DANDY BRUSH— DARTMOOR PONY 



bran slightly damped, but upon the whole the practice is 

 not to be commended as a general rule. It is a different 

 matter, however, in the case of an animal whose wind is 

 affected, for if his food is damped the particles of dust 

 which are always more or less present do not irritate his 

 throat and air passages as they would if his feed were a 

 dry one. (See Feeding?) 



Dandy Brush. — The moderately long-haired brush which 

 is used in grooming horses. 



Dartmoor Pony, undoubtedly, is one of the most ancient 

 of all the existing breeds of British horse, his ancestors 

 having roamed the famous Devonshire moor from time 

 immemorial. Unfortunately, however, the purity of the 

 breed has been sadly interfered with by injudicious crosses, 

 which have been deliberately introduced with the intention 

 of increasing the height of these ponies, which should not 

 exceed a liberal 12 hands 2 inches, or at most 13 hands. 

 There has also been a good deal of injury caused to the 

 breed by the presence of many undesirable stallions on 

 the moor whose stock cannot by any stretch of imagina- 

 tion be accepted as representing the qualities of the true 

 Dartmoor pony. 



The constitution and stamina of the breed are remarkable ; 

 indeed there are few horses that could endure the hardships 

 of a winter on the moor, and yet, excepting in exceptionally 

 severe weather, the mortality amongst them is extremely 

 low. This pony is also very sure-footed, and hence is 

 equally valuable for work in saddle or harness. The head 

 of the Dartmoor is a little inclined to be big for his inches, 

 and it appears even more so than it really is, as the ears in 

 this breed are very small ; the shoulders slope well, and as 

 a rule the quarters are excellent, though there is a tendency 

 amongst the ponies which have been a long time on the 

 moor to be cow-hocked. This has been accounted for by 

 the habit they have of standing together in a bunch with 



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