THE PONY 
HE pony is a hero, and bred of heroes. Wherever 
it may have come from, or of whatever breed, 
eI its ancestors braved and conquered dangers 
a me and endured privations which would have 
killed any animal less heroic. It is prob- 
able, indeed, that because of the priva- 
tions which these horses underwent when 
in a wild or semi-wild state, their size was 
= === ‘reduced and the races of ponies were 
developed... 
Strictly speaking, a pony is a horse, fourteen and 
one-half hands high, or less. The finest breeds of 
ponies come from regions of scanty vegetation and 
unfavorable climate. This is true of the cold and 
dry climates of Russia and Scandinavia; the sterile 
islands of Shetland; the mountains of Wales, and 
northwest America, with their scanty vegetation; 
the heath-covered downs of Exmoor and New 
Forest in England; the arid wastes of the southwest 
United States and Mexico, and of Arabia. In all 
of these regions races of ponies have been developed, 
probably from wild herds -of hardy horses. The 
struggle for existence under these adverse conditions 
was so severe a test, that all but the hardiest died 
from starvation. However, those which did sur- 
vive were so tough and strong that they were able 
to give to their offspring the endurance to withstand 
cold or heat, scanty food and scanty water. 
Thus it has happened that through generation 
after generation of hardening, the pony of to-day is 
superior in many ways to the horse which has been 
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