1 Aprit, 1902.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 263 
There are so many parts of Great Britain that are eminently fitted for 
breeding ponies that we have a vast field for our exercise of this enterprise. 
By way of illustration let me take my own country of Radnor, with almost 
every acre of which I am intimately acquainted. Here there are at least 100,000 
acres of hill land that hitherto have been given up to sheep pasturing, and have 
had only a sprinkling of ponies on them (and those, I regret to say, of a very 
inferior quality). Duriny the last few years, owing to the lowness in the price 
of wool, these sheep have decreased at least by one-half, as it is now well known 
that it does not pay to keep old wether sheep for the mere sake of their wool. 
Therefore, why should not the pony (improved) take the place of the sheep ? 
Thousands of ponies could thus be bred in Radnorshire alone, in a highly 
remunerative way, and yet this little county forms buta small spot on the pony- 
breeding area of our country. And let me here point out that it is on the 
highlands of South Africa—viz., in Basutoland—where the hardy ponies are bred. 
The idea of raising what I may call the nucleus of pony battalions in 
Great Britain may sound a crude one, and no doubt itis so at the present 
moment, and yet there are many far-seeing men who would fain agree with me, 
and have already begun to pave the way by breeding to a type of improved 
riding pony. Here the thoroughbred or the best type of Arab, on the sire’s 
side, is the one most likely to succeed, and the height to be aimed at is from 
14 hands to 14 hands 2 inches. This may seem a difficulty at first, but it is 
proverbial of the Welsh pony at least that it breeds animals bigger than itself, 
if they are not absolutely starved in their youth, and no doubt the same can be 
said of other notable pony breeds. 
Let me beg pony-breeders on a large scale in hilly countries to eschew the 
hackney or mere half-bred trotting cob, if they intend to build up a herd of 
ponies fitted for riding purposes. By the use of hackney sires they will be 
defeating some of the finest attributes that Nature has moulded in the real 
hill pony—viz., stamina, tractability, and sure-footedness, which can never be 
attained in a rough hilly country by an animal that tosses his legs about, and 
tires after going a few miles. 
The Polo Pony Society has a great future before it—as great, I venture to 
think, as that of any of the other distinctive breed societies in their own 
particular line ; and 1 am convinced that the type of pony which we are endea- 
youring to set up and encourage in our stud-book is the one most likely to 
succeed—viz., the thoroughbred, or the first cross from it on the sire’s side, 
also the Arab on the sire’s side, and the polo pony mares, or their dams, or the 
likeness of their dams and the best Welsh or Moorland mares, as well as Irish 
pony mares, on the dam’s side. 
Our agricultural societies and horse show societies (and their name is 
legion now) are beginning to recognise the importance of including ponies in 
their prize lists, and in this they are clearly marching with the times. It needs 
but a word of encouragement from the War Office to set the pony ball rolling 
in earnest, and, with Lord Roberts at the head of this great department of 
State, I do not think we need fear for what his vote will be, for there is no one 
in the army who, from his Indian and sporting experience, has had more reason 
to prove the efficacy and efficiency of the pony in India or throughout the 
world. Hence it is that in being a humble follower and believer in the sound 
sense and judgment of Sir Walter Gilbey in what pertains especially to 
horses, I unhesitatingly advocate pony-breeding of the best type, as not only 
conducing to the assistance and popularising the game of polo, but also of 
iving us better riding ponies and battalions of mounted infantry such as will 
be in a few years the admiration and envy of every nation in the world. 
It may seem presumptuous to point out to such of the readers of your 
Almanac what sort of a horse the small war-horse of the future should be. 
We can only picture him in our mind’s eye as an animal of about 14 hands 2 
inches, with courage written on his countenance and docility in his eye, strong 
neck, with shoulders well set into a short powerful back and loins, wide in the 
hips, and thick-set in the buttocks, a full well-set-on tail (undocked), his legs 
