302 MANUAL OF MODERN FARRIERY 



greater or lesser degree, as the wish of the operator 

 may suggest to him, as to the height at which he 

 wishes the animal to carry his tail. 



The operation is performed in the following 

 manner. The horse is cast, and the hair at the 

 point of the tail firmly tied together, so that a 

 weight may be afterwards attached to it. The tail 

 is then held firmly in the hand and lifted up, and 

 the exact central spot of one of the bones is ascer- 

 tained, and the muscle is divided deep with a very 

 sharp knife or scalpel from the edge of the tail to 

 the centre, and continuing the incision across the 

 bone of the tail, it is cut as deep as on the other 

 side. All this may be done with one rapid and steady 

 incision without lifting the scalpel. In a high-bred 

 horse this will be sufficient for the purpose ; for a 

 hunter two incisions are usually made, the second 

 being about two inches below the first, which should 

 also be as near as possible to the centre of one of 

 the vertebrae. In the hackney it has been the practice 

 to make three cuts, so as to make him carry his tail 

 still higher. Two cuts only are made in the tail of 

 a mare, and the second one is seldom deep. Any 

 of the fibres which may reach across the incision 

 must be cut off with a pair of curved scissors. Each 

 incision must now be filled with pledgets of tow, and 

 inserted deeply into the wounds ; and it must be 

 distinctly ascertained whether the muscles are cut 

 uniformly on each side, otherwise the animal will 

 carry its tail awry. They must be secured by a 

 bandage, but it must not be made too tight, as bad 

 consequences are likely to follow where this is done. 

 Indeed, if not loosened in the course of two or three 

 hours, intense inflammation and swelling will ensue, 

 and in all probability death may follow. In about 



