314 ELEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE 



the nose of a trotter, so that in a race the air will have a 

 straighter course from the nostrils to his lungs. When 

 fractions of a second decide the race, this is important. 

 We have copied this kind of check-rein from the race- 

 track. It is not at all suited to ordinary driving, but if 

 not too tight it is not so serious. 



Docked Tails. Many city persons desire that their 

 driving horses have docked tails. This practice is probably 

 no more painful to the horse than is dehorning to a cow, 

 but the latter practice is humane when we consider how 

 much hooking it eliminates. The usefulness of the prac- 

 tice justifies it. Once in a long time, a horse is docked 

 because it uses its tail to hold the lines while it runs away, 

 but this is not common. Perhaps the greatest harm to a 

 docked horse comes when it is no longer a "high stepper," 

 and takes its place on some peddler's wagon, where it 

 becomes a feeding-place for flies. 



The important point is not this particular example, 

 but the point of view that is back of it all. The primitive 

 idea of beauty seems to be a distorted body. The savage 

 paints his body, wears rings in his ears and nose, and 

 carves out various other improvements. There was a 

 time when men spent much time in training trees into 

 odd shapes, or trimmed them into grotesque forms. A 

 remnant of the same idea of beauty leads men to trim 

 dogs' ears to the desired shape, and to the docking of 

 horses' tails. Some day we will come to appreciate the 

 beauty of a tree that grows in its natural shape, the beauty 

 and symmetry of a whole horse, with its full, flowing 

 mane and tail. It is a hopeful sign that few men who 

 drive their own horses think the bobtail is beautiful. 



