DOG-CART 



driving men, who recognise, often by experience, the danger 

 that exists from a long tail getting over the reins or catching 

 in some part of the harness. There is the minor annoyance 

 also of an undocked tail which may be saturated with water 

 or thickly coated with mud being drawn across a driver's face 

 or a rider's clothes, and although it is admittedly possible 

 for this difficulty to be got over by banging up the tail after 

 the custom of ploughmen, there is no gaurantee that the hair 

 will be kept up in the case of a horse that is driven fast. 

 One of the chief arguments held against docking is that it 

 prevents a horse which is turned out to grass from ridding 

 himself of flies. If, however, the length of an undocked tail 

 which has been squared at the end, as presumably those of 

 all horses which are used for work would be, is measured, it 

 will be seen that the amount of body it can reach is extremely 

 small, and, consequently, to be consistent those who entertain 

 the opinion just referred to should oppose the hair of a tail 

 being shortened at all. 



The operation of docking consists of removing some of 

 the end joints of the tail with a specially constructed knife, 

 which is designed somewhat in the form of a pair of scissors. 

 The way to proceed is to tie a tape securely just above the 

 joint which is to be cut through, in such a manner as to stop 

 the flow of blood, but not tighter than is necessary to do so. 

 The part to be removed is then cut off' with the docking knife 

 and the hair brought down and tied below the wound. In 

 twenty-four hours both of the ligatures may be removed, when 

 it will be found that the wound has dried sufficiently to 

 prevent a flow of blood unless some injury befalls it. Some 

 operators cauterise the wound, but this is usually unnecessary. 

 Docking is an operation which should be entrusted to a 

 professional man. 



Dog-cart. — This name was given to any cart with a 

 deep body used for going to meets. The body was built 

 spacious enough to carry the dogs, and from this use the 

 name of dog-cart originated, but the word dog-cart is now 



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