804 THE EXTERIOR OF THE HORSE. 



ample, which has shown himself endowed with great qualities, has a 

 star on the forehead ; this has been sufficient, in many cases, to give 

 this coat and this marking a premium over all others. 



Here, as in all preconceived ideas, coincidences have been noticed 

 without taking into consideration the contrary facts, interpreted as 

 exceptions, although more numerous. Thus, black horses are but 

 slightly esteemed, because they are used in hearses ; white horses and 

 those whose coat is pale or washed are rejected, under the jiretence that 

 they are slow, lymphatic, and deficient in energy ; sorrel horses are in 

 disrepute, because they are believed to be of a vicious temperament, etc. 



In other cases, there is not even the shadow of a reason in favor 

 of the judgment formed. Taste, fancy, caprice, and fashion alone 

 determine the choice. " It is even impossible," writes De Curnieu, 

 keen connoisseur though he be,^ "for a man with much experience 

 among horses not to have certain whimsical preferences for such or such 

 a coat, or such or such a mark. Thus, I never like to buy a cherry 

 bay horse with four white feet, while a brown bay with these markings 

 pleases me, provided he has a white mark on the head. I prefer the 

 Isabella to be solid-colored, and the black to have at least a star on the 

 forehead. Two hind white feet and a list appear to me good signs 

 in a black, a bay, and, especially, a sorrel horse. The proverb, ' Cheval 

 de trois, cheval de roi,^ intending to express that a horse with three white 

 feet often has more brilliancy than endurance, is frequently true. Two 

 fore white feet and one or none behind, and, in general, more white in 

 front than behind, diminishes greatly, to my mind, the value of a horse. 

 Finally, although with all the coats there are found horses extraordi- 

 narily good as well as bad, I always much prefer the burnt or golden 

 sorrel, the bay, and the trout-spotted." 



These opinions, which vary with the observers, the times, and the 

 places, being credited to-day, disbelieved to-morrow, and revived later 

 011^ — will they not, like the belief of the ignorant in the mysterious, be 

 banished by a more rigorous observation and a more careful judgment 

 of facts? 



In this respect, it is interesting to read the works of the old horse- 

 doctors and horsemen. In most cases they abound in the strangest 

 kind of superstitions, which Solleysel ^ and Garsault,^ especially, have 

 reprinted too indulgently. 



Strictly speaking, all persons do not manifest the same credulity 



' De Curnieu, loc. cit., Ire partie, p. 194. 



" Solleysel, Le parlait mareschal, 2e partie, p. 126, et suiv. 4d. de 1698. 



* De Garsault, loc. cit., p. 15. 



