THE HORSE, DIFFERENT BREEDS, ETC. 93 



tails are fine. They have some activity and spirit, and are sometimes 

 vicious, but not difficult to subdue. In a wild state, they are easily out- 

 winded by well-tranied horses of the larger breeds ; but domestication 

 seems to have the effect of improving their powers of endurance, as thej 

 do good service for the Comanche Indians as a cavalry horse — carrying 

 those warriors, and enabling them successfully to evade the pursuit of 

 well-trained United States cavalry. 



Almost every color is found among them. 



The Indian Pony, another American, is thought to be a degenerated 

 Korman^ — ha\ang sprung from horses of that stock brought to Canada by 

 the first French emigrants, and allowed by some means to escape into 

 the forests, as was the case with certain Andalusians farther south. 

 Wandering, from generation to generation, in those cold regions, and 

 under circumstances altogether unfavorable to the production of generous 

 growth, they have become dwarfed and in other particulars modified as 

 to form. They seem in their present state to be a perfectly distinct 

 animal ; and they possess many points of excellence. They are found 

 in the upper Mississippi country, on the borders of Canada, and west of 

 the great lakes, and are used chiefly by the different tribes of northern 

 Indians. Great herds of them are found in a wild state on the north- 

 western prairies. 



They are a larger animal than the Mustang, and in most respects far 

 superior to him. Though he is to be considered a true pony, he is often 

 thirteen, sometimes even fourteen, hands high. The body is very 

 strongly built, being round-ribbed, short-barreled, and with powerful 

 limbs. The neck is thick and short ; the legs are covered with thick 

 hair, and seem somewhat heavy and clumsy, but they are as firm, mus- 

 cular, iron-like and sound, as those of the Shetlands. The mane is very 

 heavy, often falling on both sides of the neck, while the forelocks cover 

 the eyes, and give a sort of shaggy appearance about the upper portion 

 of the head ; the tail is also heavy and generally inclined to be wavy. 

 They have a high crest, and quite a proud carriage of the head. They 

 are docile, intelligent, sure-footed, capable of enduring all the rigors ot 

 a northern Winter, and able to perform long-continued journeys, at a 

 moderate pace, while carrying or drawing disproportionate burdens. 



Their courage is so high that they do not readily succumb to any hard* 

 snip, however trying its nature, and though coupled with poorness and 

 acantiness of fare. 



