3 



, 



able to carry weight, capable of covering- 

 long distances at fair speed, able to subsist 

 on coarse or poor food for weeks together 

 without losing condition, strong of constitu- 

 tion to withstand the exposure inevitable on 

 a campaign, and the more tractable the 

 better. To get small horses endowed with 

 these qualifications we must look to the 

 breeds which possess them in marked 

 degree, to the ponies of the Welsh Hills, 

 Exmoor, the New Forest, the Fell districts, 

 and West of Ireland. In these we have 

 ponies ranging in height from 12.2 to 13.3 

 or 14 hands ; they are compact, sturdy, 

 and untiring ; they can carry weights which 

 are out of all ratio to their size ; they live 

 on grass, and the open-air life they lead, 

 year in year out, has made them completely 

 independent of the luxurious " coddling ' 

 bestowed upon other horses. 



These ponies lack only the size required 

 in our mounted infantry horse, and these 

 essentials we can obtain from the sire we 

 shall select. Keeping ever in mind that an 

 animal of the polo-pony stamp a hunter in 

 miniature is required, what sire is more 

 likely to get the desired pony than the 

 Arab ? We might use a small Thoroughbred 

 with excellent results, but having regard to 



