POWERS OF ENDURANCE. 131 



also, of their powers in crossing a country, the fact 

 may be stated of the late Sir Charles Turner riding 

 a pony ten miles in forty-seven minutes, and tak- 

 ing thirty leaps in his course, for a wager of 1000 

 guineas with the late Duke of Queensberry, then 

 Earl March. During the drawing of the Irish 

 lottery, the expresses from Holyhead to London 

 were chiefly conveyed by ponies, at the rate of 

 nearly twenty miles in the hour. 



The only bad use to which the pony is applied, 

 is in what is called the " pony chaise,'' or phaeton. 

 The carriage itself is dangerous, by reason of its 

 extreme lightness and shortness, by which it is so 

 easily overturned ; and the lowness of the driver's 

 seat prevents proper command over the animal 

 drawing it. It is too often the case, also, that 

 " the pony" is a pet, and for that reason pampered 

 in the stable, and not much worked. On the least 

 alarm, then, such as any unusual noise, horses gal- 

 loping past him, or — and there have been too many 

 fatal instances from this cause — some part of the 

 fore-carriage touching his hocks in descending a 

 hill, aw^ay he goes, galloping and kicking until he 

 has rid himself of his load. The safest way of 

 using ponies in harness, is in pairs, in double har- 

 ness, with the pole of the carriage raised at the 

 futchels, to prevent their kicking over it in their 

 play. 



