all homework id due 7/26/03, any questions my e-mail is at the bottom of the page and that is where the HW is sent there will be quizes and tests
today's lesson is on a unknown horse breed.
Dulmen
Germany is more famous for its excellent production of warmblood horses that for its pony breeds, and only has one native pony
breed remaining-the Dulmen. The Senner pony of the Teutoburg Forest was the only other German pony breed that is now considered extinct. The Dulmen
is a very old breed found near the town of Dulmen in the Meerfelder Brunch, an area where ponies have been documented since the early 1300s. The
exact origins of the breed are not known although it is likely to have developed from ancient primitive horse types, and still has some primitive Characertics.
The ponies used to live in large wild herds all across Westphalia, but during the 19th centry, as land was increasingly divided up and
separated, the ponies began to lose their natural habitat. Today there is only one wild herd left, owned by the Duke of Croy, which roams approxmately
860 acres of the Meerfelder Brunch. The Duke of Croy have had a long relationship with the Dulmen pony and first helped the herd back in the mid-1800s.
Within the Meerfelder Bruch acreage, there is a wide diversitt of small habitiats, ranging from woodland to open moorland, which provide the ponies of every
environment they may need. They are left to lead a wild lifestyle and must find their own food and shelter, and cope with illness and death. Those members
of the herd that survive are subsequently the strongest and, therefore, as a breed, they are particularly tough and resistant to disease. Once a year, on the
last saturday of may, the ponies are rounded up and the colts separated off. the colts are then sold at public auction and the mares are returned to the
Meerfelder with one or twm stallions.
Dulmen ponies that are tamed and trained make good childeren ponies and adapt to civilized life well. They are also useful driving ponies and
were used for working the land, maintaining their inordinate hardness, even captivity. In appearence, they are quite primitive looking with course feachers.
Some of then retain the dun coatcoloring while others exhibit brown, black or chestnut coats, which indicates infusion or foreign blood thoughout the
breeds history. They usually stand between 12hh and 13hh.
Homework
