THE SADDLE-HORSE 51 



the watery element was most commonly white, and he, it was 

 said, usually showed himself to be phlegmatic, slow, and dull. 

 The bay, pleasant and nimble, was of the air ; the bright 

 sorrel was of the fire and he was cholerick and fiery, but 

 seldom of great strength. The best colours were thought to 

 be those in which the various elements mingled, an equal 

 share of each making the best horse, and the colours of such 

 animals were brown bay, dapple gray, black full of silver hairs 

 or a fair roan ; bright and dark bays were also thought to be 

 particularly good. Black points were regarded as desirable, but 

 very various qualities were supposed to be indicated by white 

 markings, particularly on the feet. How the intricate ideas 

 on this subject arose is a very curious consideration. Thus, 

 horses were esteemed if they had a white off fore foot, or white 

 near hind foot, or both hind feet white, but the white was not 

 to be above the pasterns ' for that were an evil sign betokening 

 divilitie.' The seven bad points were a white near fore foot, a 

 white off (Blundevill calls it ' farre ') hind foot, both fore feet 

 white, two white feet on the same side, near fore and near 

 hind, or the reverse. These ideas were accepted in Italy as well 

 .as in England, very probably indeed having been adopted in 

 England from the Italian authorities of the period, and each 

 variety had its specific name ; thus a horse with a white off 

 foot was called 'arzeglio,' others were 'trauato,' traversed, a 

 ' trastrauato,' cross traversed. A white-tailed horse, 'rapicano,' 

 was said to be commonly a good horse, and an accepted 

 theory was to the effect that * the horse that hath an ostrich 

 feather either on his forehead, or both sides of his maine, or 

 on the one side, or els behind on his buttocks, or in any 

 place where he himself cannot see it, can never be an euill 

 horse.' 



Virgil's description cannot be omitted, familiar as it will be 

 to many readers. He would have the horse 



I Hi ardua cervix, 



Argutumque caput, brevis alvus, obesaque terga : 

 Luxuriatque toris animosum pectus. 



E 2 



