MUIRHEAD`S MYSTERIES: Some hairless horses you may never have met

I recently came across a mystery animal that has bolted from the stable of cryptozoological familiarity only to roam in the waste-lands of cryptozoological obscurity. Namely the hairless horse. Here I present three old newspaper stories about this mystery beast, dating from 1838,1880 and 1892 respectively.

The Sun (Baltimore, Maryland) February 1^st 1838.

A Hairless Horse – There is a horse exhibiting at Tattersalls, New York , that has not a particle of hair on any part of his body,and whose skin resembles that of an elephant. It is said his dam was frightened at an elephant, and his owner was so much frightened at his appearance that he gave him away to a neighbour,who, after he was three years old, sold him for $2,300.

The Osage City Free Press (Osage City, Kansas) May 6^th 1880

GEN. KAUPMANN has just presented to the Zoological Garden at Moscow a hairless horse from Central Asia. The animal belongs to a hybrid species ,and is considered a great rarity; it is well formed, but its skin is red and without the slightest trace of hair, and in cold Moscow it has to be kept covered with blankets.

Tombstone Weekly Epitaph   (Tombstone, Arizona) March 13^th, 1892.

THE HAIRLESS HORSE. An otherwise perfect animal absolutely destitute of hair.

Some weeks ago we gave a description and illustration of a horse with phenomenal growth of the hair of the mane and tail, the rest of his coat being quite normal. In the present issue we reproduce from the Scientific American an example of the opposite extreme ,from a life study of the curious animal portrayed. This is a horse absolutely destitute of hair. Neither neck nor tail nor any part of the body shows the least hirsute growth. The texture of the skin is silky and smooth; the color is almost a full black. The animal is of rather heavy type, and with his delicate surface does not produce any unpleasant impression. There are said to be two such horses known to exist in this country. One of them was foaled in the west; the one we illustrate is credited to Australia.

The skin in one  of thee animals is affected curiously, the perspiratory function seeming to be absent. The horse does not sweat when exercised, and the mouth or nose seems to provide the escape for what would otherwise be true skin perspiration.