He was able to thrive on the grass of the veld, and when winter killed that product he needed but a few bundles of forage a day to keep him in good condition.

He climbed rocky mountain-sides as readily as a buck, and never wandered from a path by darkest night.

He drank and apparently relished the murky water of mud-pools and needed but little attention with the currycomb and brush.
He was trained to obey the slightest turn of the reins, and a slight whistle brought him to a full stop.

When his master left him and went forward into battle the Boer pony remained in the exact position where he was placed, and when perchance a shell or bullet ended his existence, then the Boer paid a tribute to the value of his dead servant by refusing to continue the fight and by beating a hasty retreat.
In the early part of the campaign in Natal the laagers were filled with ox-waggons, and, in the absence of tents which were sadly wanted during that season of heavy rains, they stood in great stead to the burghers.

The rear half of the waggons were tented with an arched roof, as all the trek-waggons are, and under these shelters the burghers lived.