COLOUR IN HORSES.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume xxix, Issue 7350, 3 December 1907, Page 1

COLOUR IN HORSES.

Breeding to colour in horses has been a subject of more than ordinary interest, and Sir Walter Gilbey, Bart., is (says an English farming journal) the latest author to give the world his opinion upon the matter as it applies to thoroughbreds, - Hackne3'S, and Shires. Sir "Walter explains the different colour.^ in horses and the reason for the increasing frequency of some and the. decrease of others. Suggestions are also offered as to how horses, may be bred to colour. , Sir Walter's ideas upon chestnut Hackneys are especially worth repeating. The reason why. the colour is becoming more common ia easily explained when we glance at- the "colour pedigree" of tho best modern Hackney stallions. Danegelt (foaled 1879), a most successful sire, was a whole-coloured" dark chestnut; his sire, Denmark (foaled 1848, and his grandsire, Sir Charles, foaled 1843), were both chestnuts. Performer (foaled 1840), the sire of Sir Charles, was a brown. The chestnut may be said to have' lain dormant for a few generations, as Performer traces back to Jenkinson's Fireaway, whose sire, Driver, and grandsire, The Original Shales, were both chestnuts.

I The success of chestnut Hackneys at the most important shows held during recent years is a matter of common knowledge; it has been noteworthy ever since the' date of the establishment of the Hackney Horse Society in 1884. As a natural consequence, the services of the chestnuts have been in great demand by breeders, and the colour has been inherited with other characteristics by the progeny. There can bo no doubt but that the chestnut is an'impressive colour; in other words that it lias a strong tendency to reproduce itself. To illustrate the truth of this, it may bo mentioned that durthe fifteen years, 1891 to . 190G, considerably more than 100 chestnut foals were bred at the Elsenham stud by mating mares of this colour with Dangelt, both of which were chestnuts.

Sir Walter traces also the colouring of.grey, bay, and brown, and roan Hackneys, and his findings make a i capital study. In the same stylo he treats the original colour (and those developed since) from the racehorse, and the many coloured Shires, Illustrating his work are many excellent illustrations, from Sir Walters Gilbey's private collections of paintings. They include Mr.Fulwar Craven and his Norfolk Hackney; Grey Diomed, the property of tho Duke of Bedford, Danegelt, and other noted horses. The volume is full of interesting and instructive information, and will be read with profit by breeders and others.