2 1 2 The Book of jhe Horse. 



Strictly speaking, a pony is one of a tribe reared for generations untold on mountains and 

 moorlands, without shelter and without other food than the natural herbage. The true pony 

 is bred because nothing of a greater size can be reared under the circumstances of soil and 

 climate. The smallest size for any useful purpose is about 9 hands {i.e., 36 inches) ; well-shaped 

 ponies under that height are only fit for pets or for the establishment of a showman. Two 

 very perfect pairs of ponies 9 hands high, of totally different styles, have come under my 

 notice within the last few years. The first, a pair of brown stallions respectively named Jack 

 and Jill, were exhibited by the Countess of Hopetoun at the Islington Horse Show in 187 1, 

 in a curiously ugly wagonette ; one took a prize in the small stallion class. In form they 

 were admirable Norfolk trotters. The other two were a perfect tandem, the property of Mr. 

 Myring, of Walsall, exhibited in 1872, and were miniature hunters of perfect shape, and that 

 is the shape of every good riding pony. 



THE SHETLAND PONY. 



Where a pony under 12 hands is required the Shetland breed is rarely excelled. In the 

 Shetland Islands the soil and the climate make it impossible to breed a large animal of any 

 kind, whether ox, sheep, or horse. There — as also in Devonshire and in Clydesdale — is a 

 tradition that the native breeds were improved by stallions which escaped from the wrecks of 

 the Spanish Armada. But there is not the slightest historical evidence of this cross, and it is 

 much more likely that the Shetland is the descendant of the Norwegian pony, considering 

 that the islands were long part of the Scandinavian kingdom. In districts and countries 

 bordered by lands which will rear a full-sized horse, there is a constant temptation to the 

 breeder to put his mares to large-sized sires. In the Shetlands there is not, and never has 

 been, any such temptation ; and, therefore, symmetry has not been neglected in favour of 

 size. The breeds, however, have been very much influenced by the demands of the export 

 trade. Lord Ashley's Acts, which came into operation about the year 1S40, and forbade the 

 use of boys as beasts of draught, created a demand for ponies small enough to draw coal- 

 trucks on underground tramways. For the last thirty years they have been bred for that 

 purpose rather than for riding or drawing pleasure-carriages. The "Druid"* visited the 

 Shetland Islands for the express purpose of adding a description of the ponies to his agri- 

 cultural notes. He says : " Every one uses the ponies of the country. The Norwegian colours — 

 dun, with black mane and tail, and a black stripe down the back — are in request ; ba}'s and 

 blacks are most common, greys and chestnuts scarce. Piebalds are to be found but are not 

 in favour with many native buyers, from an opinion that they partake of an Iceland cross, and 

 are softer and slower than the true native Shetlander. The Icelanders average two hands 

 higher than the Shetlanders. They are often imported in great numbers at Granton and 

 Aberdeen. The best Shetlanders come from Unst. They are bred on a thin soil, studded with 

 large red stones and kinds of rocks, amongst which one sees scores of ponies picking the 

 green grass which the light of heaven and the breatli of the Gulf Stream force up from a 

 barren-looking bed. Unst may be regarded as the heart of Shetland — a sunny, genial-looking 

 spot when other parts of the country are dismal enough in the late spring. If well kept, the 

 ponies reach 44 inches (11 hands), but the average is 38 to 42 inches. Each cottar has 

 generally a few ponies on the hill, which they catch, and offer to the dealers for sale in May 

 and October. When the trade in ponies for the coal-pits was at its height fi\e hundred were 



* "Fold ami Furn," North 



