580 THE HORSE. 
DOCKING AND NICKING. 
THESE OPERATIONS ON THE TAIL are subject to the fashion of the day, 
the former being used for the purpose of shortening its length, which is 
inconvenient to the rider or driver in dirty weather, and the latter for 
altering its carriage, when this is too low for the taste of the owner. 
Nicking is, however, very seldom practised in the present day, and never 
to the extent which was the fashion fifty years ago. 
Docxinea is very rapidly performed by the aid of the docking knife, 
which is made on the principle of the guillotine. As the tail is removed 
at one sudden and forcible chop, the horse need not be confined in any 
Fia. 12.—Dockine KNIFE. 
way beyond fixing up his fore leg, unless he is a very violent animal, 
when he must be placed in the break (see page 573). The exact length 
of the dock to be left being fixed upon, the hair is cut off close below, 
and the remainder tied back to the root of the tail. The situation of the 
joint, which may be ascertained from its greater prominence, is then 
marked, by carefully removing the hair with the scissors, and then laying 
it in the rounded groove of the wooden frame in which the knife plays, 
so that the edge of the latter shall exactly correspond with the part to be 
cut, the handles are suddenly and forcibly brought together, and the end 
is removed at one blow. A pointed iron should have been previously 
heated, and then raising the tail to a level with the back, the arteries are 
first seared, which a very slight touch will effect, and then the point is 
pushed into the sheath of the tendons lying at the top of the stump, so 
as to cause them to adhere in that position, and effect a handsome carriage 
of the tail. Lastly, a little resin is melted over the end of the stump 
with the iron now pretty nearly cooled, and the operation is concluded by 
untying the hair. 
Nickine was formerly carried to such an extent that the poor horse 
could not lower his tail, but was always obliged to carry it over his back. 
Several deep cross-cuts were made in the under-side after being docked, 
and then a cord was fastened to the hair, and being carried over a pulley 
attached to the ceiling, the tail was kept drawn up over the back by a 
weight at its end. The horse could lie down by raising the weight, but 
by no possible means could he lower his tail, and in course of time the 
wounds healed by granulation filling up their spaces, and the nicking was 
completed. When a horse now carries his dock too low, a subcutaneous 
incision of the flexor tendons is made, which is generally sufficient, but if 
not the pulley is adopted for a few days. Sometimes the tail is carried 
on one side, and then a similar operation by subcutaneous division of the 
tendons on the side to which the tail is carried will have the desired effect, 
always taking care in each case to keep the knife clear of a joint. 
