596 EXHIBITING. 



amusements as yet not seriously tainted with the savor of 

 professionalism, —these being golf, yachting, polo, and horse- 

 shows ; all of which, broadly speaking, insure a losing bal- 

 ance-sheet to every participant, the emblem of victory and 

 its usually petty* accompaniment of hard cash (or other 

 token) being dearly won. 



If the novice has no predilection for any special branch 

 of the undertaking — harness, saddle, hunting or breeding — 

 he will find that, of all divisions, the pony classes (in all 

 heights) offer the best chances of success. The original 

 investment required is not large, the possible returns more 

 proportionate to outlay, all expenses of keep, etc., very 

 small, and the field exceptionally open ; wonderfully so, all 

 advantages considered. While true to-day, this will not long 

 obtain, and in the pony the enthusiast finds his golden 

 opportunity; for there is an unquestionably brilliant future 

 before these little creatures, and no efforts are making to 

 anticipate it. The scarcity of larger horses of acceptable 

 merit is about to force the pony, for purposes of business as 

 for pleasure, into a position which he has never yet remotely 

 approached, and which it would be impossible for him to 

 attain (in America) but for the curious periods of depression 

 and elation, abundance and depletion, which have marked, 

 since 1895, '^'^^ career of the native horse of larger growth. 



To insure official recognition the exhibit must be true 

 to the accepted type for that purpose, and nothing but dis- 

 criminating observation and comparison of living animals 

 will, in this respect, equip the tyro ; nor must his study be 

 confined to horses so conditioned as to deceive the eye as 

 to their proportions, or many a jewel in the rough will 

 escape his notice ; for flesh, like charity, covers a multitude 



