Chapter VIII 



THE WELSH PONY 



The Welsh pony is a general favourite ; everybody will 

 have a Welsh pony. The Welsh farmer loves a good 

 pony and he knows how to breed one ; and, what is 

 more, he will have one. Few horsemen know a real 

 Welsh pony when they see one. An}^ strong-looking 

 pony with feathered legs is classed as Welsh. It is 

 probable that the dam was a Russian pony and the sire 

 a young shire stallion. 



The name " Welsh " is really a type to-day. Any- 

 thing thick-set and cobby is called Welsh. Through 

 crossing the grand old Welsh ponies with Arabs, cart 

 colts and hackneys, the old-fashioned type has been 

 almost lost, and but for the Welsh Cob and Pony Society 

 the Welsh pony would be extinct. Some strains of 

 Welsh ponies to-day are distinctly an Arab type, while 

 others are a cart-horse type. The old-fashioned qaality 

 Welsh pony, with a small head, perfectly-shaped hocks, 

 short back, good loins and quarters, with the ideal legs 



177 M 



