
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, September 30, 1993                   TAG: 9309300010
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DUBLIN                                LENGTH: Medium

ONLY HORSE'S HAIRDRESSER KNOWS FOR SURE

Bud White has his horse back - but it's a horse of another color.

White discovered his black-and-white spotted Tennessee Walking horse was missing Sunday morning from his barn on Giles Avenue. He reported the missing horse, valued at $20,000, to the Pulaski County Sheriff's Office.

White found his horse, named Fine Arts Classic Touch, about 24 hours later, running loose about a mile away on Black Hollow Road.

But someone had dyed the horse's coat and mane black.

At first glance, one might consider the dye-job a harmless prank. But White can tell you the matter is much more serious.

The 3-year-old breeding stallion pulled some muscles because of being left to run on a cornfield's soft ground. That, along with White's concerns over any negative effect of the dye, led him to cancel breeding sessions he had scheduled for the rest of the year. Classic Touch is a registered horse and is listed in a national breeding guide, he said.

Now, White is trying to find the best way to get the horse back to its natural color without any harm. The dye may remain on the horse for months, White said.

"There's a limit to what you can put on to get it off."

The fall's cooler temperatures means the horse can't be washed repeatedly, he said. A veterinarian told him there is no major skin damage, but it will be a while before the horse regains its natural colors. Even the white mane - which doesn't shed and regenerate - was dyed, he said.

"Its coloring is its claim to fame," White said. Spotted Tennessee Walking horses are unusual, he said.

White said the sheriff's office called him after someone reported seeing a horse running loose in the Black Hollow section. White said he has traced the horse's travels and found hair-dye bottles, cartons and sponges.

"We got him when he was a baby and raised him," White said. "We don't think of it as stolen property. We think of it as kidnapping."

by CNB