The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1881-02-05
Shetland Ponies.


THE ponies are not an agricultural,
but domestic, necessity. In Shetland,
as in parts of Ireland, every family de-
ponds for its supply of fuel on peat, and
as the peat is seldom found near at hand
on the shore where the houses stand,
but on the hill behind them-there is al
ways a hill in the rear in Shetland, ev-
cry island consisting mainly of hill, with
patch or two of 'smooth " land in a
few snug hooks by the shore-and as it
often is at distance of several steep
and stony miles, each house requires
several ponies, the number depending
on the distance and the character of the
road. A family living convenient :"
to the peat may require only two peat
carriers, and another family may re-
quire half dozen. The material, after
it has been dug and dried in the usual
manner, is carried home on the backs of
the ponies in baskets, called 60 cassies. ="
1t is obvious that the back which has to
perform this kind of service should be
broad and strong. The Shetland pony
is striking example of development;
for generations past he has been bred
and reared and trained with a uniformi-
ty which could not have been secured in
any other part of the United Kingdom.
Hence his physique and general char
acter, his hereditary instincts and intel
ligence, his small size, and his purity
and tixity of type. A pony belonging
to a breed which has had to pick its
zigzag way down a steep decliyity dur
ing many generations must be sure
footed. BY the same rule a pony whose
grooms and playmates include a dozen
Juveniles children of the neighbor-
hood, who roll about underneath him or
upon his back-must be gentle, and the
same pony, living on the scathold on air
sometimes rather than on heritage, must
be hardy. The pony of the Shetland
Isles is, in fact, the offspring of
circumstances. He is the pet of
the family, gentle as the Arabs steed
under similar training. He will follow
his friends indoors like dog, and lick
the platters or the children's faces. He
has no more kick in him than a cat, and
no more bite than puppy. He is a
noble example of the complete suppress
sion of these vicious propensities that
some of his kind exhibit when they are
ill-treated, and of the intelligence and
good temper that may be developed in
horses by kindness. There is no prece-
dent for his running away, nor for his
becoming frightened or tired, even when
he has carried some stout laird from
Lerwick to his house, many Scotch miles
across the hills. He moves down the
rugged hillsides with admirable circum-
spection, loaded pannier-fashion with
Two heavy "cassies ?" of peat, picking
his way step by step, sometimes side
ways. In crossing Doggy spots, where
the water is retained, and a green car
pet of aquatic grass might deceive some
steeds and bring them headlong to grief
in the spongy trap, he carefully smells
the surface, and is thus enabled to cir
cumvent the danger. In the winter the
Shetland pony wears a coat made of
felted hair, and specially suited for the
season. His thick winter garment is
well adapted for protecting him against
the fogs and damps of the climate. 1t
is exceedingly warm and comfortable,
fits close to the wearer's dapper form,
and is not bad-looking when new. But
when the coat grows old toward spring,
at the season when the new one should
appear, it becomes the shabbiest gar
ment of the kind that you often see. Its
very amplitude and the abundance of
the material render it the more con-
spicuous, when it peels and hangs for
awhile ragged and worn out, and then
falls bit by bit till the whole of it disap-
pears. No horse looks at his best when
losing his old coat, and the more coat
there may be to lose the worse he looks.