It originated from Scotland and then became prevalent in Northern England.
Origins
The pony breed was established in Scotland where it was was bred between Nithsdale and the Mull of Galloway. It was used as the mount of the Border raiders, then by drovers bringing their cattle into England, and soon became quite common in the Northern counties.
Appearance
The Galloway is described variably by different sources. Here is one such source;
"The pure Galloway was said to be nearly 14 hands high and sometimes more; of a bright bay or brown with black legs, small head and neck, and peculiarly deep [body?] and clean legs. Its qualities are speed, stoutness and sure-footedness over a very rugged and mountainous country." Youatt 1831
Consistent features highlighted by different sources are a height of 13-14 hands, making the animal a pony, though it is still often called a horse in old texts. The word Galloway was even used at times more as a generic description of height rather than breed, to add to confusion. Black legs are a feature often remarked upon, and in colour most sources describe them as brown or bright bay, though black is also recorded. The head and neck were small and neat and the chest wide and deep.
Uses
The Galloway had qualities that leant themselves to a variety of uses. They made a comfortable and reliable saddle horse, being tough and hardy, rarely lame, very surefooted over the roughest terrain and able to travel at speed for quite long distances owing to their stamina. Racing was a popular engagement for Galloways and similar animals before a legal act in 1740 outlawed racing ponies.
They were not particularly suited to ploughing, but crossbreeding them to other types produced a general purpose horse that could do a range of work about farmland, ridden and in harness, and probably hastened the decline of the purebred Galloway.
Contribution to Modern Breeds
The breed began to be absorbed into the more fashionable Fell pony in the 18th Century. A most famous sire of the foundation Fell ponies was Lingcropper, an 18th century stallion believed by many to be a Galloway. The Fell is considered to be most similar in appearance to the Galloway of any of the modern breeds it has given rise to.
The Galloway is thought to have had played a part in the ancestry of not only the Fell pony, but the Dales, and the modern day Highland Pony. It is also believed that the Thoroughbred received some Galloway blood in its very early days, even before the three great sires the Byerley Turk, Darley Arabian and the Godolphin Arabian made their mark. The Thoroughbred evolved from horses kept at royal stables, Spanish and Italian in origin and heavily influenced by the Barb, which were crossed with native ‘running’ stock. This ‘running’ stock contained native horse blood, provided by the Irish Hobby and the swift Galloway (Hartley Edwards, 1994). Finally American breeds can be traced back to the Galloway. In 1611, 17 ‘running’ stock stallions and mares were sent from England to Virginia, America. This ‘running’ stock, as we have mentioned, was likely to be strongly connected to the Galloway. It was from these ponies and horses that the Quarter horse evolved, and other American breeds can also be traced back to them, such as the American Saddlebred.
In Literature
- Shakespeare refers to Galloways in Henry IV, written in 1597.
- The characters of Charlotte Bronte’s 1847 novel Wuthering Heights appear to have Galloways or ponies of Galloway type as ridden animals.
References:
Hartley Edwards, Elwyn (1994) The Encyclopedia of the Horse, Dorking Kingsley, London
Youatt, William (1831); from the collection of the Fell Pony Museum
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