POSITION AND STRUCTURE OF HORSE 59 



between the coat-colour and the speed of thorough- 

 breds. Although such a relationship appears to be 

 generally lacking, evidence is gradually accumulat- 

 ing to suggest that in certain strains there may be 

 a partial coupling of coat-colour and racing power. 

 For instance, the chestnut grand-children of the 

 famous thoroughbred "St. Simon" have so far proved 

 themselves to be much inferior in racing power to 

 their bay and brown brothers and sisters. While 

 these chestnuts have between them won only two 

 first-class races, their bay and brown brothers and 

 sisters have between them won fifteen classic races, 

 and are only about twice as numerous. Another 

 interesting point under investigation was the ap- 

 parent partial conjunction of brown coats, high 

 racing power, and female sex in St. Simon's own 

 offspring. St. Simon's brown fillies proved them- 

 selves to be strikingly superior in racing power to 

 the bay fillies, the brown colts, and even the bay 

 colts, a few individuals of which were extraordinarily 

 good. This was the more remarkable when it is 

 considered that in racing colts have many advantages 

 over fillies. It seems possible that the elucidation 

 of such an apparently trivial thing as coat-colour 

 may help to throw light on the more complicated 

 question of the breeding of a first-class winner. 



Certain abnormalities in the structure of the 

 skeleton of the horse occur from time to time, of 

 which it will suffice to refer to three. The first of 



