5 68 
E. A. A. GRANGE. 
so many different ways, that it does not seem necessary to at¬ 
tempt to describe them all here ; while we occasionally have 
animals brought under our notice where the coat is of that 
peculiar tint that it becomes a matter of some difficulty to draw 
a line between one color and some other ; browns are sometimes 
so dark that it is hard to say whether they are black or brown, 
and similar instances come before us in other shades, the cream 
and the bay, the chestnut and the cream and so on. 
In selecting horses for the market color plays an important 
role in the make up of the animal, so the use the creature is in¬ 
tended for should be given due consideration. If we want an 
animal for park saddle work solid colors take well, while in 
most instances badly marked pie-balds would not be looked at, 
although for the circus ring they might be most coveted ; again 
the dictates of fashion influence the demand and in some locali¬ 
ties red roans will bring a higher price, all things being equal, 
than any other color. For farm work the darker colors gener¬ 
ally look better and are less disagreeable in the warmer months- 
of summer than white or other light colors. Extensive corres¬ 
pondence on the subject of color has demonstrated very clearly 
that much stronger prejudices exist amongst the patrons of the 
equine industry than is generally supposed, but happily the 
color does not, in our opinion, make any difference except for 
special purposes, this being the case we are all put at liberty to 
gratify our own tastes in selecting a particular hue. 
Action and gait embrace those movements performed by the 
extremities during progression, and may be considered under 
three primary heads—the walk, trot, and gallop—with their 
various modifications, the running walk, the amble or pace, and 
the canter. These we regard as natural gaits since horses 
possess them through some natural predisposition or instinct. 
The artificial gaits or ornamental movements are those which 
are taught in the high school of horsemanship, and perhaps may 
be regarded as belonging more to the circus ring or tan bark of 
the riding school, than the ordinary commercial horse-world. 
They consist principally of the passage , a species of trot in 
