POLO 53 



understand what to try for when we are buy- 

 ing, and let us begin, as any good judge 

 should do at a show of ponies, and look up- 

 wards from the feet. The feet are of great 

 importance, and I should not expect a pony to 

 stand work well in the polo field which had 

 not good sound feet, since, especially in country 

 clubs, the ground must often be hard. When 

 a pony is galloping with fourteen stone on its 

 back on hard ground the concussion is naturally 

 great, and the trial to the feet proportionately 

 severe. Feet that are smaller than the average 

 are preferable to those that are larger, always 

 provided that the feet are in pairs. Next, the 

 pasterns are of great importance in a polo pony 

 for two reasons : first because animals with 

 sloping pasterns stand work better than those 

 with straight ones ; and secondly, because the 

 elasticity of the sloping pastern makes the 

 action much smoother, which is a matter of 

 importance in good polo. Sticky action in front, 

 or " propping," makes it much more difficult 

 to hit the ball fairly and with certainty. I 

 should prefer pasterns somew^iat too long to 

 those that are too short. The late Mr. W. J. 

 Drybrough's " Magic Spell " is a remarkable 

 instance of a pony with long pasterns standing 

 severe work under a heavy weight, for a long 

 period. 



