352 THE PONIES OF CONNEMARA. 



either to thoroughbreds or Arabs, foals hkely to attract buyers from far and 

 near. 



Regarding crosses got by hackney sires, very different views are held, 

 doubtless because, like all other crosses, they vary profoundly, some being 

 hackneys, pure and simple, others differing but little from their native dams. 

 That some of the Connemara-hackney crosses gallop and jump well and 

 are stayers is as certain as that they are, as a rule, tractable and intelligent. 

 I am able to speak from personal knowledge of a light grey three-year old 

 filly purchased in Clifden. This filly, out of a stout grey mare by a bay 

 hackney, promises to be an excellent, docile, ajid intelligent driving pony. 

 In being as intelligent, self-contained, and tractable as a desert-reared Arab, 

 this Connemara-hackney cross very decidedly differs from some of the Con- 

 nemara-thoroughbred crosses, which are sometimes less characterised by 

 sense than by excessive sensitiveness. Another Connemara-hackney cross 

 deserves mention, partly because she has won many prizes at Hackney 

 Shows, but chiefly because she has produced a number of very famous 

 hackney colts. 



Though, during recent years many excellent ponies have been reared or 

 at least bred in Connemara, it would be a mistake to suppose that even a 

 fair percentage of the present mares would, under more favourable condi- 

 tions, have made light hunters, or, when crossed with thoroughbred stal- 

 lions, produced high-class shapely foals. A visit to the Clifton Winter 

 Pony Fair makes it all too apparent that the mares from the upland farms 

 are, in most cases, unshapely and deficient in " bone," and that in make, at 

 least, there is room for considerable improvement in the vast majority of the 

 foals. How gradually to improve the mares all through Connemara is still 

 a pressing question. 



V. HOW TO IMPROVE THE CONNEMARA PONIES. 



In some districts an improvement in the native horses can be gradually 

 effected by the introduction of carefully selected stallions. The circum- 

 stances in the West of Ireland are, however, so peculiar that the placing of 

 thoroughbred stallions at the disposal of the natives may diminish rather 

 than increase the number of good mares. 



On the majority of small fcirms it is difficult, if not impossible, to keep a 

 foal as well as a mare throughout the winter ; hence, nearly all the foals got 

 by stallions sent into Connemara during recent years are disposed of long 

 before they reach maturity. Recently the demand for half-bred Connemara 

 foals has attracted buyers from beyond the confines of Ireland, with the 

 result that some of the best mares, as well as the best foals, have been 

 carried off. It is, doubtless, true, that what is a loss to Connemara may be 

 a gain to other districts ; but as the demand for Connemara-bred foals is 

 likely to increase, unless the leakage is checked, both Connemara and the 

 rest of Ireland will eventually suffer. What makes matters worse is that 

 when it becomes necessary to replace a mare, instead of selecting a filly 

 belonging to a well-known local strain, as often as not a yearling or a two- 

 year-old is purchased (often beyond the County of Galway) regardless alike 

 of make and pedigree. 



If an attempt is to be made to recover for the ponies of Connemara the 



