30 



The arms and second thighs should be strong and powerful, knees 

 and hocks clean cut, and the pasterns nicely sloped. Good sound 

 feet and soundness in every respect are essential. As a breed, Polo 

 Ponies are remarkably sound. 



The more substance the better, so long as it is free from coarseness. 

 Speed, weight-carrying power, courage, a good mouth, freedom from 

 vice, and balance and quickness in turning at a high speed are 

 essential characteristics of a first class polo pony, which should be, 

 in fact, a miniature blood hunter. 



In breeding it is found inadvisable to select for looks alone, and 

 mares which have proved themselves good tractable playing ponies 

 are to be preferred. An animal which has gone through several 

 seasons satisfactorily is likely to transmit her good qualities to her 

 offspring. 



THE FELL PONY. 



The Fell Pony is one of the largest and heaviest of the English 

 breeds ; it stands 13 to 14 hands high and in many ways resembles 

 the Highland Garron. The breed seems to have always occupied 

 the high moorland and mountainous districts of Cumberland, 

 Westmorland, Durham and North Yorkshire, as there is no record 

 of its introduction, though it is probably closely connected with 

 the now almost extinct breed of Galloway Ponies. In fact, in the 

 North of England, where it is bred, it is still commonly called a 

 " Galloway." At the present time Fell Ponies are bred, and range 

 in considerable numbers, on the wild hills of their native districts, 

 though on the lower ground considerable inter-mixing with larger 

 breeds of horses has gone on, and pure bred ponies are not always 

 easy to find. Until 1905 there was no official Stud Book for the 

 breed, but since that date it has been eligible for the Fell Pony 

 Section of the Polo and Riding Pony Society's Stud Book. 



A larger breed of the Fell Pony type, 14 to 15 hands high, and 

 known as the " Dales Pony," is to be found in the eastern parts of 

 North Westmorland, the dales of Yorkshire, and parts of Durham. 



Fell Ponies are of a thick powerful build, with deep chests and strong 

 loins, and have as a rule better set up tails than other pony breeds. 

 The head is pony-like, with large bright eyes. The legs are clean and 

 flat, with more bone than other ponies many Fell Ponies measure 

 more than eight inches below the knee they carry great muscle 

 on the forearm and second thigh, and are extremely powerful both in 

 harness and as weight carriers. The hair, which grows rather 

 freely from the fetlock in winter, almost entirely disappears as the 

 summer coat is assumed. The prevailing colour is black or dark 

 brown, usually without any white marking, but grey is not 

 uncommon. 



THE SHETLAND PONY. 



The original home of this interesting breed is the most northerly 

 portion of the British Isles, the wind-swept group almost entirely 

 destitute of trees of about 100 islands, of which 28 are inhabited. 

 Carved stones recently unearthed in Bressay establish the fact that 

 ponies have existed there from prehistoric times, and probably the 

 .Shetland is the oldest and purest, as it certainly is the smallest, of 



