AMERICAN SADDLE HORSE.--Head rather small and clean cut. Eyes wide
apart, full, clear and prominent. Ears pointed. Long, upright neck,
sloping shoulders. Deep chest, short, strong back. Barrel ribbed well
back. Strong coupling, quarters level, strongly muscled. Pasterns long
and sloping. Bones of leg broad and flat, strong tendons. Height about
fifteen hands, two inches. Weight about 1000 pounds.
FRENCH COACH.--Height sixteen hands. Weight 1000 to 1400 pounds. Rather
upstanding. Smooth and symmetrical, fine quality, clean cut, intelligent
head, long, graceful neck, closely ribbed body, muscular quarters. Legs
well set and fine. High, free knee action, regular uplifting hock
action. Colors bay, brown or black.
GERMAN COACH.--Colors bay, brown or black. Height sixteen to sixteen and
one-half hands. Weight 1350 to 1450 pounds. Deep, round body, well
proportioned, close ribs, neck long and high set on shoulders, neat
head, intelligent face. Back short and strong, smooth at coupling, plump
rounded quarters, strongly muscled limbs, strong hock, good feet.
SHETLAND PONY.--Height ten hands two inches. Weight 325 to 375 pounds.
Compact build, deep body, heavy muscular quarters, short legs, short
broad back, deep full chest, muscular neck, small head and ears,
prominent eyes, docile disposition. Colors brown, black and bay. Long
shaggy coats, heavy, long mane.
STANDARD-BRED TROTTER.--Head well proportioned, clean cut, neck long and
muscular, crested in stallions. Shoulders well muscled, chest low,
foreleg long from elbow to knee, short from knee to fetlock. Pasterns
sloping, feet moderate in size, oily in appearance. Back and loin well
muscled, hind quarters and croup well muscled and smooth. No fixed
colors. Height sixteen hands. Weight for mares 900 pounds, stallions
1150 pounds.
THOROUGHBRED.--Very deep, narrow chest, long legs. Refinement and clear
definition of feature. Large nostrils, full, clear eyes, broad forehead,
neck long and straight, sloping shoulder, muscular hindquarters, sharp
withers, well marked superficial blood vessels, silky skin and hair.
Colors bay, brown or chestnut, more or less white in face and limbs.
Height fifteen to sixteen hands. Weight 900 to 1050 pounds.
WELSH PONY.--Good shoulders, strong back, neat head, best of legs and
feet. Height twelve to thirteen hands. Colors bay or brown, gray or
black. Great strength and endurance.
=Llama= (_Auchenia lama_), a most useful South American domesticated
variety of the guanaco whose herds roam with the rheas on the plains of
Patagonia, or climb on the Cordilleras. As a beast of burden the llama
was in general use at the time of the Spanish conquest, and its
sure-footedness and power of foraging for itself make it most valuable
for transport in the rough and steep mining regions of the Andes. In
many places, however, mules have to some extent replaced the llamas. The
males carry a hundredweight about twelve miles in a day. The females,
which are kept for breeding, are smaller and less strong than the
males. The animal is larger and stouter than the allied species, the
alpaca, stands about three feet high at the shoulders, and keeps its
head raised.
The reader of the story of “Robinson Crusoe” will remember that a llama,
with its two young ones, were his first household companions.
=Rabbit.=--See page 198, under Hare.
=Reindeer= (_Rangifer tarandus_) is the only representative of the
genus. It is a native of the northern parts of Europe, Asia and America,
and was introduced into Iceland in 1770. It is by far the most valuable
of the deer, for not only are the flesh and skin of much use, but the
animal has long been domesticated in Scandinavia, especially among the
Laplanders.
The wild reindeer of Lapland is almost equal in size to the stag, but
there are great differences of size in different districts, the largest
size being generally attained in the polar regions. The reindeer is
strong, somewhat heavily built, but yet very swift. The hair is longer
in winter, and is gray or brownish in color. The legs are short and
thick, and the broad main hoofs spread out as the animal speeds over the
snow. Besides the main hoofs, there are two accessory lateral hoofs. The
head is carried horizontally, not erect as in other deer. The antlers
are large and are unique in being possessed by both sexes. Moreover,
they begin to appear at an early stage in life, within a few weeks after
birth, and at the same time in both sexes, whereas in the other deer, in
which only the males have antlers, they do not appear before nine months
or more after birth.
In summer the Lapland reindeer feeds chiefly on the shoots of willow and
birch, while in the winter it depends mainly on lichens such as the
so-called reindeer moss.
In their natural life the reindeer are gregarious. They migrate from the
mountains to the lowlands in winter, and return again in spring, a
change in part dependent on the food-supply. It constitutes the chief
part of the Lapp’s wealth, and some possess tame herds of two thousand
or more, which feed chiefly in the mountainous regions in summer and in
the lower grounds in winter. The animal can maintain a speed of nine or
ten miles an hour for a long time, and can easily draw a weight of two
hundred pounds besides the sledge. The reindeer also yields excellent
milk. In Siberia a large domestic reindeer is used for riding.
The CARIBOU, or American reindeer, is found in the northern parts of
Canada, but is not domesticated.
=Sheep= (_Ovis aries_).--The common sheep was probably the first animal
domesticated by man in western Asia--the first home of the human race
and their propagation, care and improvement have always played a large
part in the best husbandry of all lands. Domestication and selective
breeding have greatly modified the sheep as to bodily size, length and
quality of wool, presence and character of horns, and in the case of the
so-called fat-tailed sheep, the tail has become enormously developed.
Sheep were introduced into Florida by the Spanish in 1565; into Virginia
in 1609; into Massachusetts in 1624; into New York in 1625; into New
Jersey and Delaware by the Swedes in 1634; into Pennsylvania in 1684;
and into California by the Spanish missions from Mexico in 1773.
The flesh of sheep is both a staple and a delicacy, and from their wool
has been fashioned clothing to meet a wider range of requirements for
bodily comfort than any other fiber, animal or vegetable, has afforded.
Their skins are a large factor in manufacture, arts and commerce.
The common classification of sheep is according to the characteristics
of their fleeces, as “fine wools,” “long wools” and “medium wools.” The
American Merino, the Delaine Merino, and Rambouillet belong to the first
named class, or fine wools; the Leicester, Lincoln and Cotswold, to the
long wools; and the Southdown, Tunis, Dorset, Shropshire, Cheviot,
Suffolk, Hampshire and Oxford, to the medium wools. The fine wool breeds
are reared chiefly for wool, while the others are kept for both wool and
mutton. Nearly all the breeds in the United States, except the Merino,
were imported from Great Britain. Wyoming, Montana, New Mexico and Idaho
are foremost in sheep and wool-growing, and theirs, with those of Utah
and Oregon, make nearly half of the total production in the United
States.
The good-nature, gentleness, and patience of sheep have become
proverbial; it is therefore not to be wondered at that they are the pets
of children, and that the playful gambols and antics of the lambs amuse
young and old alike.