Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1897-12-07

ordinary sense OF the word; he is a
horse; in bone and sinew, in strength
and endurance, in manners and leport-
ment--a horse in everything, in fact.
except inches, and a sober, steady,
Woodworking horse, too. He is a very
'multum in parvo," a concentrated
essence of horseflesh. He can swim
like fish, climb like goat and jump
like deer. He sticks at nothing, and
takes every variety OF trayel-bog,
lava bed. sand, powders and grass
mounds-with urdisturbed equanimity.
If he has to ford one or two rivers, vita
strong currents flowing gir:h deep. it
is all in the days work Only give
him time and periodical halts for re-
freshment and he will do his fifty miles
per day and thrive upon it.
Iceland ponies are bred in hundreds
in the large grass plains in the south
ern districts of the island. Little or
no care is taken in selection. so the
breed remains unaltered and unim-
proved, the average pony standing
from eleven and a half to twelve and
a half hands, though here and there
one will reach TO nearly thirteen
hands. Every variety of color is seen,
but skewbalds of many shades are the
commonest. The chestnuts, as a rule,
afe the finest, and the browns the har-
diest Beautiful cream colors, with
light points, are not infrequent; black
is very rare and roam also. Their
PAGES are fast, considering the size of
the animal, journey Of thirty-two
miles being often done In six hours or
less, with heavy baggage. They trot,
canter and gallop, but the pace most
esteemed by the natives is the amble
or "skeid," in which the fore and hind
legs on a side are advanced simulta-
neously, giving a running action very
smooth to the rider. A good PAGER"
is considered very valuable and often
sold for high price. Some of these
ponies amble so fast that they keep
ahead of another going at hand-gal
lop, and they maintain the pace for a
udy . JouthVy uhuci d WSiSht Va Ii W
IA stone.
Iceland ponies are steady and fast
in harness. though wheels are COM
paratively new departure in their
country. They travel mostly in
strings, often tied head and tail. Hay,
baggage and household goods are thus
transported, and building material al
so. You meet a timbur-lestur," or
timber team, of from eight to ten
ponies, one carrying planks trailing on
each side. another strips OF iron, an
other bundles of tools; a certain num-
Der of spare animals running loose,
and not infrequently a foal or two.
1t Is as rare to see a dead Iceland
pony as a dead donkey, though their
skulls are often visible, half trodden
into the miry ways surrounding the
farms. The pony begins work at 6
or years-hard work, that is to say.
He is early apprenticed to his trade
by following his mother at her ayoca-
lions, and when he is footsorc, is
strapped upon her back. He works
well up to 20 years and over and often
remains fairly sound to a ripe old age.
He feeds on the fat of the land in
summer and in winter. IL his owner is
poor, must live On his wits and his
stored condition.
Farmers who arc fairly well off
keep their animals in during the win
ter and feed them On hay. bu. notwith-
standing many of the ponies have q
hard time of ii. The Icelanders. how
ever, keep their steeds as well as their
means allow, and treat them altogether
in a brotherly fashion, and the S. p. C..
A. would seldom find scope for it's ac-
tivity, except, possibly. in the improve
ment of biting and gearing. Taking
il all around, the Iceland pony is GER
tainly not less happy--very often far
happier--than his bigger brothers in
the south, and his endurance, placid
ity and docility make him a fayoritc
IN other lands besides his own. while
fitting him FOR his home duties in a
manner which could not be surpassed
and must Ec tested TO be fully under.