Willmar tribune., 1897-12-28
the PONIES OF ICELAND,
They Are Absolute Marvels Q
Strength and Endurance.

They Are Absolute Marvel. e
Strength and Endurance.
II the camel is the ship OF the desert,
the Iceland pony is the cab, train, o1nn:-
bus and tram car of the wonderful coun-
try to which he belongs To begin with.
he Is a niSnomer. He is not pony. in
the ordinary sense Of the word; he is
morse, in bone and sinew. in strength
and endurance in manners and deDort-
'nent-a horse in everything, in fact,
except inches; and sober. steady,
hard-working horse. too He is very
multum in parvo,~ Il '-concentratetl es-
sence" Of horsefesh. He can swim like
fish. climb like Il goat, and jump like
deer. Only give him time and peri
eG,cal hats for refreshment and he will
do his 30 miles per day. and thrive upon
il.
Iceland ponies are bred in hundreds
IN the large grass plains ia the south
ern districts Of the island. Little or no
| carr is taken in selection, so the breed
remains unaltered and unimproved. the
| average pony standing from 11H to 121z
hands, though here and there one will
reach nearly l. hands Every variety
OF color IS seen, but ske,vbalds of many
shades are the commoEest. The chest
nuts, rs rule, are the finest, and th+,
browns the hardest. Beautiful cream
colorS, with ligh, points, are not infre-
quenc: black is very rare, and roam
also. Their PAGES are fast. considering
the SIZE OF the animal, a journey Of -
| miles being often done in six hours or
less, with heavy baggage. They trot.
canter, and gailop, but the pace most es
teemel by the natives is the amble or
'skeid." in which the fore and hind
legs on a side arc advanced simultan-
cously. giving 3 running action. very
| smooth to the rider. y good ''pacer" is
considered very valuable, and often
| sold for = high figure.
Some of these ponies amble so fas:
that they kept ahead of another going
| at 4 hard gallop, and they maintain the
pace for days journey under weight
OF II to II stone. Iceland ponies arr
steady and fast in harness, though
wheels are comparatively new depar-
ture in their country. They travel
mostly in strings, often tied head and
! tail. Hay, baggage and household goods
are thus transported. and building mi.-
terials also. You meet '.timburlestur,"
Or timber beam. Of from eight to ten
ponies. one carrying planks trailing OF.
each side. another strips of iron, an
other bundles of tools; certain num-
! Der Of spare animals running loose. and
! not infrequeBtly a foal OR txo, ~,.-
! It is as rare to see dead Iceland
pony as a dead donkey, though their
| skulls arc often visible, half trodde,,
into the miry ways surrounding tht:
farms. The pony begins work at six
or seven year+hard work. that is to-
say. He is early apprenticed to his
trade by following his mother at her
| avocations, and when he is footsore il
strapped upon her back. He works vel!
| Up to 20 years and over. and often re-
mains fairly sound to ripe old age
! He feeds on the fat of the land in the
summer. and in winter, if his owner /.
| poor. must live on his wits and his
| stored condition. Farmers who are fair
l.. well off keep their animals in during
winter and feed them on hay; but, not
wirhstanding. many of the ponies have
hard ti1ne OF it. The Icelanders, how
! ever. keep their steeds as well as their
| means allow, and treat them altogethe:
in a brotherly fashion, and the s. p. c. \
would seldom find scope for it's activity,
except, possibly, in the improvement OF
biting AID gearing. Taking it all
around, the Iceland pony is certairly
not less happy-very often far happier
than his bigger brothers in the south:
and his endurance, placidity and do
| cility make him 4 fayorite in other lands
besides his own, while fitting him for
Ehis home duties in manner which could
not be surpassed and must be tested
| to be fully Observation-Disclosures Glohe