7O LIGHT HORSES : BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. 



round the girth. When measured he was in good condi- 

 tion, but not what you would call full of flesh ; his legs as 

 clean as a race-horse." 



I fancy Cleveland must have been an exceptionally power- 

 ful horse, and as he was purchased with the avowed object of 

 improving the breed of agricultural horses in Gloucestershire, 

 it is probable that this was the case. At any rate, such a 

 measurement as 10 inches below the knee, is, I should say, 

 extremely rare in the present day. 



As the name of the breed would seem to imply, the colour 

 is bay, the legs a good black, and although a small white 

 star, or a few white hairs on a hind heel are not an infallible 

 sign of alien blood, they are regarded as an eyesore; and 

 unless they are very small indeed, so small as to be scarcely 

 visible, the sale of an animal possessing them is very much 

 affected thereby. The black points are of rare occurrence 

 now-a-days. They consist of black, zebra-like stripes on the 

 arms and thighs, just above the knees and hocks. Occa- 

 sionally there is a black stripe down the back or a black or 

 dark spot or two on the quarter, the black stripe being 

 generally found on horses of a light bay colour, whilst the 

 stripes and marks on the quarter have been more generally 

 associated with animals of a darker colour. 



Some misapprehension seems to exist respecting the colour. 

 It is said by some that the bright golden bay is the only colour 

 which is admissible and that a darker colour implies the exist- 

 ence of alien blood, but such an idea is manifestly erroneous. 

 From the golden bay, and even the fawny bay, to the dark bay 

 the difference is only one of degree, and it is difficult to see 

 why a prejudice should exist against a dark bay. Darwin's 

 conclusions on the subject of colour are so clear, and seem to 

 have so much bearing on the qucestio vexata, of light and dark 

 bay, and the dappling of which so much is made in some 

 quarters, that I quote them : 



" Horses occasionally exhibit a tendency to become striped 

 over a large part of their bodies, and as we know that stripes 



