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>Forwarded message:
>Subj: Re: [endurance] color
>Date: 96-04-08 21:34:20 EDT
>From: Shareeka
>To: katswig@deltanet.com
>
>To everyone regarding color there is a great book by Judith Forbis called
>"The Classic Arabian Horse". Here is something on color from chapter 5
>"Daughters of the Wind" "As to the color grey, Tesio remarks that "grey
>is not itself a coat, but a pathological discoloration of the only two basic
>coats which are the bay and the chestnut." Grey horses lose the pigment in
>their coats at an early age, either partially or completely. As we know,
>all grey foals are born either bay or chestnut (with occasional rare
>exception); thus grey are of two distinct varieties, having white hairs on a
>bay background or white hairs on a chestnut background. According to
>Badjirmi, the Arabs divided the grey, al ashab, into seven subtypes. The
>most favored was al ashab al marshoush, "and he resembles the bird and is the
>strongest and tallest, and he is called al thobabi (fleabitten, also
>debbani".) He also mentions in this section about al ashab al qortasi:'
> "he is the one whose white is so intense so it is not mixed with any other
>colour. And he resembels the white of al ghora (the star on a horse's
> forehead), because it is the most intense the clearest white. And his skin
>is white (pale pink). And he may have blue eyes or one blue eye. And if
>his eyes are black he is called ashab akhal. Other division of grey are al
>asfar, having secen sections, and al akhdar, having five: a total of 19 for
>grey. All these greys have dark skin, except the one mentioned above, who
>apparently belongs to the true white coat." 3 other quotes from this book
>are: "If you hear that a bay horse fell from the highest mountain and was
>safe, then believe it." "Behold a white horse...this is the mount of
>kings..." "If thou has a dark chestnut, conduct him to the combat, and if
>thou hast only a sorry chestnut, conduct him all the same to combat. The good
>fortune of horses is in thier chestnut coloring, and the best (swiftest) of
>all horses is the chestnut horse".
>
>