144 LIGHT HORSES I BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. 



which should have been received by them from English horse 

 breeders, and it would be impossible to attempt a critical 

 analysis of the points and characteristics which divide the one 

 from the other within the limits of the present notice. An 

 attempt at such a definition as may convey what is required 

 in an ordinary pony, so far as appearance is concerned, has 

 therefore to be hazarded ; and to meet this demand upon his 

 powers of description, the writer may suggest that the best 

 sort of pony for all-round purposes is a little animal as like a 

 hunter as is possible, and as small as can be produced. This 

 definition, at all events, possesses the merit of being subscribed 

 to by more than one breeder of position, but it is not to be 

 taken by readers as applying inflexibly to every little animal 

 that professes to be a pony. It is more intended that it should 

 be received as what the writer's idea is of the all-round 

 animal, and not as a hard-and-fast description of what every 

 pony should be like. The polo pony, for instance, should be 

 simply a thoroughbred in miniature ; whilst the weight carrier 

 ought to be a dwarf Hackney, built on the most substantial 

 lines, and boasting a supply of bone below the knee which 

 would shock the susceptibilities of a hankerer after blood. 



A pony, in brief, may with justice be described as a bantam 

 of one or other of the larger breeds ; as it is absolutely certain 

 that any person possessed of leisure, patience and money, 

 could, in time, effect a reduction in size, until pony dimensions 

 were finally reached, of any variety of horse. In order to do 

 so, many disappointments would have to be endured, and long 

 years of anxious waiting for results would also have to be 

 devoted to the task ; but yet the end would surely come if the 

 four great cardinal rules of pony breeding viz., in-breeding, 

 late foaling, short commons and an absence of pampering 

 were rigorously adhered to. It is not every one, however, who 

 possesses the application or the means that will combine to 

 enable him to apply himself with any prospect of success to 

 such an undertaking, and therefore the value of a good pony 

 is likely to be excessive for many a year to come, owing to the 



