32 OBSERVATIONS OF A RANCHWOMAN 



may fairly claim to be the home of the 

 Perfect Horse, the sage-brush beast is a 

 burden scarcely to be endured. Time alone 

 can make him endurable. A good-looking 

 Mexican pony is as rare as a good-looking 

 Mexican peon. 



The typical peon of New Mexico may be 

 described as follows : He has a high, conical 

 head, coarse black hair without the ghost of 

 a wave, and combed, if ever combed at all, 

 straight down from the cone over a pair of 

 small dark eyes. His skin is muddled, his 

 nose and mouth designed apparently with 

 more haste than finish. In form he is 

 seldom athletic or well-built. Needless to 

 say, the type is subject to wide variations, 

 but the above is a fair composite picture. 

 For that unpleasing head of his he exhibits 

 the tenderest care, swathing it on chilly days 

 in a blanket, crowning the bundle with the 

 everlasting, ubiquitous hat. This blanket of 

 his, by-the-by, is an altogether fascinating 

 article of apparel to the artist. In whatever 

 style it be worn, and however grimy, it is 

 unfailingly picturesque. A Mexican crawling 

 up the quaint street of the ancient adobe 



