MARKINGS, 221 



quently, the oil which is secreted to keep the surface soft 

 and supple, will not be able to perform its duty as 

 efficiently as it would do, were the scurf skin thin. 

 When the scurf skin gets hard and cracks from the effects 

 of^ climate and from its being insufficiently supplied by 

 this oil, the highly sensitive true skin becomes inflamed 

 from irritation due to exposure. The fact of cart- 

 horses being peculiarly liable to *' sallenders," if they are 

 blistered for ** bog spavins," taken in connection with the 

 coarseness of their hair, as compared ^ to that of lighter 

 breeds, would seem to support the opinion that the coarser 

 the hair, the more liable 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 Prmce 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 " 



Mr, John Anthony, the well-known Norfolk breeder of 

 hackneys, tells me that Shire horses, bred on chalky soil, 

 like that in Norfolk, never have as good a show of hair on 

 their legs, as those brought up on land with less lime in it. 



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'' (Fig. 237). If the white spreads over 

 the forehead, it is termed a *' blaze'* (Fig. 232). If it runs 



