Still, the interesting thing about the color of thoroughbreds is that it’s really not that interesting. Sure, some folks bet on their favorite color of horse, but that’s looked down upon by serious plungers.
Among American humans, however, color is widely thought to be the essence of race.
Why is color less important at the race tracks than when the EEOC tracks race?
Find the answer here.
White is considered a genetic defect in horses (and dogs).
ReplyDeletealbino is a genetic defect. this is very different than, as an example, white w brown eyes.
ReplyDeleteAnd in humans too, Sport. In consideration of which, I think you and your People should give us free stuff forever.
ReplyDeleteGilbert P.
I'm pretty sure that all horses have the same color skin - which is dark pink. They come with different color hair though.
ReplyDeleteUhm, because it's kind of a non-issue. Nobody cares anything about a race horse except how quick it can cross the finish line and does it produce fast offspring.
ReplyDeletePleasure and work horses are another matter but of all the breeds of horses few have been distilled down to one trait as 'thoroughly' as the Thoroughbred.
albino is a genetic defect. this is very different than, as an example, white w brown eyes.
ReplyDeleteNot so fast there. White coloration (not albinism) is associated with a number of other problems in various dog breeds. White Bull Terriers, for instance, are a lot more likely to be deaf.
My wife, the lifelong equestrienne, tells me that when put together in a field, darker horses tend to dominate the light colored ones. There's always a pecking order established and evidently horses pay attention to color.
ReplyDeleteBTW Steve, are you going to comment on Obama's admission
that the white girlfriend in DFMF is a composite of several girlfriends (and probably some made-up stuff)?
What is the color of the horses' skin? Is it just hair color or skin color with horses?
ReplyDeleteOne thing that's true of all horses. They are all well hung.
ReplyDeleteWe already knew that Obama's black friend in Hawaii was a composite and the real guy differed significantly from the book.
ReplyDeleteThat does remind me though that anonymous commenters would pop up here saying that his white girlfriend didn't exist either because it was actually Ayers' girlfriend or because Obama is gay. We know have the name of the primary component of the composite who has spoken to the press and contributed her journal to a new book, so hopefully that will end some of the conspiratorial distraction.
ReplyDeleteTGGP,
ReplyDeleteRight, we now know of two girlfriends in New York and one in Chicago (via Remnick's book), all white. So, he seems like a pretty average heterosexual guy.
For horses, and perhaps for aliens breeding superhumans, inbreeding is a good thing. It concentrates genes, and presumably concentrates talent too. The problems that arise are that bad genes get concentrated too-- but if you're willing to discard most of the horses or people, it works out.
ReplyDeleteNow that a chestnut won this year's Kentucky Derby, I was curious to see if color truly does not matter. May be it still does. Approximately 8% of thoroughbreds are gray or roan (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/11/sports/derby-dreams-ride-in-on-a-white-horse.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all). 5.9% (8/136) winners of Kentucky Derby are gray/roan (http://horseracing.about.com/library/weekly/aa042101a.htm plus since 2003 there was one gray out of nine). 8 vs 11 expected - not a huge disparity. So, the color does not matter that much, it at all.
ReplyDeleteThanks.
ReplyDeleteMartin vs Zimmerman turned into cartoon.
ReplyDelete