Island Pony
The Island Pony, known in some ancient tomes as the ‘Western Horse’, is a small breed of horse native to the Western Threshold. It is a tiny animal compared to other horses, the tallest not exceeding 11 hands in height, with short legs and stocky, sturdy build. They are generally docile, though in part this comes with good training: without discipline, the horses can become spoiled and irritable.
On those islands where they dwell, Island Ponies can be found wild on uninhabited islands, grazing on scrub and shore grasses. While foraging parties from passing sailors might take a few for meat and leave the herds to persist until they lay anchor there again, on islands with permanent inhabitants the ponies are often hunted to extinction for food, leather, and hair, culled to reduce competition for plants and fresh water, or captured and stabled for use as workhorses.
Island Ponies are also found elsewhere in Creation, their immense strength (able to readily lift twice their weight or more) and small stature making them popular working animals and able to work tasks for which other beasts are simply too large. They appear occasionally in the North and amongst the Southern mountain ranges as pack animals, or as riding animals for travelers, sometimes even harnessed to small carriages. The task where they see most use, however, is below ground, working amidst the tunnels of mines to haul ores, gemstones, and rubble from the depths up to the surface or to lift shafts. Cut off from fresh air and the light of Sol Invictus, the lifespans of mining ponies are short indeed.
On the Blessed Isle, where cultural and legal measures place limitations on the use of animals for labour in place of humans, one can still find Island Ponies in some Dynastic stables, alongside larger Mountain Horses. The smaller horses are used by some households, particularly those of House Cathak, for training children between the ages of four and nine years in riding before they are sent off to primary school. Such horses are well-cared for, stablehands taking advantage of their long, soft manes for braiding and weaving of coloured ribbons.
Though it might haul artillery or carry baggage, the slow speed and gentle temperament of the Island Pony means it is not the steed sought out to serve as a cavalry warhorse.
