CONDITION OF HUNTERS RESUMED 2 



many circumstances connected with his stable manage- 

 ment, though by none more perhaps than by the 

 temperature of the stable." 



With reference to the influence of colour on horses' 

 coats, the following is worthy of remark. The three 

 primitive colours — those of which all the other appear 

 to be either shades or combinations — are white, red, 

 and black. According to Richerand, the lighter the 

 shade the finer the hair ; as a proof of which, he says, 

 there are fewest hlack hairs in a square inch of skin, 

 more chesnuf, and most light-coloured. " This asser- 

 tion," says Mr Percivall, " our observation appears to 

 confirm ; for it is comparatively uncommon to meet 

 with a black thorough-bred horse, though it is a very 

 prevailing colour among cart horses ; and the glossy 

 silken coat, for which the former is so much admired, 

 is in none more conspicuous than in those that are 

 light-coloured." 



The effect of a good dressing on the coat of a horse, 

 ripe in his condition, is too well known to require 

 even a word ; but the cause may not be apparent to 

 all. It seems there is an unctuous matter emitted 

 from numbers of that infinity of pores which the skin 

 has on its surface, which keeps up a constant greasiness 

 of it ; and this abounds so plentifully in those parts 

 subject to friction, such as the bend of the knee and 

 hock, as often, from want of cleanliness, to generate 

 a troublesome disease. Warmth and friction con- 

 sequently contribute to the condition of the hair, by 

 increasing the circulation of the cutaneous system ; 

 the natural consequences of which, says Mr P., are, 



