ON SKULLS OF HORSES FROM THE ROMAN FORT AT NEWSTEAD. 581 



so broad and short that the length is only from 5*5 to 5 # 8 times the width of the middle 

 portion of the shaft. 



At the end of the Ice Age the Forest variety seems to have been common in the 

 vicinity of the Rhone. The Stone Age deposits at Solutre contain the remains of 

 numerous horses with the thick joints and broad hoofs, highly characteristic of the 

 Forest type. There has not yet been discovered a representation of a Forest horse 

 made during the Palaeolithic age to equal the engraving of the Steppe horse found in 

 the La Madelaine Cave, but one of the drawings (fig. 6) from the Combarelles Cave 

 brings out all the more striking points of the Forest variety. 



For some years ponies have attracted considerable attention, but the question what 

 is a pony ? has not yet been answered. On the assumption that " no breed of horses 



Fig. 6. — Drawing of a horse with an elk-like nose, short 

 neck, stout body, rounded hind-quarters, and well- 

 furnished tail. The original was probably a horse of 

 the Forest type. Combarelles Cave. Palaeolithic period. 



Fig. 5. — Head of a horse of the Forest type with a short 

 broad head, an elk-like nose, and a long upper lip. 



possesses any distinctive characteristic which seems to distinguish it from other breeds," 

 it has hitherto been the practice to speak of horses of all kinds which happened to be 

 under a certain size as ponies. Sometimes horses under 13 hands (52 inches) are 

 regarded as ponies, but at other times the limit is 12 hands (48 inches), or (e.g. in the 

 case of Polo ponies) 14*2 hands (58 inches). One result of regarding all horses under, 

 say, 13 hands as ponies is, that members of the Steppe and Forest varieties, though 

 differing fundamentally from, are classed with, members of the Celtic variety. The 

 practice of speaking of all kinds of horses under a given size as ponies is likely to 

 continue, but in future, when it is desired to convey some idea of the kind of pony 

 meant, writers will probably mention to which variety or race the pony in question is 

 most intimately related. Breeders of ponies seem to be agreed that a typical pony 

 should have a small, fine head, large full eyes, small ears, good shoulders, and clean 

 limbs ; and further, that ponies, in addition to being active, keen, and intelligent, are 

 extremely pleasant to ride. The small horses which come nearest to this description 



