210 BREEDS OF POLO PONIES. [Chap. VIII. 



(how that fact affects them, I cannot say), they are 

 not good stayers. It is very difficult to get the 

 best ones. Mr. T. B. Drybrough, who imported a 

 batch, says the same thing about the difficulty of 

 obtaining a satisfactory selection. They are generally 

 spoiled in breaking. The young ones, being out on 

 the ranche, cannot be measured and examined. 

 Owners do not like selling a picked one, but expect 

 purchasers to take a car load of eighteen or more at 

 an average price. On open ranches they are 

 handled only once a year. With the thermometer 

 at — 40° F., early spring shipments are hard to 

 effect. The greatest difficulty is to get on the 

 other side a friend who can be trusted to buy the 

 proper article. My brother once bought in the 

 North of Ireland a pony (Paddy, late Buffalo Bill) 

 which was known to be an American only on account 

 of the brand on his quarter, and which, in appear- 

 ance, speed, and every other requirement, was just 

 as good as an English pony. It is therefore probable 

 that he comes from Texas, and that he is three- 

 quarters thoroughbred. I am certain that out ot 

 a batch of raw American ponies, the proportion of 

 good ones would not be large enough to make the 

 speculation profitable. I am told that really good 

 cow-ponies are so rare that their owners will not part 

 with them, even at long prices. 



I daresay there are many other districts in the vast 

 continent of North and South America where ponies 

 are bred ; but the foregoing countries are the only 

 pony-breeding ones of which I had been able to get 

 any information. 



Before the year 1894, very few American ponies 



