Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1890-08-15
SHETLAND PONIES.

SHETLAND PONIES.
The ponies are not an agricultural but a
domestic necessity. In Shetland. as in
parts of Ireland, every family depends
for its supply of fuel on peat, and as the
peat is seldom near at hand on the shore
where the houses stand, but on the hill
behind them-there is always hill in
the rear in Shetland, every island con-
sisting mainly of a hill, with patch or
two of smooth" land in few snug hooks
by the shore-and rs it is often at dis
lance of several steep and stony miles,
each house requires several ponies, the
number depending on the distance and
character of the road. \ family living
convenient" to the peat may require
only two peat carriers. and another fam
lily may require half a dozen. The ma
terial. after it has been dug and dried in
the usual manner, is carried home on the
backs of the ponies in blankets called
'cassies." 1t is obvious that the back
{
of service should be broad and strong.
The Shetland pony is striking ex-
ample of development; for genera
tions past he had been bred and reared
and trained with IA uniformity which could
not have been secured in any other part
of the United Kingdom. Hence his phys
ique and general character, his hereditary
instincts and intelligence, his small size,
and his purity and tiXity of type. \ po-
ny belonging to breed which has had
to pick its zigzag way down steep de-
clivity for many generations must be
sure-footed. By the same rule pony
whose grooms and playmates include a
| dozen juveniles-thc children of the
neighborhood who roll about underneath
him or upon his back-must be gentle
and the pony living on the scathold, or
air sometimes rather than on heritage,
must be hardy. The pony of the Shet.
land Isles is, in fact, the offspring of cir
cumstances. He is the pet of the fam.
lily, gentle as the Arabs steed under sim
liar training. He will follow his friend.
indoors like dog, and lick the platters
or the children's faces. He has no more
kicks in HIM than a cat and no more bites
than puppy. He is a noble example OF
the complete suppression of these vicious
propensites that some of his kind ex.
hibit when they are ill-treated, and OF
the intelligence and good temper that
may be developed in horses by kindness
There is no precedent for his running a
way, nor for his becoming frightened OF
tired, even when he has carried some
laird from Lerwick to his house, many
Scotch miles across the hills. He move.
down the rugged hillsides with admir-
able circumspection, loaded pannier fash
ion with two heavy "cassies'' of peat
picking his way step by step, sometime:
sideways. In crossing Doggy spots
where the water is retained, and a greer
carpet of aquatic grass might deceive
some steeds and bring them headong tC
grief in the spongy trap, he carefully
smells the surface and is thus enabled
to circumvent the danger. In the win
ter the shetland pony wears Il coat made
of felted hair, and especially suited for
the season. His thick winter garment i.
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 i:
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 of the kind YOU
often see. Its very amplitude and the a.
bundance of the material render it the
more CONSPICUOUS when itpeels and hangs
for while, ragged and worn out, and
then falls bit by bit till the whole of it
disappears. No horse looks at his best
when losing his coat, and the more coat
there may be to lose the worse he looks.
- London Field.