2 48 SKIN, HAIR, AND COLOUR. 



breeds, would seem to support the opinion that the coarser 

 the hair, the more hable is the animal to suffer from 

 inflammation of the skin, of which grease is a form that is 

 very difficult to entirely allay. We may safely conclude that 

 if hair on the legs be desired, it should be soft and silky in 

 its nature. I may mention that Prince William, who, as a 

 two-year-old, was the champion of all classes in the Shire 

 Horse Society's show for 1885, had the best hair I have ever 

 seen on a cart-horse. Mr. Thomas Dykes, in his essay on 

 The Clydesdale Horse, states that " the back part from the 

 knee down should possess a nice flowing fringe of silken hair, 

 which should spring from the very edge of the bone. This 

 hair should be of what a judge of a Skye terrier would style 

 a ' pily ' nature ; and good judges will not have a horse at 

 all, the feather of which has a coarse matted appearance. 

 The high value set upon nice silky hair is on account of its 

 being an indication of strong, healthy bone, and as hair of a 

 short coarse matted kind suggests a tendency to grease." 



Markings. — When a dark-coloured horse has a small 

 patch of white, more or less in the centre of his forehead, it is 

 called a " star." If the white spreads over the forehead, it Is 

 termed a " blaze." If it runs down his nose in the form of a 

 line of no great width, it is known as a " reach." A white 

 or pink patch on either lip, is called a " snip." White, 

 reaching down to the coronet, on the leg of a dark-coloured 

 horse is, as we all know, termed a "white stocking," an 

 expression that might be reserved for one that comes up as 

 hio-h as the knee or hock ; while that of a " white sock " 

 might be used to signify the marking when it is shorter. 



