We see every color of horse in the hunting field. And while foxhunters really shouldn’t care about color, I’m guessing that many riders have a preference. Right or wrong, I know I do. In this photo, several horses of varying colors are crossing the country well. We may be missing more colors than we care to, but we hope you’ll get the idea.
Keeping up with the Blue Ridge hounds in Virginia are (L–R) Cyrus (a paint) owned and ridden by Karel Wennink; Guitar (a “black-pointed bay”) owned and ridden by your editor; Hot Rize (a “black-pointed bay” and winner of the 2014 Virginia Gold Cup) owned and ridden by Russell Haynes; and Very Berry (a roan) owned and ridden by Jef Murdock, MFH, Old Chatham Hunt (NY). / Nancy Kleck photo
Colour by Edric G. Roberts
The old saying, so often repeated,
That ‘there never was yet a good horse
Of a really bad colour,’ is greeted
With a shrug, as a matter of course;
To the past it is now relegated
As the lore of some old-fashioned school,
Which believed in tradition that rated
An exception as proof to the rule.
Now, the standard of goodness is reckoned
By more up-to-date measures than these,
Where the chances of colour come second,
If the rest of the qualities please;
And as long as he’s proved a performer,
Any horse, even skewbald, will do,
Though, no doubt, his reception is warmer
If his coat’s a less circus-like hue.
I confess I am early Victorian,
(For the good colours, only, I love),
And agree with the ancient historian
Who composed the old adage above;
But although to the lot I’m devoted,
Whether chestnut or black, brown or grey,
I must own my affections have voted,
For the choicest, a black-pointed bay.
Posted April 29, 2016