WINTERING PONIES. 153 



of managing ponies which are turned out in the winter 

 is to shut them up in a shed at night, and give them a 

 feed of corn and a liberal supply of good hay ; another 

 feed in the morning ; and at noon a third feed put into 

 feeding boxes in the field. Ponies done like this 

 during the winter months, should be fit for any kind of 

 polo on the ist of April, if taken up on the 22 nd of 

 February, and put into work on the ist of March. If 

 economy be a great object, the owner can use his 

 discretion whether to begin feeding with corn on the 

 1st of November, or to wait till later on. In this he 

 should be guided by the amount of ''keep '' there is in 

 the fields, and on the severity of the season. He 

 should bear in mind that the earlier he begins to do 

 his ponies well, the less corn and time will they require 

 to get fit when taken up and put into work. Feeding- 

 is of more importance than shelter. Even when open 

 sheds exist in the fields, ponies will not, as a rule, use 

 them. Consequently, these buildings are not of much 

 advantage, unless the ponies are shut up in them at 

 night. It is a curious fact that even in the coldest and 

 roughest nights in mid-winter, the majority of ponies 

 seem to prefer lying out under a hedge or tree, even 

 in the snow, to using the most comfortable shelter 

 provided for them. During the very severe winter of 

 1892-3, I put six valuable ponies into loose boxes, and 

 fed them on the best of hay and oats. At the same 

 time I turned six other ponies which I did not care so 

 much about into some big grass fields without sheds, 

 and gave them nothing in addition to what they could 

 pick up, beyond a little rough hay and oat straw. For 

 a whole month they had to get their food by shoving 

 away the snow with their noses and fore feet, and 



