PONIES. 143 



of the young horses, and then let the others serve the mares 

 haphazard, or at all events if it is so, the less that is said about 

 scientific breeding the better. Nature in a large number of 

 cases is a grand mentor to be guided by, but unfortunately 

 her beneficial laws are just as likely to be set at defiance by 

 ponies as by men, and with equally disastrous results. Con- 

 sequently a judicious control over the animals that are running 

 at large is always desirable, if only to ensure the proper 

 amount of in-breeding. 



Having now ventured to obtrude upon his readers his 

 opinions upon the value of ponies generally, and the best 

 methods for procuring the desired reduction in size, the writer 

 finds himself compelled to approach the consideration of that 

 much-vexed question, " What is a pony ? " If this enquiry 

 could be answered by the simple reply, " Oh, anything under 

 15 hands, or 14.2, or 14, "or whatever it might be, the difficulty 

 in offering a solution of the riddle would be simply nil; but 

 unfortunately there is no such an easy means of escape to a 

 man with a pen in his hand. He, at all events, is compelled 

 to offer some more definite solution of the problem ; for it 

 must not be imagined for a moment by the inexperienced that 

 the correct definition of a pony would be, a horse that stands 

 a certain number of inches at the shoulder. Of course all 

 ponies must be small, so far as their height is concerned, but 

 having agreed upon this point, one at once is assailed by 

 difficulties of many and varied kinds. A cob, for instance, 

 is a small horse, but he is not a pony, strictly speaking, and 

 there is almost as much difference between a good specimen of 

 the stocky weight carrier so beloved of elderly gentlemen pos- 

 sessed of a tendency towards embonpoint, and a bloody-looking 

 natural mover, as there is between a Shire horse and a park 

 hack. It becomes necessary, therefore, to endeavour to arrive 

 at some clearer definition of what a pony really is than that of 

 a horse that stands beneath a certain standard. 



Unfortunately at the present time, the several varieties of 

 pony are suffering from the want of proper care and attention 



