The New York herald., 1922-07-09

10th front feet white and no white on
either hind foot? Can you show the
horse? Or an authenticated picture of
1t? Because that marking Is SO very
:are. IL It exists. that proof Is in de-
mand.
l should be unwilling yet to assert the
presence of law of equine coloration
preventing the appearance of such mark
ing, but il is certain that a bay horse so
marked Is conspicuous exception
among many hundreds of white footed
bays. and in examining some thousands
have never seen one. expect some
day to see black horse with one or two
white feet in front and no white behind.
but so tar have looked for one fruit
lessly. Who knows such a horse and Is
sure Of his kind Of blacK7
But chestnut horses of all the true
chestnut hues the base of which Is yell
low. are rather more apt to be white in
front than to be white behind when only
one foot or pair of feet is white marked.
Chestnut Is decidedly more likely to be
heavily marked with white In the face
with solid colored feet are not very rare.
but white faced bays with all other
points good black are quite rare.
DR.. Robinson's Observations.
1t is now years since DR.. Robinson
published his noteworthy paper-in the
North american RerieD. I believe-in
which he enters into detailed discus
sion of the rule Of frequency In white
feet. but he makes no distinction in re-
gard to the various colors. He pointed
out the fact that white feet are usually
hind feet, left feet more liable to the
white marks than right feet and right
front foot least of all prone to white.
while in spotted horses he says that the
left side normally shows more white than
the right side. My own observation OF
number of gray horses seems to indi-
cate that grays are inclined to less pro-
,nounced dark dappling and to sooner
fade on the left side.
1t is worth noting that horses Of all
kinds most often lie down upon the right
side. thus exposing the left side most
frequently and bringing the right side
against the ground, while usually the
front feet are tucked beneath the
body: but when a front foot Is exposed
1t Is most often the left foot. and the left
hind foot. most often white of all the
four feet. is the one ordinarily most ex
posed. The right front, least often
white. is that least exposed to external
influence or most subjected to ground
contact. from whichever viewpoint the
consideration is taken.
Things to BE Explained.
All of these trifing points fit neatly
sv,tn oh .xth xx,f< a t~tt TONS
But unlucl<ily white feet are not the sole
material for speculation; there is usually
n white face mark in addition. and that
defies conjecture. 1t must be constantly
remembered that no explanation of white
foot marks is of any value which fails
to account for white face marks at the
same time.
Dr. Robinson apparently correlated
white marks with environment. while on
the contrary they are almost certainly
correlated instead with, color. All the
oclors OF horses appear to be separable
into three organic &, vaps, subject to
hypothetical reservation respecting the
gray group. which may be mentioned
presently. These three groups are. first.
the grays. comprising for the purposes
of present discussion, the entire range
of somatic grays and whites irrespec-
tive of germinal distinctions: second, the
red group, including one chestnut. one
brown, the bays and black-the latter
probably a deeper version of the red
chestnut rather than of the bay-and.
third. the yellow group. which numbers
all the creams. duns. buckskins. sorrels.
common chestnuts, &c.
Blacks and browns are very difficult
colors to speak of in such connection.
for they diffc-, in fact, according to the
"a A7v.ft Nf tIr. nm ~ "a q
while much alike in appearance. Re-
garded as what our Mendelian friends
call an hypost a.ic effect. a black horse Is
n black horse, but the nature of its color
transmissory custom is subject to the
rule OF its group. Black seems to be the
tae color common to all three groups.
The Varieties lof Black.
1t 1t distinctly doubtful IL the yellow
group ever produces black equal In in
tensity and luster of color to the blacks
from the other groups. but 1t assuredly
has black members. Some black horses
have tan muzzles or other tan zones.
and in these horses as In others In which
the darkness solidly overcasts the tan
rue. the blackness Is only deepening
of the dun chested group color sufficiently
intense to assume a black appearance.
Such black Is different In hereditary
quality from the black which Is the
deepening of red. The blacks from the
gray group are perhaps Of more interest
than any other. have known positively
of one case in which a genuine dapple
gray OF the truest gray color character.
elegantly marked. was flashing pure
black until past two years of age.
There is brown which Is properly a
version OF bay. and another brown which
Is an intensification of dun. and one may
be as dark color as the other, either
truly entitled to be called brown. but
one follows the transmissory customs of