HUNTERS 181 



advance have we made in matters of taste, in the 

 interval that has elapsed ? 



There is another aspect of the question of 

 docking horses, whether the loss of the tail 

 does not somewhat detract from an animal's 

 power of turning, for it is common knowledge 

 that the most brilliant greyhound is of no use 

 for coursing if it breaks, or loses part of, 

 its tail. It is not unlikely that to a certain 

 extent the tail acts as a balancing pole to a 

 horse also. One of the little dodges to test 

 the strength of a horse's spine is to stand behind 

 him, and taking hold of the end of the tail to 

 judge by the resistance he can offer to your raising 

 it upright what the strength of his spine is. 

 There is a great difference in the power of 

 different horses in this respect ; and it must be 

 a severe shock to the nervous system when 

 deprived of this part of the structure. How the 

 nervous system is affected, and what a loss there 

 is of power through docking, may be seen any 

 day after a sharp gallop when the stumps of short- 

 docked horses are seen shaking so unpleasantly, 

 it is painful to look at them ; while those horses 

 that belong to humane owners, and have not 

 been deprived of their natural appendages on 

 account of unreasoning fashion, appear calm and 

 happy. Occasionally, no doubt, there are cases 

 when a horse's dock is twisted on one side, or is 

 abnormally long, and then two or three inches 

 may be excised with advantage to the general 

 appearance. The tail will still appear full and 

 long, as if the operation had not been performed ; 

 though when using it to sweep off a fly the horse 

 must feel as much hampered by the loss of the 

 flexible end as a fly-fisherman would do if he 



