the largest, sometimes attaining 16 hands, but usually 

 ranging from 15 to 15-2 hands. Other pure-bred Arabs are 

 from 14 to 15 hands. They weigh from 850 to 1000 pounds 

 and as they are very compactly built they are heavy for their 

 inches and seem larger than they are." 



The Arabian is a symmetrical, stylish horse. The head is 

 broad and high, the ears small and well set, the nostrils large, 

 the neck of good length and well shaped. The body is shorter 

 than that of the Thoroughbred ; the ribs are well covered with 

 flesh and spring out from the spine with a graceful, symmetrical 

 curve. The animals have one less vertebra than any of the 

 other breeds, which is an advantage in carrying weight in the 

 saddle. 



169. Ponies. The small size of the animals of the pony 

 breeds is no doubt due in a large measure to adverse climatic 

 conditions and scanty food supply. Ponies as bred to-day are 

 kept to their diminutive size by careful selection and breeding. 

 The three chief breeds are the Shetland, the Welsh, and the 

 Hackney. In America certain groups of ponies not recognized 

 as breeds are the familiar bronchos, mustangs, and Indian 

 ponies of the western plains. 



Shetland ponies. The Shetland is a native of the Shetland 

 Islands, a group of islands north of Scotland where the winters 

 are long and severe and the feed scanty. In size Shetlands 

 range from 30 to 46 inches and in weight from about 325 to 



