140 THE PUACTICAL HORSE KEEPER. 



as well as those from Pegu, will carry as heavy a load as a 

 horse. 



It is not an easy matter to define what a pony really is — 

 at least so far as height and weight are concerned. In some 

 parts — as in Yorkshire, Leicestershire, and Northamptonshire 

 — any horse under fifteen and a half hands would be designated 

 a pony ; and we are informed that the famous steeple-chase 

 horse, the Lamb, which twice won the Liverpool steeple-chase, 

 and was only fifteen hands two inches, was called " The Pony " 

 by the professional reporters of his struggles and his triumphs. 

 But in India that height is above the average of the Arab 

 horses which our medium and light cavalry men ride, and 

 which are always designated " horses," as the country rarely 

 produces anything taller. Indeed, in this country many of the 

 horses in light cavalry regiments are no higher than this. 



In Nottinghamshire, a pony is considered to be an animal 

 under fourteen and a half hands ; but in Devonshire and 

 Somersetshire it is recognised that any pony more than twelve 

 hands high is the degenerate product of a cross between an 

 Exmoor pony and some exotic steed. 



Ponies were originally, and are now, bred and reared in 

 mountainous regions, where there is generally no other food 

 than the scanty natural herbage, and where, exposed to the 

 weather of all seasons, they become inured to privation and 

 neglect. They are merely large horses in miniature, probably 

 brought to their diminutive size by the efiects of climate, food, 

 and exposure. 



In this country there are localities renowned for the ponies 

 bred in them, and which possess more or less distinctive cha- 

 racters, accompanied by certain attributes which render them 

 preferable for particular purposes, or give them a reputation 

 which stamps their value. 



Shetland ponies are rather famous for their diminutiveness, 

 symmetry, and endurance, no less than for their sure-footedness. 



