1920.] 



Travelling an Unlicensed Stallion. 



419 



Small holders m the neighbourhood of mountain and moor- 

 land districts will also find Borderland ponies very valuable. 

 The Dale pony, for example, is used in the Dale and Fell dis- 

 tricts of Westmorland, Cumberland and Yorkshire. The 

 Devonshire cob is used in the Exmoor and Dartmoor districts. 

 The larger truck pony of the New Forest is considered by many 

 to be an ideal transport animal. Mountain and moorland ponies, 

 however, are suitable for all parts of the country, with the reser- 

 vation above-mentioned as regards Exmoor and Welsh ponies. 



The beginner, when purchasing, should secure the assistance 

 of someone who has had considerable experience of buying and 

 selling. While it would be economical for a farmer on a large 

 farm to select a young animal that is perfectly sound and free 

 from blemish — an animal which should increase in value each 

 year until it is five or six years old — the small holder's utility 

 horse should be six years old or more w^hen bought, and it should 

 be purchased with a view to keeping it on the holding as long as 

 it is able to do the work. When selecting a horse, a small 

 holder need not necessarily reject an animal because of a 

 blemish, provided that such blemish does not interfere with the 

 horse's ability to work. Care, however, is needed to ensure that 

 the animal is free from the grosser defects which unscrupulous 

 dealers might wish to conceal. 



In the Southern and Midland counties the horse should be 

 turned out at night in a grass field all the year round, except 

 possibly in very severe weather. If there be no paddock on the 

 holding, the animal should be kept in a yard that has an open 

 shed; on no account should it be tied up at night in a hot and 

 stuffy stable. If the horse has been stabled, the transition to 

 open-air life must be gradual. 



A booklet on "The Small Holder's Horse" is published by 

 the Ministry in the series of " Small Holders' Guides " (No. 4). 

 Copies may be obtained on application to the # Offices of the 

 Ministry, B, St. James's Square, London, S.W.I, price 2d., 

 post free. 



****** 



An important prosecution under the Horse Breeding Act, 



1918, was heard recently in the Ripon City Court, when three 



farmers were summoned, on the informa- 

 Prosecution for ^.^^ ^^^^ -j-^.^^^ g^^^^, 



Travellmo: an Un- ^j. . . - , „. i • . 

 licensed Stallion. ^^^^J^^^y, for travelhng a sh.re horse for 

 service without licence. There was a 

 second charge of exhibitinjjf the horse on pi'emises not in the 



