THE COLOURS AND MARKINGS OF HORSES. 49 



appear the first year ; and as they also gain a horny ring 

 every year, so, by adding one year for the end and one for 

 each ring, the age is indicated in the horned breeds. 



THE COLOURS AND MARKINGS OF HORSES. 



The colour of horses, being derived from their hairy 

 covering, is necessarily very varied. Numerous conjec- 

 tures have been entertained as to what was the original 

 colour of this animal: but the inquiry has not been attended 

 with success ; for the horse is seen to perform all his 

 functions under any tint ; though fancy, and perhaps expe- 

 rience, has appropriated particular constitutional properties 

 and mental qualities to some hues more than others. The 

 various colours of horses would seem to be truly original and 

 inherent ; for such of them as have, from a state of domes- 

 tication, been suffered again to run wild, have retained the 

 colour they carried with them, although their form has 

 altered, and submitted to the agencies of climate. Neither 

 have the horses of different couniries, according to the 

 accounts of travellers, exhibited any individual characteristic 

 hue. The horses of the East are not darker than those 

 of the North ; on the contrary, we have white Arabians, 

 and we procure the darkest breeds from the north of 

 Europe ; while in Russia bright bay is as common a colour 

 as any other. Geographical distribution is not, however, 

 wholly without its influence on the hair ; for our heavy 

 breeds, drawn from the northern parts of Europe, are very 

 frequently black ; but a full blood black horse is seldom met 

 with. Age has hkewise a powerful effect on the tinting of 

 the hair ; that of the colt alters many shades ; in some 

 cases it becomes much lighter, and in others altogether 

 much darker, as the adult period arrives. But the altera- 

 tion in them which takes place between the time of full 

 growth and that of old age, is invariably from a darker to a 

 lighter hue. 



The colours of the parents, among horses, appear to be 

 nearly divided in the offspring ; to which adherence in the 

 propagation of the external covering, we are indebted for 

 the endless variety of shades found among them. It was 

 probably to add to the personal beauty of this animal, that 

 in many the mane and tail are either much lighter or much 



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