278 ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE. 



take the pains to avoid an obstacle such as a stone, 

 and will frequently trip over it, knowing full well 

 that she can alwavs save herself with the other leg. 

 But I have driven this same mare down a mountain 

 side, where the only road was the dry bed of a rocky 

 stream, and there she picked her way in perfect 

 safety, without taking a false step. 



The smallness of the Arabian horse is due partly, 

 at least, to scantiness of food. " Horses, mares, and 

 colts, all alike, are starved during a great part of the 

 year, no corn being ever given, and only camel's milk 

 when other food fails. They are often without water 

 for several days together, and in the most piercing 

 nights of winter they stand uncovered, and with no 

 more shelter than can be got on the lee side of the 

 tents. Their coats become long and shaggy, and they 

 are left uncombed and unbrushed till the new coat 

 comes in spring. At these times the}* are ragged- 

 looking scare-crows, half starved, and as rough as 

 ponies. In the summer, however, their coats are as 

 fine as satin, and they show all the appearance of 

 breeding one has a right to expect of their blood." 



The cow-pony of our Western and Southwestern 

 States is akin to the Arabian, being descended from 

 the Barbs (in part Arabian) that the Spaniards 

 brought over when they conquered South America; 

 and the cow-pony and the Arabian horse fare very 

 much the same in winter, and undergo a similar 

 change in spring. " The cow-pony," writes Colonel 

 T. A. Dodge in a private letter, " in many places, in 

 the winter, looks like a bear. His hide becomes fur, 

 and his legs are as big as barrels. But when he 

 scours out in the spring, he is as fine as any thorough- 



