

PONIES. 



I 37 



any branch of usefulness for which a pony is not adapted 

 short, of course, of carrying heavy weights or drawing pon- 

 derous loads. It would be sheer lunacy to pit a pony against 

 a large horse in an equal competition, but if tested pound per 

 pound it is pretty certain that the little one would hold his 

 own and a bit more, assuming that the handicap were fairly 

 carried out. One has only to consider for a minute or two 

 what sort of work it is that many a costermonger's pony is 

 put to day after day, to arrive at the conclusion that in a 

 competition David versus Goliath, the giant would come off 

 second best if the weights and dimensions of the two animals 

 were carefully ascertained and their respective burdens ad- 

 justed accordingly. A pony, moreover, is supposed to live 

 principally upon air, as will be shown in the part of this 

 chapter that will deal with the question of breeding him ; 

 whilst, in countless instances the meagrest shelter is afforded 

 him, and even this is of the roughest kind. 



It may, therefore, be assumed that one of the many virtues 

 possessed by ponies is their utility ; a second, the smallness 

 of their appetites ; and, lastly, the peculiar propensity they 

 possess for "roughing it." In seeking for spheres of useful- 

 ness which are particularly adapted for ponies, one has to go 

 no further than the countless tradesmen's carts which throng 

 the principal streets in every town throughout the length and 

 breadth of the country. Between the shafts of these convey- 

 ances every variety of nondescript animal which can by cour- 

 tesy be styled a horse may be met with within the space of 

 half-an-hour's walk, but it is well nigh equally certain that 

 the vehicles which are travelling best and look smartest are 

 drawn by ponies. Animals like the three-cornered, mad, 

 Argentine wretches that have been put into their carts, 

 with the most unfortunate results, by some fatuous trades- 

 men, who simply could not get suited st their price with 

 any other class of horse, are not at all the sort of animal to 

 leave standing outside an area gate in a crowded thorough- 

 fare, and, moreover, they are far more costly in the long run 



