NICKING. 467 



ing and seai'ing witli tlie hot iron, most cuuaiijigly contrived to stop this 

 most formidable bleeding. It is one of the most useless and wanton acts 

 of cruelty that the poor horse is subjected to. 



Some farmers dock their colts a few days after they are dropped. This 

 is a commendable custom on the score of humanity. No colt was ever 

 lost by it ; and neither the growth of the haii", nor the beauty of the tail, 

 is in the least impaired. 



NICKING. 



This barbarous operation was once sanctioned by fashion, and the 

 breeder and the dealer even now are sometimes- tempted to inflict the 

 torture of it in order to obtain a ready sale for their colts. It is not, 

 however, practised to the extent that it used to be, nor attended by so 

 many cii-cumstances of cruelty. 



We must here introduce a small portion of the anatomy of the horse, 

 which we had reserved for this place. The eighteen dorsal vertebrae or 

 bones of the back (see d, p. 244), and the five lumbar vertebrae or bones 

 of the loins (/", p. 244), have already been described. The continuation 

 of the spine consists of the sacrum, composed of five bones (Ji, p. 244), 

 which, although sejiarate in the colt, are in the full-grown horse united 

 into one mass. The bones of the ilium, the upper and side portion of the 

 haunch, articulate strongly Avith the sacrum., forming a bony union rather 

 than a joint. The sjoinal cord and the blood-vessels here generally begin 

 to diminish, and numerous branches of nerves are given out, which, joined 

 by some from the vertebra of the loins, form the nervous apparatus of the 

 hind legs. 



The bones of the tad. are a continuation of those of the sacrum. They 

 vary in number, generally fifteen, gradually diminishing in size, and losing 

 altogether the character of the spinal vertebrae. Much attention is paid 

 by persons who are acquainted Avith the true form of the horse to this 

 continuation of the sacral and tail-bones. From the loins to the setting 

 on of the tail the line should be nearly straight, or inclining only a slight 

 degree doAvnward. There is not a surer test of the breed of the horse 

 than tliis straight line from the loins to the tail ; nor, as was shown when 

 the muscles of the quarters were described, is there any circumstance so 

 much connected with the mechanical advantage with which these 

 muscles act. 



The tail seems to be designed to perfect the beauty of the horse's 

 form, and also as a means of defence against the presence of flies and 

 other insects on the skin. There are three sets of muscles belonging to 

 the tail — the erector coccygis, situated on the superior and lateral part of 

 it, and by the action of which the tail may be both elevated and drawn on 

 one side — the depressor coccygis, on the inferior and lateral part of it, by 

 the action of which the tail may be both lowered and drawn on one side 

 — and the curvator coccygis, by the action of which the tail may be curved 

 or flexed on either side. The depressor and lateral muscles are more 

 l)Owerfal than the erector ones, and when the horse is undisturbed, the 

 tail is bent down close on the buttocks ; but when he is excited, and par- 

 ticularly when he is at speed, the erector .muscles are called into action, 

 the tail is elevated, and there is an appearance of energy and spirit which 

 adds materially to his beauty. To perpetuate this, the operation of niclf- 

 ing was contrived. The depressor muscles and paj't of the lateral ones 

 are cut tkrough, and the erector muscles, left without any antagonists, 

 keep the tail in a position more or less erect, according to the whim of the 

 operator or the depth to which the incisions have been carried. 



The operation is thus performed. The side-line is put on the horse, or 



