The Khazad

The Khazad pony is a common sight in the fertile upland pastures around the northern domains. They are usually duns or bays and have a coarse, sturdy body covered with thick fur in the winter. They are characterized by their stocky form, thick shoulders, full belly, strong thighs and thick rounded cannons (lower legs) . They seem impervious to rain, snow and wind, and even more remarkably require only grass to sustain themselves in any conditions. They will even paw through snow to get at covered forage (which many horses will not do), and subsist on the most plain and spartan of diets which would make other equines ill or weakened.

They have very good hoof conformation, being somewhat large-hooved for their size, and rarely need shoeing unless they have been ridden often on paved roads or in damp conditions (which are not in their native environment). One caution is that although these creatures can subsist easily on grass, they will attempt a variety of materials to append to their fodder, and so must be kept from eating tack, clothing or chunks of wood.

As palfreys for ladies, mounts for young children, wagon ponies or pack animals they are exceedingly well suited. They are used by the dwarves almost exclusively of other types of horses, probably due to their ruggedness and ability to exist on water and grass. Inexpensive feeders indeed! They are known for toughness and endurance (the pony AND the dwarves), they are not fleet but they do not easily tire. I believe they lack the respiratory tract for sustained speed due to their small nostrils, but have the conformation for endurance riding which when combined with their extreme sure-footed gait, makes them an excellent rough terrain mount, and also a good cattle herding horse, as they are calm animals.

Khazads recover from hard labor quickly, and if they are not fed or watered until their hooves have cooled and their breathing calmed they will totally avoid colic or laminitis. To accomplish this, their heads must be racked up high, which may seem painful at first, yet is indeed a good habit for the groom to have with this mount, or any mount that has been severely worked. They are best trained after they reach five years of age, as this practice prevents injuries which will shorten the useful life of this breed.

Their general demeanor is of a proud bearing, and they are eager for company. They are quite a vocal type of pony, especially around other horses. Since they rarely get above 13 hands or so, and are considered slow mounts, they are not suitable for mounted combat, yet their very strength makes them good for carrying soldiers to a battle, but not into it. The mares are exceeding docile and excellent breeders.