THE COATS. 801 



ences, the principal of which are the following : the age, the sex, 

 the cleanliness of the skin, the nourishment, the condition and the 

 health, the atmospheric action, the humidity of the air, the sunlight, the 

 season, the climate, the moulting, and the tinctorial action of certain 

 substances. 



Age. — The foal is covered, at birth, with fine, short, woolly hairs 

 of a dark color, which, towards the middle of the first year, are re- 

 placed by those of the distinctive or adult coat. Hence it is extremely 

 difficult to foretell at this period what the latter will be. The head and 

 the extremities are sometimes an index, but are frequently uncertain. 

 " Thus," says De Curnieu,^ " the gray is always born very dark, and 

 sometimes absolutely black ; the black, on the contrary, is at first red- 

 dish or mouse-colored, and now and then even ashy gray. The bay and 

 the sorrel are sometimes darker at birth and sometimes lighter than at 

 the adult age, and in all cases the legs are of a fawn-color, which 

 becomes so light towards the region of the foot that it is often neces- 

 sary to use care to distinguish them from white-feet. At this age the 

 coat leads us into frequent errors and doubts." 



In proportion as the animal grows older the coat, even when it 

 appears made, is modified by the more or less early appearance of white 

 hairs. Let us recall, in passing, that it is the knowledge of this fact 

 which has led us to adopt the grouping established by Professor Neu- 

 mann, — that is to say, to divide the coats into primitive and derived. 



Sometimes the white hairs appear at an early period, especially 

 around the eyes, the temples, and the ears, in horses which later will 

 become gray, white, flea-bitten, or roan. The last two are always 

 sorrel or bay at birth ; then they become rubican, and at the end 

 of a variable period the white hairs are so numerous that the coat 

 must be classed as roan or flea-bitten. Generally, they do not remain 

 thus : the white in them always increases more and more. These 

 remarks apply equally well to the black destined to become gray 

 afterwards. 



Sex. — The influence of sex is ordinarily combined with several 

 other causes of which we will speak. Nevertheless, it is commonly 

 observed that in stallions the hairs are darker, of a brighter shade, and 

 fresher-looking than in geldings and mares. The same is true of their 

 diverse reflections. 



Cleanliness of the Skin. — The cleanliness of the skin and the 

 hairs, obtained by good grooming, lotions, baths, and local lathering, 



1 De Curnieu, loc. cit., Ire partie, p. 185. 



51 



