136 LIGHT HORSES I BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



PONIES. 



THE difficulties which beset a writer on the subject of 

 ponies are rather formidable. In the first place, it is no easy 

 matter to state definitely what a pony is, in a fashion that is 

 likely to prove acceptable to breeders in the various districts 

 of horse-breeding England. In the opinion of many an ex- 

 perienced man, anything below 15 hands is a pony, but this 

 dictum, it need scarcely be added, is simply the rankest heresy 

 in the judgment of the majority of pony raisers. Then, again, 

 it may be parenthetically observed, the remarkable number 

 of divisions and sub-divisions which ponydom includes, 

 affords a puzzle to the uninitiated, which it must honestly be 

 confessed requires a great deal of explaining, even by past 

 masters in the art of rearing this class of stock. Nevertheless, 

 for the purposes of this chapter which in no sense is intended 

 to be a scientific article on our little horses it will be simply 

 sufficient to allude to the principal varieties of pony in a less 

 analytical fashion than would be imperative in a more am- 

 bitious work. The uses of ponies, the principal designations 

 by which the leading breeds' are recognised, and their breed- 

 ing, may be lightly touched? upon. 



To commence with, 'therefore, the writer will endeavour to 

 point out to his reader, and convince him, of the immense 

 value of these equine bantams which to the discredit of our 

 countrymen have for so long a time been permitted to lan- 

 guish in the obscurity of unconsidered trifles. There is hardly 



