^ ELEMENTS OF HIPPOLOGY. 17 



five. He is aged, under the racing rules, at seven, when he is 

 considered thoroughly mature. 



The period of gestation is eleven months. The age of the 

 horse is usually reckoned from the first of January preceding 

 birth. For purposes of record, a thoroughbred foal becomes a 

 yearling on January first after his birth. 



To aid in the recognition of horses, they are described by 

 giving their color, sex, age, height, color of mane and tail, points, 

 and by detailing their marked peculiarities. In this description 

 certain technical terms are used: 



A snip is a patch of white (skin and hairs) on the nose. 



A star is a patch of white hairs in the center of the forehead. 



A blaze is a streak of white hairs running down the face, 

 starting from the star. 



A horse is bald-faced when the star and snip are connected 

 by a broad blaze. 



When the blaze does not run down the axis of the nose, it is 

 termed a race. 



White hairs on the legs are almost always limited below by 

 the hoof. They are described by mentioning their upper limits : 

 white heels, white coronets, white pasterns. When the white 

 color extends nearly or quite to the knee or hock, it is termed a 

 white stocking (Figure 3). A white foot is, properly, one 

 where the hoof, as well as the hairs near it, is white. 



A horse has black points when the mane, tail, and lower 

 legs are black. If the mane, tail, and lower legs are the same 

 color as the rest of the animal, he is self-colored. A horse is 

 light of the sort when he is paler than the average for the color. 

 It is usually a sign of constitutional debility. 



A mane is reached when it is trimmed close on each side, 

 leaving a short, thin line of hair in the center about an inch long, 

 running the length of the crest (Figure 4). It is hogged when the 

 mane is cut closely throughout (Figure 3) . 



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