OUR CLIMATE 4*t 



back over the same road the next week, and kept this up 

 for six months without loss of condition. He can carry 

 any weight. Mr. Parkman speaks of a chief known as 

 Le Cochon, on account of his three hundred pounds avoir- 

 dupois, who, nevertheless, rode his ponies as bravely as a 

 man of half the bulk. He as often carries two people as 

 one. There is simply no end to this wonderful product of 

 the prairies. He works many years. So long as he will 

 fat up in the spring, his age is immaterial to the Indian. 



It has been claimed by some that the American climate 

 is, par excellence, adapted to the horse. California and 

 Kentucky vie for superiority, and both produce such won- 

 derful results as "Sunol" and "Nancy Hanks." Man cer- 

 tainly has done wonders with the horse upon our soil ; and 

 alone the horse has done wonders for himself. I have 

 sought for great performances by horses in every land. 

 One hears wonderful traditions of speed and endurance 

 and much unsupported testimony elsewhere-; but for re- 

 corded distance and time, America easily bears off the palm. 

 We shall recur to this point hereafter. Ever since Brown- 

 Sequard discovered that he could not always kill an Ameri- 

 can rabbit by inserting a probe into its brain, and enunci- 

 ated the doctrine of the superior energy and endurance of 

 the American mammal, facts have been accumulating to 

 prove his position sound. 



One peculiarity of the pony is his absence of crest. His 

 ewe-neck suggests the curious query of what has become 

 of the high, well-shaped neck of his ancestor the Barb. I 

 was on the point of saying arched neck but this is the 

 one thing which the Arabian or Barb rarely has, being 

 ridden with a bit which keeps his nose in the air. But he 

 has a peculiarly fine neck and wide, deep, open throttle of 

 perfect shape, and with bit and bridoon carries his head 

 just right. There are two ways of accounting for the 



