Mammals The Pony 
more tenderly cared for by man. The pony has 
better feet and legs than the horse, and is more 
active. Since a wild horse relies for safety upon 
the strength of legs and feet, and the ability to flee 
up mountain sides, if it happens to live in such a 
situation, it was necessary to the pony’s existence 
that it be thus strong and sure. I was in a stage 
coach once in the Sierra mountains when we met an 
Indian pony, heavily packed, on a very narrow . 
mountain road. It stopped, looked at us with 
intelligent eyes, then looked down the precipice 
that fell away from one side of the road, then up 
the steep bank that bordered the other side. Then 
with quick decision, it climbed, squirrel-like, up the 
bank out of our way and clinging to it like a fly to 
the wall waited for us to pass, and afterwards 
climbed carefully down. My heart was thrilled 
with this daring performance, and I shall never 
forget it. 
The pony is not only stronger in body in propor- 
tion than the horse, but it also lives longer. There 
are many records showing ponies to have reached 
the age of thirty-eight, forty, and even forty-five 
years. Moreover, the pony is more intelligent than 
the horse. There are many more trick ponies than 
horses in shows, and one reason for this undoubtedly 
is the superior brain of the pony, which enables it 
to remember and to learn many things. 
Of all the ponies, the Shetland is the most used as 
a pet. If we could visit the home of the ancestors 
of our Shetland pony, we should have to journey to 
some very picturesque, rocky islands north of 
Scotland. In fact, they are so far north that they 
would seem to belong almost to the Arctic regions; 
however, the climate there is changed and moderated 
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