A Plea for the Pony 179 



perform, singly and in pairs, about tlie usual work 

 demanded from the family horse at much less than 

 half the cost. Our tradesmen would find them just 

 the thing for all light-delivery work, and instead of 

 using them only occasionally, as at present, and 

 then more for advertising purposes than for actual 

 labour, they could capably perform all such tasks; 

 lasting on the city stones much longer than the 

 horses generally secured. 



According to heights the average cost of a pony 

 is in inverse ratio to that of a horse; thus the 

 smaller the pony the greater the original outlay. 

 The very tiny things of ten to eleven hands are 

 seldom properly broken, and these are really too 

 small for much genuinely important service, while 

 their cost runs to extraordinary figures, those of 

 fine finish and Cjuality bringing commonly " a dollar 

 a pound," and even twice and thrice that price. 

 Such as the Shelties. the smaller Scotch ponies, etc., 

 come under this head, and there is hardly one of 

 them w^hose place could not be more ably filled by 

 an animal of from four to eight inches more stature ; 



