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OHYAT: Bad Horse
Dec. 1st, 2011 09:01 amThe ponies purchased on behalf of the British Antarctic Expedition 1910 were of varying temperament and quality (though the latter varied mainly from 'bad' to 'worse'), and Scott mentions at some point in his journal that they all had such distinct characters, he ought to write them up someday.
On the darker end of this spectrum was the pony named Christopher, who everyone seems to agree had a demon or two. Even Scott, who initially indulged his behaviour as high spirits, came around to this opinion, worried mostly that he'd cause someone serious injury. He was one of the strongest ponies, though, and there was no way they couldn't take him south, so he was given to Titus Oates to lead as he was the horse expert and the one most capable of controlling him.
Christopher was still trouble even after he mostly got over trying to attack anyone who came near him. When they camped on the march, they would build walls out of snow blocks to shelter the ponies from the cold wind while they slept, but Chris would constantly knock his down. He was nearly impossible to hitch up to the sledge: At first they had to tie one of his front legs up, then he got used to that and was capable of bolting three-legged so they had to throw him (using pretty much exactly this technique, if I'm reading it correctly) and hold him down while they harnessed him. One time, they managed to hitch him up by surprise when he was still tethered by the pony wall, but he seems to have got wise to that in a hurry. Once he was pulling the sledge it was too hard to get him to stop, never mind un-hitch and re-hitch for a lunch break, so he (and therefore Titus) had to go for twelve hours straight without a rest.
Eventually this routine, and the hock-deep snow he had to pull the sledge through, wore on Christopher, and Scott decided on 1 Dec 1911 ('against some opinion' apparently, which in Scott-talk might actually mean 'after a flaming row') that he would be the next pony to be sacrificed to the dogs. Even then, he was trouble to the end ...
( The Messy End of Christopher Pony, behind a cut for Sensitive Ladies and Animal Lovers )
To cleanse your imagination, now, here: Have a lovely panorama of the view from camp on December 1st. Thanks, Bill!
On the darker end of this spectrum was the pony named Christopher, who everyone seems to agree had a demon or two. Even Scott, who initially indulged his behaviour as high spirits, came around to this opinion, worried mostly that he'd cause someone serious injury. He was one of the strongest ponies, though, and there was no way they couldn't take him south, so he was given to Titus Oates to lead as he was the horse expert and the one most capable of controlling him.
Christopher was still trouble even after he mostly got over trying to attack anyone who came near him. When they camped on the march, they would build walls out of snow blocks to shelter the ponies from the cold wind while they slept, but Chris would constantly knock his down. He was nearly impossible to hitch up to the sledge: At first they had to tie one of his front legs up, then he got used to that and was capable of bolting three-legged so they had to throw him (using pretty much exactly this technique, if I'm reading it correctly) and hold him down while they harnessed him. One time, they managed to hitch him up by surprise when he was still tethered by the pony wall, but he seems to have got wise to that in a hurry. Once he was pulling the sledge it was too hard to get him to stop, never mind un-hitch and re-hitch for a lunch break, so he (and therefore Titus) had to go for twelve hours straight without a rest.
Eventually this routine, and the hock-deep snow he had to pull the sledge through, wore on Christopher, and Scott decided on 1 Dec 1911 ('against some opinion' apparently, which in Scott-talk might actually mean 'after a flaming row') that he would be the next pony to be sacrificed to the dogs. Even then, he was trouble to the end ...
( The Messy End of Christopher Pony, behind a cut for Sensitive Ladies and Animal Lovers )
To cleanse your imagination, now, here: Have a lovely panorama of the view from camp on December 1st. Thanks, Bill!
