If his rider returns from the fight
Cut off my hand.
The Roan; this is called meghedeur-el-deum, "a pool of blood." The rider is sure to be overtaken, but will never overtake.
The horse is to be valued that has no white spots except a star on the forehead, or a simple white stripe down the face. The latter must descend to the lips, and then the owner will never be in want of milk. It is a fortunate mark. It is the image of the dawn. If the star is truncated or has jagged edges, it is universally disliked, and if the animal adds to that a white spot in front of the saddle no man in his senses would mount it, nor would any judge of horse-flesh deign to possess it. Such a horse is as fatal as a subtile poison. If a horse has several white spots, three is the preferable number—one of the right feet should be exempt, but it matters not whether it be behind or before. It is a good sign to have stockings on both the off forefoot and the near hindfoot. It is called,
The hand of the writer
And the foot of the horseman.
The master of such a horse cannot fail to be fortunate, for he mounts and dismounts over white. The Arabs, it must be remembered, generally mount on the off side and alight on the near side. Two hind stockings are a sign of good fortune;
The horse with the white hind-feet,
His master will never be ruined.
It is the same with white forefeet—his master's face will never turn yellow. Never buy a horse with a white face and four stockings, for he carries his winding-sheet with him. The prejudices of the Arabs on the subject of white spots are summed up in the following little story: