ABSENCE OF SHOEING. 9 



very good horses, which run with great speed over these 

 wild tracts wdthoiit being shod with iron.' ' 



The Tanghans, or Tibetan ponies Hooker saw in the 

 Himalayas, are described as wonderfully strong and endur- 

 ing. ' T/iei/ are never shod, and the hoof often cracks 

 and they become pigeon-toed.' ^ 



Horses are never shod in the Moluccas, or the Straits 

 of Malacca. With regard to Java, Sir Stamford Raffles 

 says : ' Horses are never shod in Java, nor are they secured 

 in the stable as is usual in Europe and Western India. 

 A separate enclosure is appropriated for each horse, within 

 which the animal is allowed to move and turn at pleasure, 

 being otherwise unconfined. These enclosures are erected 

 at a short distance from each other, and with separate 

 roofs. They are generally raised above the ground, and 

 have a boarded floor.' ^ The same kind of floor is in use 

 at Manilla. 



Lichtenstein remarks of the Cape of Good Hope 

 horses, that, owing to their being accustomed from their 

 youth to seek their nourishment upon dry mountains, 

 they are easily satisfied, and 'grow so hard in the hoojs 

 that there is no occasion to shoe them.' •* 



Anderssen, describing some of his journeys in South 

 Africa, says : ' On an after-occasion, I remember to have 

 performed upwards of ninety miles at a very great pace, 

 only once or twice removing the saddle for a few minutes. 

 And be it borne in mind that the animals were young, in- 



' Narrative of the Travels of Marco Polo. London, 1849. P- ^34- 



* Himalayan Journals, vol. ii. p. 131. 

 ' History of Java, vol. ii. p. 319. 



* Travels in Southern Africa, vol. ii. p. 27. London, 1812. 



