The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1875-10-13
Color of Horses.

Ia letter which recently appear
ed in the London Times, Lord Cath
rope, offering to contribute handsome
ly towards a fund to be expended
for the encouragement of horse breed
ing in Great Britain and Ireland
mentioned horses of "a good color. I"
On which the Pail Mall Gazette
says:
The moderns, for the most part,
have ccntented themselves with tax
ing up the unassailable position as
serted in the saying that "a good
horse cannot be bad color :" which
after all, looks very like begging Of
the question. In all such questions
we naturally turn the eyes of inquiry
towards Arabia; and the preference
ofthe Arabs for particular color is
eviuced very Enthusiastically. IF
you are told,n says one Of their pre-
eepts that q horse has been seen fiy-
ing in the air, ask what color l. was /;
and if the answer be chestnut,
believe il" Their tradition also
eontainsa story telling how an old
Arab chief and his young son were
one day flying before their enemies.
The chiefs eyes were dim with age,
aud there were in those days no field
glasses; he had therefore, to depend
on the younger eyesight for aA that
could be seen of the pUrsuers. my
son" said be, "what horses do they
ride ?" "My father" was the an
swer, ".hey be white horses" "GO
we, then, towards the sun, and they
wild melt away as the snow" After
awhile the chief asked again. "Whai
horses now, my son l' MY father,
they be black horses $50 we,
then, on the hard ground, and their
hoofs will eleave to the hard earth. y
A third time the chief asked. That
horses now, my son ?n "My father.
was the answer, they be chestnut
horses" Quick, then, guickw ex-
claimed the cid chief, or we be dead
men.
Whether we English have any
proverbial saying in honor Of the
chestnut may be known to somebody ;
but there is no doubt II at among our
race the chestnut has very much
distinguished himself. The taste for
bays is, perhaps, more prevalent in
England, partly because the chestnut
is believed to be peucliarly subject to
infirmities of constitution and of tenn
per and it is said that in France
under the second Empire the same
taste was carried TO 10 an extreme
Il is asserted that, with the exeep-
ton OF few saddle horses, all the
horses admitted into the Imperial
stables were required to be not only
bays, but the "bais zains"-that is
bays without single white hair
And it must be admitted that eoH
plete bay, with main and tail and
four feet perfectly black, is as hand
some a quadruped as eye can see.
How mach or little climate has to
do with the color of horses, it is
very difficult to predicate at this age
of the world, for, though we may be
told that white or gray and chestnut
predominant in Arabia, that black is
most common in Russia. and that in
England, France and Germany bay
is found to greatly outnumhes any
other, there is no telling how far
fashion and consequent high prices
may have spurred on enterprising
breeders to the primordial tenden-
eies of climate. We should be in
clined to confne the color of horses
in this country to black, bay, brown
and chestnut 1t is true that there
are plenty of grays, but gray really
belongs to the compost colors; and
it is stated by authority that "all
gray horses come into the world
chestnut, or, more generally, black.