Shetland Ponies. 
209 
smallest skes, the larger-sized natives and the crosses being worth 
less than the medium heights of the native breed. He further 
says : " Strings of the ponies may be seen any day upon the roads, 
dragging peat fuel from the hills, in Lilliputian carts." This is 
true only of one district in all Shetland — namely, Dundrossness, and 
in no other Island or district does the practice prevail. He then 
goes on to say that " numbers of them live out of doors all the year 
round, except in the severest weather." Now, except in Dundross- 
ness, the ponies live out of doors in all weathers, and it is merely the 
fact that the former are crosses, and therefore less hardy, that compels 
their owners to house them. 
Again, it is stated that " snow often lies for seven or eight weeks 
covering the ground to a great depth." This statement is far from 
correct, as it is well known that the average winter temperature in 
Shetland is higher than that of any other county in Scotland, and 
the fresh winds from the Atlantic soon clear the ground of any snow 
that falls ; this is equally true of the hills as well as the valleys. 
Another point on which my experience differs is in regard to 
young foals. The writer says : " They are very delicate, and cannot 
safely be left out at night." Now, I have known them repeatedly 
dropped in cold weather in April with no shelter save a dry stone 
dyke, and in no single instance have I heard of them taking any 
harm in consequence. It is, no doubt, true that scanty feeding has 
a tendency to reduce the size, but it is quite possible, by careful 
selection and mating, to breed and keep them small, and at the same 
time to give them an ample supply of food. This has been con- 
clusively proved on the Marquis of Londonderry's holdings in 
Bressay. There the ponies used for breeding purposes are not only 
small themselves, but have been bred from small parents ; and though 
they get full feeding, the size has been gradually reduced, until now 
they rarely exceed 9^ hands, and some of them are even two or 
three inches less. 
Another point on which I must join issue is the following : — 
" Your Sheltie is not a quick animal, is inclined to be sleepv rather 
than otherwise, and is, as a rule, disposed to do no more than he 
can help in the way of exertion." Far from this being correct, 
[ should describe the true Sheltie as a quick, lively animal, and not 
the least inclined to be sleepy or lazy. It is only crosses and starved 
specimens that have " a pensive, melancholy air." No animal of the 
horse kind can surpass a well-bred and well-fed Shetlander in bright- 
ness and energy. The assertion that the Iceland pony is quicker 
and livelier than the Shetland, is the very reverse of the truth. 
To say that the purchaser of Shetland ponies will be victimised 
if he buys from agents in the South, is a gratuitous and uncalled- 
for assertion. I venture to say, without fear of contradiction, that 
if any one applies to a respectable dealer who is in the habit 
of importing them, he will be as fairly and honestly dealt with as 
he could possibly be were he to buy them in Shetland. 
One more statement must be noticed. In a foot-note, the 
Cornhill writer says that "heather is now practically extinct in 
VOL. I. T. S. — 1 P 
