British horse and pony breeds - and their future

"In the mid-1800s it was estimated that there were around 50 recognizable types of horse and pony in Great Britain but relatively few of these developed into breeds or survived into the twentieth century ... Today, both the much-loved Cleveland Bay and Suffolk Punch are on the Rare Breeds Survival Trust critical list and there are fewer than 500 Exmoor ponies in the UK ... [the author] looks at how the native [i.e. British] equine has evolved and ... where we are today. He examines the lost and minority breeds - including the Irish Hobby, the Yorkshire Trotter, the Shales Horse, the Orkney and the Eriskay - illustrating the ease with which breeds can die out or be absorbed into another breed through indiscriminate cross-breeding. He then moves on to outline what needs to be done to protect the survival of these horse and pony breeds and who needs to take responsibility"--Jacket.