445 



and Arab blood. The large proportion of greys, many of them 

 flea-bitten, among a great variety of colours, is traced to the latter 

 origin. There are not many duns, and but few piebalds left. 



Dartmoor Ponies have heen highly appieciated from time im- 

 memorial, but, like moorland and mountain ponies generally, they 

 have suffered from want of attention in breeding, and have been 

 left to Nature. 



The Exmoor Pony is on the average about 12 hands in height, 

 and it should never be above 13 hands, although the natural pasture 

 is better than that of Dartmoor. 



The Shetland or Sheltie from the Shetland Isles is one of the 

 oldest breeds of ponies extant, quite different in appearance from 

 the other breeds of ponies in the country. It is extremely well 

 proportioned and finished, and resembles a well-shaped miniature 

 Clydesdale with good characteristic action. The smallest specimen 

 on record is reputed to have been only 26 inches high. The 

 average height is 40 inches, but (with the object of keeping down 

 the size) no pony of more than 32 inches can be entered in the 

 Shetland Pony Stud Book. 



Black, bay, and brown are the favourite colours, but mouse 

 colours are most common. Grey, cream, chestnut and piebald are 

 also seen. There is an excellent demand for registered Shetlands 

 in America and Canada, and a good market at home for handsome 

 good movers. Inferior-looking specimens make excellent mine 

 ponies. Their short stature is there of special advantage. Their 

 surefootedness, intelligence and good-nature make them ideal com- 

 panions for children, and their docile temperament and tractable 

 disposition, which are remarkable in comparison with ponies of any 

 other British breed, adapt them admirably for either the coal pit 

 or the lawn nursery. 



HEAVY DRAUGHT OR FARM-HORSES. British Work Horses are 

 usually classified as belonging to three distinct breeds, the Clydes- 

 dale, the Shire and the Suffolk Punch, although the two first-named 

 have at least one common ancestor in the old English War Horse 

 alternatively called the Great Horse, the Strong Horse, and the old 

 English Black Horse. In many points the two breeds are so similar 

 that they may fairly be icgarded as merely distinct strains of one 

 and the same breed. 



The Clydesdale. It is now generally admitted that the Upper 

 Ward of Lanarkshire, in the Dale of Clyde, has long been renowned 

 for powerful farm horses, and that the superior size and strength 



