The Poor Man s Hunter 



pony-bred cobs and horses the presumption is 

 that they are sound. They have not always 

 perfect manners at first, but with careful riding 

 and driving they improve rapidly. Pony-bred 

 horses are naturally docile. Like ponies them- 

 selves they require plenty of regular work to 

 keep them in order. It will be noted that in this 

 chapter I have confined myself to small horses, 

 because for general purposes I consider that such 

 are the best and most useful. A good big horse 

 may be better than a good little one, but he is 

 certainly more rare and much more expensive ; 

 and indeed, so far as work is concerned, the small 

 horse will beat the big one. All the cavalry work 

 that has lived in history has, with the exception 

 of a few famous charges, been achieved by men 

 riding small horses. 



Just now the fashion runs to big horses, and I 

 confess to a liking for a big horse to ride, but 

 then I have lived a good deal in grass countries. 

 Even there at the prices I pay I have done really 

 better with the small and middle-sized horses. 

 But for ordinary country or town work, for 

 doctors and other professional men, small horses 

 or even ponies are far more useful. We do not 

 make enough use of ponies for hard work in the 

 country. A light four-wheeled dog-cart or a 

 wagonette, with a pair of ponies from 12.2 to 

 13.2, would do more work and last longer, I be- 

 lieve, than any other conceivable combination of 



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