COLOUR. 105 



horses or hunters, that dark-coloured horses are the 

 soberest and the boldest, and are the most easily 

 taught to jump brooks and drains. Bay horses and 

 chestnut horses are hotter and more fidgetty ; light 

 bay and light chestnut being the most so. 



But there is a difference between bay horses and 

 chestnut horses. Chestnut horses are fidgetty and 

 hot, but seem to have less sense than bay horses, 

 while bay horses, though they are cleverer, are the 

 worst tempered and the most irritable — that is, 

 browns are the soberest, bays are the worst tempered, 

 and chestnuts are the most foolish. When you get 

 to other colours, they are not so common, and there- 

 fore it is more difficult to classify them. I have 

 mentioned one colour which will probably not be 

 familiar to many of my readers, and that is, a black- 

 chestnut. It is a rare colour, and is often mistaken 

 for a real black when it is seen, but if a black horse 

 is clipped he will come out a disagreeable soi-t of 

 dun, while a black-chestnut will clip the same colour 

 he was before. The best place to look to tell the 

 colour, is the nose and roots of the ears. I bought 

 a pony of this colour, and three different people each 

 said it was a different colour on the same day. 



Dun is not a common colour, and is a bad colour. 

 It is more the colour of a donkey than anything else. 



It may seem as if I had mentioned more roans 

 than there really are, but each of them is a distinct 

 colour. 



