  Properties of the horizon mass of hairy black holes are discussed with
emphasis on certain subtle and initially unexpected features. A key property
suggests that hairy black holes may be regarded as `bound states' of ordinary
black holes without hair and colored solitons. This model is then used to
predict the qualitative behavior of the horizon properties of hairy black
holes, to provide a physical `explanation' of their instability and to put
qualitative constraints on the end point configurations that result from this
instability. The available numerical calculations support these predictions.
Furthermore, the physical arguments are robust and should be applicable also in
more complicated situations where detailed numerical work is yet to be carried
out.
