Transcriber’s Note Page 51 — precints changed to precincts Page 72 — atttention changed to attention Illustration labelled ‘H. F. Lucas Lucas’ Page 110 — is left as printed. The Footnotes have been changed from alpha to numeric. PONIES PAST AND PRESENT [Illustration: _Painted by A. Cooper, R.A._ _Engraved on wood by F. Babbage._ THE SHOOTING PONY.] PONIES PAST AND PRESENT BY SIR WALTER GILBEY, BART. ILLUSTRATED VINTON & CO., LTD., 9, NEW BRIDGE STREET, LONDON, E.C. 1900 CONTENTS. PAGE Introduction 1 The New Forest Pony 11 The Welsh Pony 25 The Exmoor and Dartmoor Ponies 38 The Cumberland and Westmoreland Ponies 53 Ireland—The Connemara Pony 63 The Ponies of Scotland and The Shetland Islands 71 Uses and Characteristics of the Pony 87 Breeding Polo Ponies 97 ILLUSTRATIONS. The Shooting Pony Frontispiece The Pony Hack To face page 25 Little Wonder II. 59 Child’s Shetland Pony 82 “Princess Victoria in her Pony Phaeton” 87 The First Leap 89 Arab “Mesaoud” 104 The Polo Pony “Sailor” 110 _The increasing attention which during the last few years has been devoted to breeding ponies for various purposes, more especially for polo, suggested the collection of facts relating to our half-wild races of ponies. It will be seen from the following pages that we possess large supplies of small but strong and sound constitutioned horses which may be turned to far more valuable account than has been done hitherto. The Polo Pony Society set the example of drawing attention to the possibilities of utilising profitably the Moorland and Forest Mares, and it is hoped that these pages may be of some interest to those who are giving attention to pony breeding whether for polo or for any other purpose._ [Illustration] _Elsenham Hall, Essex, August, 1900._ PONIES PAST AND PRESENT INTRODUCTION. In another volume, _Horses Past and Present_, brief reference has been made to the early subjugation of the horse in Eastern countries by man; and it is unnecessary here to further touch upon that phase of our subject.