NICKING. 331 



is no surer test of a high-bred horse than this character 

 of tail. 



The tail has three sets of muscles, the one for raising 

 it, plate vii. fig. 1, e, and another immediately below for 

 depressing it, and a third for giving it lateral motion in 

 every direction. When the animal is at rest, the power 

 of the lateral set of muscles seems to predominate, as 

 the tail is constantly inclined downwards, resting upon 

 the buttocks ; but when energised the tail is carried 

 higher, which gives that spirited character to him when 

 excited. It was to convey this expression constantly that 

 the operation of nicking was devised ; therefore the depres- 

 sor and part of the lateral muscles are nicked through to a 

 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 ascertained, 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 tlie tail of a mare, and the 



