i9"l PONIES* TRICKS 375 
extra sash to our window and the light admitted for the 
first time through triple glass. With this device little 
ice collects inside. 
The ponies are very fit but inclined to be troublesome : 
the quiet beasts develop tricks without rhyme or reason. 
Chinaman still kicks and squeals at night. Anton's theory 
is that he does it to warm himself, and perhaps there is 
something in it. When eating snow he habitually takes 
too large a mouthful and swallows it ; it is comic to watch 
him, because when the snow chills his inside he shuffles 
about with all four legs and wears a most fretful, aggrieved 
expression : but no sooner has the snow melted than he 
seizes another mouthful. Other ponies take small mouth- 
fuls or melt a large one on their tongues — this act also 
produces an amusing expression. Victor and Snippets arc 
confirmed wind-suckers. They are at it all the time when 
the manger board is in place, but it is taken down 
immediately after feeding time, and then they can only 
seek vainly for something to catch hold of with their 
teeth. * Bones ' has taken to kicking at night for no 
imaginable reason. He hammers away at the back of his 
stall merrily ; we have covered the boards with several 
layers of sacking, so that the noise is cured, if not the 
habit. The annoying part of these tricks is that they 
hold the possibility of damage to the pony. I am glad 
to say all the lice have disappeared ; the final conquest 
was effected with a very simple remedy — the infected 
ponies were washed with water in which tobacco had been 
steeped. Oatcs had seen this decoction used effectively 
with troop horses. The result is the greater relief, since 
