CHAP. I. 



PONIES. 883 



"The first sort is doubtful as to blood, and generally runs lightish 

 and flashy, useful as it may be and is. 



" The second sort have purity of pony blood, but suffer, as a rule, in 

 their shape to a fancier's eye from tendencies to goose rumps, heavy 

 fore-ends, lowness in withers, and upright forelegs ; besides which they 

 are often cramped and tied up all round in action, and are bond fide 

 daisy cutters. But all the same it is to the moors and hills we should 

 go in o\\r search for ponies fit to breed from, as many a moor pony 

 breeder has pedigree strains, and a good moor mare judiciously mated 

 with a less hairy-legged sort may produce the real pea. Fields for 

 search are practically unlimited. We have Exmoor, Dartmoor, New 

 Forest, Wales, Westmoreland, Cumberland, Durham, the Yorkshire 

 moors and dales and Scotch highlands, to say nothing of Shetland, if 

 a small sort be required. We have found a cross between Welsh and 

 Durham stock answer well, but as a rule it is best to stick to one 

 breed, unless particular characteristics are objected to, but remember 

 that each breed has its special character so strongly impressed that 

 mares, however crossed, will very often throw back. To put a con- 

 clusion to the whole matter, never buy a pony for breeding purposes 

 unless you are satisfied that it has purity of blood, as well as shape 

 and action. Having completed your triangle of necessary qualities, go 

 on and prosper ; buy, breed, and win." 



POLO PONIES have come rapidly to the front within recent years. 

 The Royal Agricultural Society of England provided classes for them, 

 for the first time, at the Manchester Show in 1897, and these have been 

 continued each year since. A Polo Pony Society has been established, 

 with offices at 12, Hanover Square, London, W. 



THE SHIRE HORSE. " The most ancient breed in England " is a 

 proud title for any variety of horse to possess, and in a charming 

 book ' it is applied to the Shire " whose gigantic proportions and 

 magnificent symmetry are at once the surprise and admiration of all 

 beholders." Sir Walter Gilbey is led to the conclusion that the Shire 

 Horse is the purest survival of an earlier type which was spoken of, by 

 mediaeval writers, as the Great Horse, and that if this horse did not 

 originate in England yet this country at a very early date acquired a 

 wide-spread reputation for producing it. The breeder will read with 

 interest the following observations culled from the work : 



When Arthur Young in the latter part of the last century was 

 describing his tours through the counties of England and Scotland, he 

 mentions only two varieties of Cart Horses as deserving attention : 

 the Large Black Old English Horse, "the produce principally of the 

 Shire counties in the heart of England, and the sorrel-coloured Suffolk 

 Punch, for which the sandy tract of country near Woodbridge is 

 famous." 



1 The Great Horse, or the War Horse : from the time of the Roman Invasion till its develop- 

 ment into the Shire Horse. By Sir Walter Gilbey, Bart. Second edition. Vinton & Co. 1899. 



