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Origins
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Arabian horses contributed to the hackney's development. The history of the hackney pony begins with the history of the hackney horse. During the medieval period in England, swift riding horses were developed that were lighter than the heavy war horses used by knights in armor. Versions of what was essentially the same breed of horse evolved under various names in different regions of England. The ancestors of the hackney horse and pony were called Norfolk trotters, Lincolnshire trotters and Yorkshire roadsters. Early in the eighteenth century, Norfolk trotter mares were bred with some of the same Arabian stallions that helped develop the thoroughbred.
Function
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Carriage popularity played a large role in hackney development. Not long after breeders introduced Arabian bloodlines into what would become the hackney horse, English roads began improving. Horses that could pull carriages swiftly and with style became very popular with the wealthy. Hackney horses proved ideally suited to this purpose, although their ancestors had been bred and treasured for their value as saddle horses. The new emphasis on horse-drawn vehicles encouraged further refinements in hackney breeding. The official breed studbook began in the 1880s.
Pony Development
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Two decades before the studbook began, the development of the hackney pony from the hackney horse began. Christopher Wilson of Westmoreland, England, bred hackney horses with Fell ponies and Welsh ponies, and the animals that developed from that breeding retained the valued hackney high-stepping trot. They also exhibited a "distinct pony character," notes the Hackney Horse Society. Hackney ponies---called "Wilson's ponies" at first---became popular for pulling small carts.
Arrival in the U.S.
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The first hackney pony arrived in the United States in 1878, imported by Alexander Cassatt, the president of the Pennsylvania Railroad. The mare's name was 239 Stella. More hackney ponies followed, popularized by Cassatt and his wealthy friends. As the Northeast Hackney Association notes, "From 1890 until the Depression, wealthy Americans brought boatload after boatload of horses and ponies of the most noted strains." The invention of the automobile, however, signaled a general decline in the need for horses, and the hackney pony was no exception.
Resurgence
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After World War II, both hackney ponies and hackney horses experienced a comeback. Instead of being bred as work animals, however, they became valued as pets and as show animals. According to the American Hackney Society, as of 2010, hackney ponies are shown in four different classifications, which are based on features such as variations in size and style of the main and tail, as well as on what type of vehicle the ponies pull in the show ring.
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Hackney Pony History
Hackney ponies are descended from the hackney horse breed, and they share a stud book with them. These ponies have the same high-stepping, showy gate of the hackney horse, but they possess true pony characteristics in terms of overall size and head size. In horse shows, hackney ponies are usually shown pulling buggies or carts, just as their larger relatives are.