PONIES PAST AND PRESENT - THE BREEDS OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. By Sir Walter Gilbey, Bart. Originally published in 1900, this rare early work on Native British Ponies is both expensive and hard to find in its first edition. READ COUNTRY BOOKS has republished it using the original text and illustrations. The author was a respected authority on all equestrian matters and published several important books on the subject as well as contributing numerous articles to the sporting and farming press of that era. This title was the first comprehensive work on British Ponies ever written, and the first to draw attention to their important contribution to polo pony breeding. The book consists of one hundred and thirty six pages, including eight full page plates. A lengthy introduction takes the reader through some of the early history, origins, and laws relating to the pony breeds. This is followed by eight Detailed chapters: The New Forest Pony. The Welsh Pony. The Exmoor and Dartmoor Ponies. The...