92 ILLUSTRATED STOCK DOCTOR. 



closely ribbed up ; the head is well shaped — lean and bony, wide in th« 

 brow, sometimes slightly basin-faced, like the Arab ; the ears are very 

 small, well placed, are carried erect; the eyes are large and bright, with 

 a fine look of intelligence ; the neck is short and thick, and covered with 

 a great mass of coarse mane ; the shoulder is sloping, thick, and having 

 little elevation at the withers ; the loins are broad but finely formed ; the 

 quarters are well made, but not large in proportion to other parts ; th« 

 back is gently curving, with never an}^ tendency towards what is called 

 sway-back ; the legs and feet are of excellent shape, and of the most 

 powerful texture, so that the Shetlander is a stranger to all those diseases 

 of the feet and legs to which many horses are subject, and a lame 

 Shetland is almost unknown ; the tail, like the mane, is of great volume. 



When roaming wild they live on the poorest fare, and are exposed to 

 all the inclemencies of the seasons. When they cannot pick up their 

 scanty subsistence upon the uplands, by reason of the snows of winter, 

 they betake themselves to the sea shore and live upon kelp and sea weed. 

 When taken by the peasants of those localities which they most inhabit, 

 and reduced to subjection, they still require but little food and little 

 care. 



Their endurance is very great ; and though they are of course incapable 

 of great speed, they ^vill carry weights largely disproportioned to their 

 size, and keep up a uniform pace of from four to five miles an hour 

 throughout the day, accomplishing forty, even fifty miles between 

 morning and evening Avith apparent ease. 



They are gentle, affectionate, easily trained, and as children's horses, 

 and for all other purposes for which a pony can be at all serviceable, they 

 are the best of all found in either hemisphere. 



The prevailing colors are black, brown, and a dark sorrel. 



The Mexican Mustang, one of the most widely known and distinct of 

 American ponies, is found chiefly on the prairies of Texas and Mexico. 

 His origin is doubtful ; though it is affirmed that notwithstanding his 

 di'minutive size, and some striking points of degeneracy, there is clear 

 indication of Spanish origin. It is difficult, however, to account for the 

 difference between him and other wild horses, that discover in size aa 

 well as in general formation that they are the descendants of animals 

 left or lost upon the American continent by the early Spanish discoverer* 

 »nd conquerors. 



These ponies are undersized ; of very slight limbs ; often ugly and dis- 

 proportionately made ; with long neck, long back, and long, slender and 

 weak posteriors. Their hoofs are often badly formed, tending to flatness 

 and irregularity. Their heads, however, though long, are lean, w«41 

 shaped, and wellset ; and their nostrils are wide. Their manes and 



