48 



Colour Inheritmice in Horses 



do not help to clear up. The tables below were drawn entirely from 

 the Shire records. Just what roan means is not made clear. Does it 

 include only red or bay and chestnut roans, or may it include some 

 blue roans whose colour is not more definitely stated in the records ? 



There is no evidence in this table against the hypothesis reached 

 independently by Wilson and myself, but neither is there any of very 

 much significance in favour of it. That black to blue roan gives one 

 black, and blue roan to blue roan gives one roan is all very well, 

 provided the one roan is not a red roan, but it does not take us very 

 far. The table is of value, however, as showing that roan to chestnut 

 black, brown, or bay, gives 80 roans to 118 not roans. Adding my 

 figures for the same cross gives 225 roans to 284 not roans. I believe 

 that this deficiency in roans is at least partly due to the fact that roans 

 vary in the amount of white they show, and the breeders are apt to 

 avoid calling a roan such if they can help doing so, as the colour is 

 unpopular. Still, if this practice were very general it should lead to 

 many roans being produced with neither parent recorded as roan, 

 which is not the case, such records being rather rare. It is quite 

 possible that there are other complications in this case. 



Neither Wilson nor I had enough evidence to enable us to make 

 even a safe guess as to the relation between gray and roan. I have 



