SECTION SIXTH. 



CONSIDERATIONS RELATIVE TO THE DESCRIPTION AND 

 IDENTIFICATION OF THE HORSE. 



WE propose to treat in this section on the ideas which the reader 

 should possess in order to be able to describe a particular horse, that 

 is to say, to distinguish him from other horses. Among these items 

 of knowledge there are some of which we have already treated and 

 which we shall now only have to apply. The others we will study in 

 detail ; they have reference to the coats and their peculiarities, the height, 

 and the formulation of that document called a description, which can 

 also be employed as a model for a certificate of soundness. 



CHAPTER I. 



THE COATS. 



i. Coats properly so called. 



IN the exterior, the word coat is synonymous with robe, and refers 

 especially to the color of the hairs. It denotes the whole of the hairs 

 which cover the surface of the body. 



These hairs, produced by particular organs of secretion annexed to 

 the skin (hair-bulbs), present a remarkable variety of colors. This is 

 especially true of animals which live in a state of domestication. In 

 wild animals, such as the tiger, leopard, deer, etc., the color of the hairs 

 is uniform. 



The colors of the hairs of the horse are the black, the white, the 

 red, the russet or reddish brown, the gray, and the yellow. Their nu- 



771 



