46 TYPES AND BREEDS 



Color is the most conspicuous feature by which a horse can 

 be described or identified, so that a uniform and comprehensive 

 color standard is important. Colors may be generally classed as 

 solid or broken, distinguished by the presence or absence of white 

 spots. Solid colors are further differentiated as hard or soft. 

 A hard color is one in which the shade is sharply pronounced, 

 while soft colors are characterized by either a total absence of 

 pigment, as in the case of the white horse with pink skin, or a 

 washed-out or faded shade of some of the other colors. 



Broken colors are either the piebald and skewbald, in which 

 the amount of white is considerable and the disti'ibution irreg- 

 ular; or marked, when the white is limited in amount and 

 definitely restricted in its location. 



Then there are a number of odd colors and markings which 

 do not conform to the above distinctions nor admit of any but a 

 group classification. 



Classification of Color. — Solid hard colors are : Bay — Bright 

 or cherry, blood red, mahogany or dark. 



Brown — Bay, seal, mealy, black. 



Chestnut — Golden, red, burnt, black. 



Black — Jet, sooty. 



Gray — Dappled, steel, iron, black, flea-bitten. 



Eoan — Blue, red, strawberry. 



Solid soft colors are white (pink skin), mealy bay, and 

 washy chestnut. 



Broken colors are piebald, skewbald, and marked. 



Odd colors are cream, mouse and dun. The dun may be 

 grouped into light or Isabella and dark or buckskin. 



Markings. — White — Bald face, blaze, star, snip, strip, splash, 

 stocking, sock, fetlock, pastern, coronet, heel. 



Black — Points, lines. 



Odd — Tiger spots, leprous spots, wall-eyed. 



The standing of different colors will depend, in the case of 

 many of them, upon the class of the horse in question. In gen- 

 eral the different shades of hay may be considered as the best 

 all-round color. Bay has been referred to as " everyman's " 

 color. 



Brown is also a staple color like bay. 



