OPERATIONS OF DECORATION. Ill 



a day ; he keeps it almost constantly wet ; when thick, short, 

 and bushy, he pulls away some of the hair from the under 

 side, that is, from the side to which the mane inclines, or is 

 wanted to incline. When that is not sufficient, he plaits it 

 into ten or fifteen cords, weaving into each a piece of mal- 

 ting, and loading the extremity with a little lead. After re- 

 maining in this state for several days, the plaiting is undone, 

 and the mane lies as it is wanted. When it becomes too 

 long or too bushy, a few of the hairs are pulled out. This 

 is often done too harshly, and some horses have a great 

 aversion to it. The man takes hold of a few hairs, often too 

 many ; he clears them by pushing up the others, wraps them 

 round his finger, and with a sudden jerk tears them out. Mr. 

 Blane contrived a kind of fork with three prongs made of iron, 

 which is said to thin the mane more equally and less painfully 

 than the finger. In harness-horses, that part of the mane 

 which lies directly behind the ears is usually cut away, that 

 the head of the bridle may sit fast. 



Heavy draught-horses should seldom have either the mane 

 or the tail thinned, and, to hang gracefully, it should be long 

 in proportion to its thickness. These horses have a naked, 

 stiff, and clumsy appearance when deprived of too much hair. 

 Indeed, their mane and tail require nothing but daily comb- 

 ing and brushing to keep them clean and even. A thinner 

 mane and tail are more in keeping with the general appear- 

 ance of fine-boned, well-bred horses. 



In stage-coach and similar stables, the horses are often 

 robbed of both mane and tail by drunken strappers. For the 

 sake of a dram, which they gain by selling the hair, ^hey 

 pull out more than enough. This should be forbidden. 



TRIMMING THE EARS. The inside of the ear is coated 

 with fine hair, which is intended by nature to exclude rain, 

 flies, dirt, and other foreign matters floating in the air. When 

 left to itself, it grows so long as to protrude considerably out 

 of the ear, and to give the horse a neglected, ungroomed-like 

 appearance. It is a common practice to trim all this hair 

 away by the roots. But it is a very stupid practice. The 

 internal ear becomes exposed to the intrusion of rain, dirt, 

 and insects ; and though I know of no disease arising from 

 this cause, yet every horseman is aware that it gives the 

 horse much annoyance. Many are very unwilling to face 

 a blast of rain or sleet, and some will not. In the fly- 

 season, they are constantly throwing the head about as if 

 they would throw it ofT, and this is an inconvenience to 



