New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1857-12-25
PONIES.
III.
TIE ENGLISH AND JRIsu GALLOWAY AND
THE NARRAGANsEr PAGER.

have enumerated AID deacrbsd 1. oar recent ariices
there 10 zone worthy Of notice thsn the peculiar
ce of small horses, ,etier than what can be exactly
cassed es ponies, which formerly e1isted, nearly
Identical in al their characteristics, In two SEAL dis
tiios Of GTea British, wholly uDcornec'sd the one with
The otter, YET trgunly enough, with names 30 q nj
lar to justify fIst aea Of their being IN sons 'cft
sinlsT OF IDENTICAL Tee one OF these IS the small dis
tct Of Galloway, on the shcres OF the sOvay Firth,
in the south ives: Of Scotland. Tee othe. is portion
of the County Of Galway between the great eIpsnse
OF Loush Comb end the Atlantic Oeean, IN ths wsst
of Ie,nd The whole width Of the Ish Sea snd ofthe
slal Itself lies between toe two dissIcts, which have
in fpie Of their similar rares 30 coErecer whether OF
origin Of population yet, strange 70 say, In esch 10.
csy tfere IT, rather wasfor they have recentS be-
come nearly eXtinct-s peculiar breed OF horses wholly
d.ren. and distinct r the native stock whether Of
Scotland Ireland Jet 90 similar in al their charao-
tsrstcs and qualifications tina. their identity Of origin
car not be doubted. These are the animals which,
frtm the Scottish district on the border Of ths Counties
of wiskn and Rhkenbrish., received the name CT
GALIowAYs Q word which afsr0ard came TO be MS
applied TO email horses Of oil descriptions come
above the standard OF what wcu'd be called poaies,
fem wbstever part Of the world they were brorght
into the Frelish market. 10 Il district they were
org famous for their endurance 'psee, DEBILITY and
easiness tf gait as well az for tkeir high and cour
sgeous ipri and 30 long the country roads asd, in
oeed The greet rational thorOughfares CT England and
Scotland we're such as 10 ietder the saddle the only
ropd ard agreeable ard BY far the mos certain node
of nevel, thsse beautiful and excellent little apinals
were preserved in their purity, were carefully propa
gated from the best mares and stations of their Own
race and commanded large pr,es Tor the nee both OF
gent emen and ladies' a. road hackreys Their power
Of carving weight and Of travelling at al essy and
moce1s,e Gait for an al nost Unlimited number OF ccL.
seeutive hours was really worderful But When the
progress Of improvement covered Eee.dtd aud her
PROVINCES with network Of excellent roads, when giss
and light two beeled vehicles usued the place Of the
saddle and flying stage coaches and yet more rapid
mails ,uppan.ed the slow, numbering vans and dill
peroes, II became unnecessary TO keep rp psrtcasf
breed of horses too small for agricultural Use, too light
fer dra wht nj sufficient speed or length f,r hunters,
ard from which 20 class Of horses for genera unity
could be raised by any system Of cross breeding Cocse
,uenty the beautiful and enduring little Galo~sys fell
2, a6usy into disrepue aud were either not bred At
ALL or merely bred for fancy purposes. to mount the
children of both sexes Of the gentry and nostyi while
their Place in their Owl country was taken by Wna'
vas "a sely called the improved road hackney hall cso
half cart horse, by the gig horse and BY the hatbrsd
hunter. In Gallo say, the breed lie now entirely e.
t1ct although OF late years attempts hsve been made
to produce its Counterpart by breed pony
mayes of the Scotch and Shetland breeds to small low
built, close coupled bony, thoroughbred stson' for
the purpose mentioned above Of becoming ckildrens
riding horses and boyo hunters. Aud very exceIent
and admirable little type of animal ID 80 produced with
high eprt plerty of pluck plenty of bone. plenty Of
speed tor the purposes 10 which they are intended.
But they ave not breed nor can they transmit re-
production of themselves by n-breedir1. II crossed
back TO ponies they lose the blood; creased back TO
tborougbbreds they lose their pony characteristic and
In the end como 10 nothing more thac anderszed half
breds OF three quaer beds If bred 10 snd il, - a..
vays must be the case With crossbreds, they deter
crate in all respects, and lose al the good qualities
which they derived from either side In Galway, the
existence CT the animal was not known until o oom'
psraliysy recent period ard, O. in that wild. remote
and seni.cyiized district the reasons still exist
which originally caused them 70 be priced 90 highly IN
the sitter the want Of good roads for wheeled
carriages they are beev I'd still TO exist there 10 the
purity sltt ough the ruderess Of the district the bar
rer ness Of the SOIL the extreme poverty CT the coef
farmers and the absence Of wealthy rural propnstors
and resident gentry, have led to their detenofaasn,
owing TO scarcity of food deficiency OF shelter wa,f OF
intelligent superyiion in breeding, ard, perhaps not
Last want of nducee n. to breed these Of high quail
Nv conseoue,t on want of market. Il Is not, how
ever 10 be doubted that If intelligent sys.em were
sdop,ed, the Galway slowsys might be bred up 70
their original high standard, and this beautiful and
for its proper uses-ilcompsrsb.e little sr'na m'Sa'
be reiptrc in its perfection. II is worthy OF re-
max thot the s1sterce of this horse In Irish Galway
identities. with the horse of Scottish Galloway, and the
f,tbsr exterce in both places of direct oral tfad-
ton Of the origin of the breedwhich tradition can BY
no means have been transmitted from ons dsTlc;t 10
the otberp,oves almost conclusively what has been
disuu,ed, though vth NO very sufficient cause, for
lore period Of years, their Spanish origin. In both
places is claimed that they descended rom horses
cast on the chores Of the two districts from the ship
wrecked eeeons of the Spanish Armsde. In both dis
tricts II ia matter Of historical no.oriety thai
ws.,bips were wrecked at the period in question; sud
a. they doubt cas- had cavalry on board, there IS no
cause for .putsa the tradition, the rsther tAa the
GaIlovays Of both districts have mary OF The pecu-
rarities of the Ardausan jsnre.s, and sho"a large
tir ctpre of Moorish blood. Ia the New Forest hke
wise. on the coast Of Hsmp.hirs, as We have msa.
toned above, Spani.h wM-sh.ps went ashs'e, sad
there also were found in past years ponies ofsapsss
irg speed spiri. and beauty. These, however have
been utterly de.eriora.ed and bred out, owing to
ys,y different csu.e-the righ. Of fres pasture a.
taobed TO territorial holdings in the forest or on is
outskirts, and the custom, which has prevsled there
from the earliest times, Of letting s:al foa' ana mares
Of all sorts q intero: classes run at large within ts
preciucts-whence has, Of course, arisen su usdis'
tipsuisbsble ra,e traceable to promi:cu'us inter
cour,e. and, although not without some valuable qui-
tiles chiefly to be noticed for their rcuss and fsssea
4 -. ara