332 SKIN, COLOUR, AND HAIR. 



hand he states that the staUions of the larger species 

 fight viciously among themselves for possession of the 

 mares." The society rules of these animals appear to be 

 much more strict than those of English people, for 

 although they have no objection to associate with 

 foreigners, they marry only members of their own class. 



The dorsal stripe is particularly frequent in Karadagh 

 horses (p. 6io), and was almost always present in the old 

 breed of Cleveland Bays. 



From a working point of view, the colour of a horse's 

 coat, as a rule, does not seem to be of much impor- 

 tance ; although we cannot help being favourably im- 

 pressed with those of rich and decided shades. Person- 

 ally, I admire most a dark chestnut, or a dark brown 

 with a tinge of rich claret-colour through it, as may be 

 met with on rare occasions. Dark, bright bays are also 

 very pleasing to the eye. Generally speaking, a horse 

 looks best when his legs below the knees and hocks, mane 

 and tail, are darker than the rest of his coat. Bright 

 chestnuts or bright bays, with white stockings and blaze, 

 like many of the descendants of Blair Athol, form, per- 

 haps, an exception to this, supposing that there is not 

 too much white about the face. I cannot help sharing the 

 general dislike to " mealy " chestnuts, and to bays and 

 browns which are lighter on the insides of the limbs and 

 on the lower part of the belly than on other portions of 

 the body. Such animals show resemblance to their 

 wild ancestors, which, if they were living to-day, would 

 be of very little use either in saddle or harness. 

 The existence of this partial deficiency of colouring 

 matter in the skin seems to infer want of nervous 

 power ; for we must remember that the distribution of 

 pigment is greatly influenced by the nervous system. The 

 common belief that if one fore leg is dark and the other 

 white, the latter will be more apt to go wrong than the 

 former, holds good, I think, only as far as the skin and hoof 

 are concerned. Many persons consider black a " soft " 



