THE CONNAMARA HORSE. 
PLATE IY. 
GELDING, 13 J, hands high, from the County of Galway, the property of John Bindon Scott Esa 
of Cahircon. ’ 4 
The Horses of Spain have been referred to as having contributed to form the mixed races of the British Islands; but it is 
X i t t-ftb 7 ^ H ° rSeS .° f SPa “ Sh deSCeUt ’ U6arly ^ n0t alt0gethCT P " re ’ exists in ^ country in considerable 
f tl 7 , “ tnC * ° f the C ° Unty ° f GalWay ' The tradition is ’ ** from the wreck of some ships 
o he Spanish Armada on the western coast of Ireland, in the year 1588, several horses and mares were saved, which con¬ 
tinued to breed in the rugged and desolate country to which they were thus brought. But the aid of tradition is in no decree ne¬ 
cessary to prove the origin of these horses, since all their characters are essentially Spanish. They are from twelve to fourteen 
hands high, generally of the prevailing chestnut colour of the Andalusian horses, delicate in their limbs, and possessed of the form 
o head characteristic of the Spanish race. They are suffered to run wild and neglected in the country of mixed rock and bog 
“ w! ’ 7 are *° be Seen gall0ping in tr00ps am0n S St the ru ® ed rocks o f limestone of which the country 
consists When they are to be captured, which is usually when they are three or four years old, they are driven into the bogs and 
a ere . ey are haidy, active, sure-footed in a remarkable degree, and retain the peculiar amble of the Spanish Jennet 
ny se ection may be made from the wild troops, after being hunted into the bogs; and individuals are obtained at a trifling 
expense. ® 
It must be regarded as remarkable that these horses should retain the characters of their race for so long a period, in a 
countiy so different from that whence they are derived. They have merely become smaller than the original race, are some¬ 
what rounder in the croup and are covered in their natural state with shaggy hair, the necessary effect of a climate the most humid in 
Europe. From me re neglect of the selection of the parents in breeding, many of these little horses are extremely ugly, yet still 
conforming to the original type. It would be highly desirable that the gentlemen of Ireland should direct attention to Ihis re- 
7, a e race, which would supply a class of horses, of the Galloway size, now much wanted. By importing some of the best 
n a usian stallions, a wonderful change could be effected in the breed, which would thus be rendered of economical importance 
to the district which produces it. 1 
