122 STORIES ABOUT HORSES.

to drag their crops on sledges, this, however, is
not very common. ‘They also use what they
term crooks, for carrying light articles on horse-
back. They are formed of willow poles, about
an inch and a half in thickness, bent in the man-
ner of an ox-bow, with one end considerably
longer than the other; these are joined by a
pair of cross-bars, from eighteen inches to
two feet long. Hach horse has two pair of
them, slung to him so that the shorter ends
rest against the pack-saddle, and the longer
ones stand four or five feet from each other,
and rise from fifteen to eighteen inches above
the horse’s back. The loads are piled within and
between these crooks.

“This is all I know about the Dartmoor
ponies, Boys, so I proceed to tell you of another
race, called Welsh ponies.

** The ponies of Wales seem to be an original
and unmixed breed. They are much esteemed
for the neatness and beauty of their forms, for
the nimbleness of their motions, and, above