THE SHETLAND PONY. 



and great endurance. The pure breed is large and heavy, and is notable for a very 

 long stride. When judiciously crossed with other breeds it produces offspring which 

 are extensively employed in the carriage and for the saddle. The figure of the Clydes- 

 dale Cart Horse which, accompanies this brief notice is a portrait of a remarkably 

 fine animal named Prince Albert. 



SEVERAL breeds of partially wild Horses are still found in the British islands, the 

 best known of which is the SHETLAND PONY. 



This odd, quaint, spirited little animal is an inhabitant of the islands at the northern 

 extremity of Scotland, where it runs wild, and may be owned by any one who can catch 

 and hold it. Considering its diminutive proportions, which only average seven or eight 

 hands in height, the Sheltie is wonderfully strong, and can trot away quite easily with 

 a tolerably heavy man on its back. One of these little creatures carried a man of 

 twelve stone weight for a distance of forty miles in a single day. The head of this 





little animal is small, the neck short and well arched, and covered with an abundance* 

 of heavy mane, that falls over the face and irresistibly reminds the spectator of a 

 Skye-terrier. It is an admirable draught Horse when harnessed to a carriage of pro- 

 portionate size ; and a pair of these spirited little creatures, when attached to a low 

 lady's carriage, have a remarkably piquant and pretty appearance. 



MAN has so long held the DOMESTIC Ass under his control, that its original progen- 

 itors have entirely disappeared from the face of the earth. 



There are, as it is well known, abundant examples of wild Asses found in various 

 lands, but it seems that these animals are either the descendants of domesticated 'Asses 

 which have escaped from captivity, or mules between the wild and domestic animals. 

 In size and general appearance the Ass varies greatly, according to the country which 

 it inhabits, and the treatment to which it is subjected. The Spanish kind, for example, 

 is double the size of the ordinary English Ass, and even the latter animal is extremely 

 variable in stature and and general dimensions. As a rule, the Ass is large and sleek- 

 haired in warm countries, and small and woolly-haired in the colder parts of the globe. 



