5^ 



CHAP, :^L 



ON COLOUR. 



COLOUR, though only a superficial qua- 

 lity, is nevertheless of considerable importance 

 in the choice of horses. The colour of all 

 animals is, generally speaking, so intimately 

 connected with the internal properties of the 

 object to which it belongs, that it seems to be 

 inseparable, and to indicate its qualities. The 

 observation applies also to vegetable and mine- 

 ral, as well as to animal substances. Each 

 class has, in a great degree, its peculiai? colour, 

 though there may be, and certainly are, some 

 exceptions. The general colours of horses are 

 the chesnut, the bay, and the black, with their 

 different shades-, but the two former are by far 

 the most common. Black is a colour peculiar 

 to horses of the heavy draft kind. Grey horses 

 ?'.re by no means numerous j and much less so 

 are those of a dun or mouse-colour, and the 



