Chap. 11. THEIR COLOUES AND STRIPES. OU 



Boticed by some authors with surprise, is a modification or 

 vestige of a tendency to become striped. 



This tendency in tlie horb'e to become striped is in several respects 

 an interesting fact. Horses of all coloiirs, of the most diverse breeds, 

 in various parts of the world, often have a dark stripe extending 

 along the spine, from tlie mane to the tail ; but this is so common 

 that I need enter into no particulars.^^ Occasionally horses are 

 transversely barred on the legs, chiefly on the under side; and more 

 rarely they have a distinct stripe on the shoulder, like that on the 

 shoulder of the ass, or a broad dark patch representing a stripe. 

 Before entering on any details I must premise that the terra dun- 

 coloured is vague, and includes three groups of colours, viz., that 





Fig. 1. — Dun Devonshire Pony, with shoulder, spinal, and leg stripes. 



between cream-colour and reddish-brown, which graduates into 

 light-bay or light-chestniit — this, I believe is often called fallow- 

 dun ; secondly, leaden or slate-colour or mouse-dun, which graduates 

 into an ash-colour; and, lastly, dark-dun, between brown and black. 

 In England I have examined a rather large, lightly-built, fallow- 

 dun Devonshire pony (fig. 1), with a conspicuous stripe along the 

 back, with light transverse stripes on the under sides of its front 

 legs, and with four parallel stripes on each shoulder. Of these four 

 stripes the posterior one was very minute and faint ; the anterior 

 one, on the other hand, was long and broad, but interrupted in the 



'' Some details are given in 'The nut pony had the same stripe, as had 



Farrier,' 1828, pp. 452, 4.55. One of a remarkaljly heavy chestnut cart- 



the smallest ponie^ I ever saw, of the horse. Kace-horses often have the 



colour of a mouse, had a conspiciiou? spinal stripe, 

 spinal stripe. A small Indian chest- 



