THE COLOUR. 31 



diseased. I don't know if this can be detected by 

 the feel, or appearance of them, but a horse's value 

 in India is diminished fully one-third by being gelt.* 



" A small yard in a horse/' says the native adage, 

 " is an infallible characteristic of high blood ; the foal he 

 gets, will certainly be good." There is more truth 

 in the first part of this sentence than in most of their 

 sayings. As to the latter, it must depend, o course, 

 on the kind of mare he is put to. 



If you are purchasing in the highways and byways, 

 you may inspect the vein of the neck, and also the 

 chest, to see if he has been often bled or rowelled 

 (lower the neck to the ground to detect the small 

 swelling from bleeding) : these are operations that 

 are generally performed for disease, though the form- 

 er too often when there is no need for it. 







THE COLOUR. 



The best colour for an Arab is the grey, roan, or 

 white, t and next to this the lighter kind of chestnut, 

 but the former are rightly preferred ; for, caste, bone, 

 shape, freedom from diseases, hardiness of constitu- 

 tion, and good feet, are certainly, generally, more 

 conspicuous in something of the grey colour. In 



* This is now found by experience to be a mistake. All the Cavalry 

 horses in the Madras Presidency are now geldings, and found to do their 

 work as well, if not better than entires. ED. 



t A writer from Edinburgh says, " It is a remarkable fact, that an Arabian 

 of a dark grey colour wag never known in India as a winner. Bays, chest- 

 nuts, and silver greys are always to be depended on. I am, &c. &c. Thomas 

 Brown." This must have been my old friend, Mr. Green, whom I am about 

 to introduce you to, at my last page ; for a letter signed Zeal replies, Mercury, 

 Pyramus, Renegade, Emilius, Bundaola, Sackcloth, and Harmonica, were all 

 iron-greys. 



