No. 562] COAT COLOR IN HORSES 619 



breeds, trotter and saddle horse, without an exception. 

 It is true that I found in the records two bay cults re- 

 ported from chestnut sire and dam. The breeder of them 

 is still living and informs me that it is a typographical 

 mistake in the record. I have made diligent effort in the 

 Jast few months to find a living colt from chestnut parents 

 that is not chestnut itself. My efforts have been in vain, 

 although I have asked in the breeding journals for the in- 

 formation so as to give it the widest publicity. 



I have no doubt that either mistakes in the record or in 

 the reports for registration are numerous enough to ac- 

 count for the 16 exceptions given in the above tabulation. 

 There are those chestnut horses whose color is so close to 

 that of a light bay that it would be marvelous if mistakes 

 were not made in reporting the color for registration. 

 Then, too, it is not always easy to determine the color the 

 horse is to be by examining the young foal. As a rule 

 the colt that has the dark mane and tail and dark legs will 

 shed out to be a bay, while that one which has the light 

 mane, tail and legs will shed to be a chestnut. 



There is a tendency to blend in bay and chestnut. 

 While the blend is not complete by any means, its tend- 

 ency is apparent and at times gives trouble to foretell 

 the color of the mature horse. I have examined a bay 

 stallion that had on his ankle a small space covered ex- 

 clusively with chestnut hairs. It is these animals on the 

 border line that are so liable to be registered bay when in 

 fact they are chestnut. I find numerous errors in all the 

 registration records which I have been able to examine. 

 The color of the horse has always been a minor considera- 

 tion in registration, the pedigree being considered the im- 

 portant thing. Often the pedigree is mutilated by typo- 

 graphical mistakes. Why should we not expect the color 

 to be changed in the same way? 



The other writers on this subject have not given any 

 figures showing the behavior of chestnut when mated to 

 bav, brown and black. I find that black to chestnut gives: 

 32 per cent, chestnut, 22 per cent, black, 6 per cent, brown, 



