62 MY HORSE ; MY LOVE 



But tell me, Count, of what particular or important 

 use is the horse's tail ? 



' When the gad-fly hghts and stings, or the pump- 

 fly — so called because, its sting once inserted, it 

 pumps the blood and poisons it — or when any insects 

 persistently irritate the sensitive skin, the long hairs 

 of the tail have power to switch them off. The 

 tail is usually long enough to reach all along 

 the body up to the neck. About the fore-legs the 

 horse can reach with his nose, and thus defend him- 

 self in those parts. As the point of his nose is his 

 touch-point, and the sense of a thing is conveyed to 

 him with it, just as we examine an object with our 

 .f fingers, so is the tail important also as a part of his 

 .~ sign-speech.' 

 f* Please explain what you mean by his sign-speech. 



' Does not the dog wag his tail to give expression 

 to his delight ? and does he not hold it down close 

 between his legs, to show his humiliation at angry 

 words or any form of punishment? By the same 

 token, does the horse lift his tail proudly when in 

 motion, and wave it to and fro like an ostrich plume 

 when he is happy and pleased. One of the surest 

 signs of good breeding is the spring of the tail from 

 the crupper. Then it can give also a direct blow, 

 blinding, disconcerting, paralysing to the too familiar, 

 when the intelligent beast knows he need not kick in 

 self-defence.' 



Live and learn ! I had never thought of all these 

 accomplishments ! 



* Then when the head hangs wearily down, the tail 

 drops also, and these are signs of great fatigue after 





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