Where skill and judgment have been brought to bear upon the improvement of the Fell ponies the result has been very marked. Mr. Christopher W. Wilson, of Rigmaden Park, Kirkby Lonsdale, Westmoreland, was the pioneer of an improved breed of ponies, and he has shown what can be done with the material at hand, having built upon that foundation a breed which at the present day stands unrivalled for shape and action. Having in the year 1872 taken the matter in hand, Mr. Wilson selected his breeding mares from among the best ponies of the districts, and put them to the pony stallion, Sir George, a Yorkshire-bred Hackney (by Sportsman (796) by Prickwillow, who was descended through Phenomenon from the Original Shales), which won for eight years the first prizes at the Shows of the Royal Agricultural Society. The female offspring were in due time mated with their sire, and threw foals which showed Hackney characteristics in far more marked degree than did their dams, as might be anticipated in animals three-parts instead of one-half bred. The chief difficulty Mr. Wilson had to contend against was the tendency of these ponies to exceed the 14 hands which is the limit of the pony classes at the shows. This was overcome by turning out the young stock after the first winter upon the rabbit warrens and moorlands of Rigmaden to find their own grazing among the sheep and rabbits as their maternal ancestors had done. This measure not only succeeded in its direct object, but went far to preserve that hardiness of constitution which is by no means the least valuable attribute of the mountain pony. This judicious system of breeding and management was maintained with the best results; the third direct cross from Sir George produced a mare in Georgina V. which had constitution and stamina, and also more bone than her dam or grand-dam. The breeder’s name has been given to the fruits of his wisely directed efforts, and the “Wilson pony” is now universally famous for its hunter-like shape and action, and for the numerous successes it has achieved at the principal shows at home and abroad. Mr. Wilson won the Queen’s Jubilee gold medals for both stallions and mares at the Royal Agricultural Society’s Show at Windsor, and sold the stallion for a large sum to go to America. On one occasion the R.A.S.E. Show included three classes for pony stallions and three prizes in each. Mr. Wilson entered nine ponies and won all these prizes; also 1st and 2nd prizes for pony brood mares.