282 HOOFED ANIMALS 



best known. Only seven or eight hands high (a hand equals 

 four inches), they are as docile as they are hardy. Their 

 coats are shaggy, and in winter become so matted as to 

 protect the animals from the severe weather experienced in 

 their northern home. Notwithstanding their small size, 

 they are wonderfully strong, and they are capable of well 

 sustained exertion without fatigue. A Shetland Pony once 

 ran from Norwich to Yarmouth and back again, a total dis- 

 tance of forty-four miles, in three and three-quarter hours ; 

 and though it was a feat that redounded but little to the 

 credit of its owner, the result was a striking testimony to 

 the powers of endurance of the little horse. 



No account of the Horse would be complete without 

 reference to the wild, or semi-wild, animals of America and 

 Australia. In the latter case they are certainly not indi- 

 genous to the Southern continent, but are positively the 

 descendants of horses imported by the colonists, which have 

 escaped into the wilds to revert to a wild state. Small and 

 ugly, the ' Brumbies,' as they are called, display the utmost 

 vigilance in avoiding capture by man. In some districts at 

 one time they existed in such numbers as to be a great 

 nuisance to the settlers ; and in 1875, on one station alone 

 in New South Wales, several thousands of the animals were 

 shot. 



In the case of the Wild Horses, or Mustangs, of Mexico 

 and South America, there exist some elements of doubt 

 concerning their origin. It is said that at the time of the 

 discovery of America there were no Horses in any part of 

 the Continent, and it has been suggested that the indigenous 

 animals had been exterminated by the pumas. But whether 

 they be indigenous, or the descendants of the Horses intro- 

 duced by the Spaniards, the fact remains, that especially on 

 the boundless pampas are enormous numbers of Horses, 

 sometimes as many as several thousand in a single troop. 

 They move about in parties, usually headed by a powerful 

 stallion ; but when alarmed the whole herd moves in con- 

 cert, and if attacked the strong will protect the weak. The 

 jaguar is often beaten off from an animal that it has marked 

 down. In fighting, the Horse rears itself on its hind feet 

 and brings down its fore hoofs on the enemy, while at 



