PONIES. 147 



the difficulties that presented themselves to a breeder would be 

 smoothed away considerably at the commencement. At the 

 same time there can be no disguising the fact that the estab- 

 lishment of a strain of thick-built ponies of a lower standard 

 of height than that usually accepted for cobs, and which would 

 breed fairly true, would be a very difficult task, as the earlier 

 treatment of the foals would assuredly cause them to develop 

 a tendency to lose substance, and if this were to be the case, 

 the object of their breeder would be defeated. 



Regarding what has been styled above the hunter type of 

 pony, the magnitude of establishing a reliable strain would 

 not be nearly so great, as there are in existence good-looking 

 in-bred little horses which from time to time are to be picked 

 up by those who keep a good look out for the same. It is there- 

 fore a source of surprise to many that in these days of agricul- 

 tural depression, landowners and others have not devoted a 

 portion of their energies to breeding ponies, utilising for the 

 purpose some of the waste land that is on their hands. There 

 is always a ready and fairly remunerative market for pony 

 misfits, and as the cost of raising the animals is so very 

 trifling, it is hard to see how the speculation could turn out 

 otherwise than a very profitable one. Those embarking upon 

 an enterprise of this description would, moreover, possess the 

 additional satisfaction of knowing that they were doing good 

 service to their country, as any movement that tended towards 

 the suppression of the importation of the foreign element into 

 British horse markets could not be regarded as being otherwise 

 than patriotic. The country is now flooded by numbers of 

 three-cornered looking ponies, with tails half way down 

 between their croup and hocks, hailing from Russia and else- 

 where, whose presence amongst us is only due to the apathy 

 of English breeders, and does not therefore redound to the 

 credit of the latter. The foreigners would never have invaded 

 our shores had there been an adequate supply of home-bred 

 ponies, and it certainly seems remarkable that, considering the 

 national pride which most of us take in our horseflesh, the 



