Primitive Markings in Non-dun Horses
Primitive markings can also occur on non-dun horses, even in breeds such as Thoroughbreds, Arabians, and Standardbreds, which are not known to have any dun individuals. The most common primitive marking found is a dorsal stripe; others do occur, but not without the dorsal stripe, even on non-duns.
Dorsal stripes and other primitive markings on non-dun horses are commonly called countershading dorsals because they seldom occur on clear-coated horses. The term countershading refers to any coloration that breaks up the outline of the animal: from a distance, countershaded animals - be they horses or birds - appear two-dimensional and are much more difficult to see. Primitive markings on non-duns are often seasonal, visible only when the horse is shedding its coat. Such primitive markings also seem to be heritable, as horses with prominent countershading dorsals often produce offspring with the same.
Read more about this topic: Primitive Markings
Famous quotes containing the words primitive and/or horses:
“Through the din and desultoriness of noon, even in the most Oriental city, is seen the fresh and primitive and savage nature, in which Scythians and Ethiopians and Indians dwell. What is echo, what are light and shade, day and night, ocean and stars, earthquake and eclipse, there? The works of man are everywhere swallowed up in the immensity of nature. The AEgean Sea is but Lake Huron still to the Indian.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Faster than fairies, faster than witches,
Bridges and houses, hedges and ditches;
And charging along like troops in a battle,
All through the meadows the horses and cattle;”
—Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894)