878 THE EXTERIOR OF THE HORSE. 



she dragged him for some distance over the stony ground. A remarkable fact 

 was that this same mare was very gentle otherwise, and, excepting this one object 

 of her special terror, she would ignore all the causes which ordinarily frighten 

 most horses : the noise of a cannon, the beating of drums, military music, the 

 whizzing of balls and bullets, the sight of camp-fires, the smoke and fire of 

 small-arms or artillery, the sight of troops in battle, the waving of plumes and 

 flash of brilliant arms,— none of these would give her the least fear. And, as 

 was several times observed, she did not show the same fear for other white 

 objects as that which she experienced at the sight or the noise of paper. Every 

 means employed for the cure of this defect proved unsuccessful, and her owner 

 was forced to sell her, not being able to use her as his mount. 



" Deicon, a brown bay horse, belonging to the old French army, was very 

 gentle to man, to other animals, and to all horses, except those with a more or 

 less brilliant light-gnu/ coat. In feet, he had for the latter, and for them only, 

 so great a hatred that as soon as he saw one he would make every effort to get 

 to him ; when he succeeded in this he would assail him with great violence. He 

 behaved in the same way at all times and in all places,— free or when mounted, 

 on the drives, the roads, on the march, or during the manceuvres or the halts : 

 his animosity was such that it was dangerous to put not only a stallion but even 

 a mare of a gray or white coat in his stable or at any distance away from this, so 

 long as he could see them. He was not satisfied until he had broken loose, and 

 when he succeeded in this he would plunge upon these animals, kicking and 

 biting them with the greatest fury, usually seizing them by the head, often even 

 by the throat, and might have choked them had not some one promptly come to 

 their assistance. As he grew older (he was eighteen years old when he was sent 

 out of the army), this furious temper only slightly abated. In 1818 it was so strong 

 that he could not be turned out to grass with the other horses of the regiment 

 which, like himself, were in need of this diet. For other white bodies he did 

 not have the same aversion as for horses whose coat approached this color. 



" Dague, a sorrel mare, of the Norman variety, was, on the contrary, very 

 much afraid of all inanimate ivhite bodies,— that is to say, bodies motionless of 

 themselves, such as white cloaks, shirt-sleeves, cross-belts, paper, but especially 

 white plumes. When these white bodies, set in motion by any cause whatso- 

 ever, unexpectedly met her gaze, if they were of a certain size, and if the move- 

 ment was somewhat rapid, she was extremely frightened and would endeavor to 

 run away. But if the white objects were small and had but a slight degree of 

 movement, she would plunge angrily upon them and endeavor to bite them and 

 strike them with her fore-feet. No other color and no other bodies produced this 

 efiect upon her. A still more singular circumstance was that she manifested 

 neither fright nor anger in the presence of white horses and white dogs, whilst 

 she was always irritated at the sight of a sheet of paper or a white plume set in 

 motion by the air or any other cause." 



We, on our part, saw several times during the existence of the 

 post at Alfort, relays of gray horses attack relays of bay horses, 

 striking them with their anterior members and biting them, uttering at 

 the same time the most ferocious cries. 



One day, a gray stallion, having broken his halter-strap, escaped 



