Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1895-02-22
AN ARABIAN WONDER.

New York State owns an equine Won
der. 1t is "A horse that, instead of hair
has coat of thick, felty wool, that has
to be shorn periodically like sheep.
This wUnder-a natural curiosity of
great interests owned by Mr. George
w. Van Aullen of Schenectady. The
colt is not public curiosity, but pri-
vate individual. The whole matter is
of such great interest to students of ma
ture that the writer secured the follow
ing particulars from the owner, accom-
panied by a photograph from which the
illustration is taken. The particulars
supplied by MI. Van Auken are as fol-
lows:
''rhe color of the horse is sorrel, spot
ted, with white on his back; white feet
and white horseshoe mark on the fore
head. His height is l4I hands, weight
about one thousand pounds, age four
teen. He is sound, kind and gentle in
every respect. When clipped has a
most perfect form.
"Whie not an extra fast trotter, he
has an easy gait, good tor all day on
the road, and still not suffer much-when
clipped
Ills remarkable coat of hair is from
three TO six inches in length.
when driven he has to be clipped
five or six times year to keep him in
IL oil ha
hair grows just as fast in the summer as
at any other time of the year.
The picture shows the appearance of
the horse after six months growth of
hair. He was last clipped about the
middle of last May and was then sent to
"A stock farm. His present coat is now
two inches and over in length. This
has grown all summer. 1t was neces-
sary to clip him, as during the warm
weather he sweated so that his coat be-
came so matted together that he could
not be cleaned at all. When clipping
him the hair comes off in large patches
like pieces of felt or wool. In cleaning
him it Is necessary to use name and
tail comb to keep it from getting tangled
and large stiff broom to brush the dust
out, or else 10 wash him like curly
dog and to wash and dry small portion
at time.
"While in Albany with him for day
or two last spring he was visited by over
a hundred and fifty people at the hotel
stable. One man, IA wholesale merchant,
insisted that the curiosity was "A new
kind of fraud, that it was wool sewed or
glued on or fastened on somehow, he
didn't know just how; but it was a fraud
anyhow. He could not be convinced
until the hostler told him to pull piece
of the hair out.
"Others say he must have been raised
in IA very cold climate and others think
it is some new breed. 1t is indeed worth
a good deal to hear the many opinions
given for the curious covering.
He has never been publicly exhibit
ed. 1t is only occasionally that he is
driven in such hirsute condition. He is
taught numerous tricks just for amuse-
ment.
Ills sire was large, bright-cOlored
sorrel; his dam was smaller, color
brown. spotted with white. Both were
of Arabian blood.
"No sheep were kept on the farm, but
ii so happened that large droves were
sometimes met on the road going to the
shambles, and it is thought that the dam
might have been frightened at one of
these flOcks before foaling. No other
reason can be suggested for the woody
coat. None of the dams other colts
showed any disposition to have curly
hair. The colts sire and dam had both
short and smooth coats"
The above particulars are interesting
on account of the facts they contain
We have heard of other horses-some in
Wisconsin-of similar nature. The
owner there called them his poodle"
horses.
The suggestion that the oddity was
caused by fright occasloned by IA flock
of woody sheep, while 1t may, no doubt,
be considered satisfactory by the ma
iority, will not satisfy scientific and
modern students of the breeding prob
lem. Woody horses are not unknown
elsewhere. They were common in the
Central Asian region, whence came the
original parents of the horse.
a most interesting fact-upon which
we would be glad to have further en-
lightenment-is that the sire and dam
of this wonder were of Arabian descent.