424 INDIANS. 



CHAPTER XLH. 



PONIES. 



MY subject would not be complete without some mention 

 of the pony, the plains Indian's inseparable companion 

 and most serviceable slave. Scarcely fourteen hands in 

 height, he is rather light than heavy in build, with good 

 legs, straight shoulders, short strong back, and full barrel. 

 He has no appearance of ' blood ' except sharp, nervous 

 ears, and bright intelligent eyes ; but the amount of work 

 he can do, the distance he can pass over in a specified 

 time (provided it be long enough), put him (in Indian 

 hands) fairly on a level with the Arabian. Though of 

 indispensable value to the Indian, he receives not a particle 

 of attention. He is never stabled, nor washed, nor 

 rubbed, nor curried, nor blanketed, nor shod, nor fed, nor 

 doctored. 



When not under the saddle his life is spent in the 

 herd. After a hard day's work the saddle and bridle are 

 taken off, and he is picketed or turned loose, in either 

 case to shift for himself. If his back be bloody and torn 

 by the saddle, a cloth or skin is fastened on it to keep the 

 flies out. When travelling over rough and rocky ground 

 his rider may take the trouble to tie up a tender foot in a 

 piece of buffalo robe. In the winter he is a most miser- 

 able object, an animated skeleton. Exposed to the terrible 

 cold and piercing winds of a plains winter, his scanty and 

 innutritious food buried beneath the snow, he would un- 

 doubtedly perish, but that squaws cut branches from the 

 cotton-wood tree for him to browse upon. At this season, 



