I have seen another rather light cart-horse, of a dirty
dark cream-colour, with striped legs, and on one shoulder a large
ill-defined dark cloudy patch, and on the opposite shoulder two
parallel faint stripes. All the cases yet mentioned are duns of
various tints; but Mr. W. W. Edwards has seen a nearly thoroughbred
chestnut horse which had the spinal stripe, and distinct bars on
the legs; and I have seen two bay carriage-horses with black spinal
stripes; one of these horses had on each shoulder a light
shoulder-stripe, and the other had a broad back ill-defined stripe,
running obliquely half-way down each shoulder; neither had
leg-stripes.
The most interesting case which I have met with occurred in a colt
of my own breeding. A bay mare (descended from a dark-brown Flemish
mare by a light grey Turcoman horse) was put to Hercules, a
thoroughbred dark bay, whose sire (Kingston) and dam were both
bays. The colt ultimately turned out brown; but when only a
fortnight old it was a dirty bay, shaded with mouse-grey, and in
parts with a yellowish tint: it had only a trace of the spinal
stripe, with a few obscure transverse bars on the legs; but almost
the whole body was marked with very narrow dark stripes, in most
parts so obscure as to be visible only in certain lights, like the
stripes which may be seen on black kittens. These stripes were
distinct on the hind-quarters, where they diverged from the spine,
and pointed a little forwards; many of them as they diverged became
a little branched, exactly in the same manner as in some zebrine
species. The stripes were plainest on the forehead between the
ears, where they formed a set of pointed arches, one under the
other, decreasing in size downwards towards the muzzle; exactly
similar marks may be seen on the forehead of the quagga and
Burchell’s zebra. When this foal was two or three months old all
the stripes entirely disappeared. I have seen similar marks on the
forehead of a fully grown, fallow-dun, cob-like horse, having a
conspicuous spinal stripe, and with its front legs well barred.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account