TRIMMING 283 



When this is very obstinate, it is allowable to use the scissors to clear away 

 the hair below the horny growth which is found there, but there should 

 always be left a slight fringe round this, so as to avoid the sharp and stiff 

 outline presented by the clipped leg. In the winter, the arms and backs of 

 the knees, as well as the bosom and the insides of the quarters, will 

 generally want singeing, whether the body is submitted to the lamp or not ; 

 but in the summer, even if any long hairs are left there, they are easily 

 removed by the hand armed with resin. Unless general clipping or 

 singeing is practised, the front sui'faces of the legs do not require trimming 

 at any season of the year. 



The mane is not now usually cut, with the exception of polo ponies and 

 cobs, but formerly it was a very common practice to " hog " it, that is, to 

 cut it to a sharp-pointed ridge, sticking straight upwards from the crest, and 

 giving that part the appearance of extraordinary height. Sometimes, how- 

 ever, the mane is very thick, and then for the sake of appearances it is 

 necessary to thin it, which is done by twisting a small lock at a time 

 round the comb, and pulling it out ; this gives some little pain, but ap- 

 parently not much, and evidently not more than the trimming of the legs, 

 and not so much as in pulling out the feelers or bristles growing fi'om the 

 nostrils. A small lock of the mane is generally cut just behind the ears 

 where the head of the bridle rests, as it would otherwise lie beneath that 

 part in an untidy manner. 



In trimming the tail various methods are adopted, when it is cut square ; 

 for if the hairs are allowed to grow to the full length, no interference is 

 necessary beyond an occasional clipping of their points to prevent them 

 from breaking or splitting. A square tail, however, whether long or short, 

 demands the careful use of the scissors or knife, without which the horse to 

 which it belongs is sadly disfigured. Two modes are practised, — in the 

 first the tail is carefully combed out, and then allowing it to fall in its 

 natural position, it is gathered up in the hand just above the part to be cut 

 off, and here a sharp knife is drawn across it backwards and forwards 

 without notching it, till it passes clean through. The tail is then released 

 and any loose hairs projecting are removed with the scissors. The second 

 mode is not so easy, but when well carried out is more satisfactory to the 

 eye, inasmuch as it is capable of giving a sharper and more defined edge to 

 the square tail. As in the first method, the tail is carefully combed out ; 

 it is then held by an assistant's hand, placed beneath the root of the dock, 

 as neai'ly as may be in the position which it assumes in the animal out-of- 

 doors. While thus poised the operator takes a pair of sharp scissors, and 

 holding the blades horizontally open, he insinuates one of them through the 

 middle of the tail at the place to be cut, passing it straight backwards, and 

 cutting the hair quite level from the central line to the outside on his own 

 left. Then reversing the blades, and keeping to the same level, he cuts 

 towards the right, and if he has a good eye and can use his hands in ac- 

 cordance with its dictates, he will have presented a very prettily squared 

 tail. On the other hand, if these organs are defective, or if he wants ex- 

 perience, he will have notched the end of the tail in a most unsightly 

 manner. If the groom wishes to try his hand in this operation, he should 

 get hold of a long tail, and begin far below the point where the squared end 

 is intended finallv to be. This will afford him five or six experim.ental cuts, 



