178 THE HORSE, ASS, AND MULE 



The forelock, mane, and tail are also very thick and long. The 

 policy of breeding for more refinement is reducing the amount 

 of hair in a considerable degree. 



The height of the Shetland pony usually ranges from 36 to 

 44 inches, but with variations outside of this. Eli Elliott of Iowa, 

 who has bred and imported fnany from the islands, says : " I never 

 saw in any country what I believed to be a ' right Shetland ' that 

 was as much as 46 inches high. As a rule they are 40 to 43, 

 and some as small as 36 to 38 inches, and the smaller the better." 

 The smallest pony ever seen by Mr. Elliott was 34 inches high 

 and weighed under 200 pounds. Feeding and care, however, will 

 affect the height and weight. On the prairies of the American 

 corn belt the pony tends to increase in size from generation to 

 generation. In the "American Shetland Pony Studbook " a number 

 of ponies ranging from 30 to 36 inches have been registered. 

 The American Shetland Pony Club in its standard gives twenty- 

 five out of a hundred points to height. Ponies over four years 

 old should be 42 inches and under, and two points are deducted 

 for every inch over this up to 46, above which height they are 

 disqualified. Catherine Sinclair, in "Shetland and its Inhabitants," 

 says that when well fed the ponies will reach the size of a donkey, 

 and in contrast notes that a Mr. Hayes raised a perfectly formed 

 pony only 20 inches high. As the Shetland is used to a consider- 

 able extent in coal mines in England for hauling coal cars, a small 

 pony is preferable to a large one. The weight of a good specimen 

 of the breed may be about 350 pounds for one 40 inches high. 



The improvement of the Shetland pony was begun in 1873 by 

 the Marquis of Londonderry of England, who then owned extensive 

 coal mines. He purchased the island of Noss and part of Bressay 

 and maintained studs there and at Seaham Harbor, on the north- 

 east coast of England. The work of the Marquis of Londonderry 

 resulted in greatly improving the uniformity of type and color, 

 reducing size but increasing bone, without detriment to quality. 

 On the death of the marquis some years ago the entire stock of 

 Shetlands owned by him was sold. 



The use of the Shetland pony in America is essentially for 

 children, rather than as a beast of burden. In Ohio, where these 

 ponies are common, they are frequently seen hitched to pony carts, 



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