OE, The Turn Out. 



123 



DOCKING AND NICKING. 



"He jests at soars that never felt a wound." 



HE above are very cruel operations, and 

 at a not very remote period were almost 

 universally practised, but of late years, 

 regular feeding, properly filled har- 

 ness,* and kind treatment have been 

 found by humane horse owners to be 

 excellent substitutes. 



Docking is nothing more nor less 

 than cutting off the horse's tail, and is 

 often attended with danger. 



The operation — if permitted at all — should be performed 

 by a professional man, who uses an engine or machine 

 made for the purpose. 



After the tail is taken off, the raw stump is seared with a 

 hot iron to stop the bleeding, and the part is powdered with 

 resin, likewise touched with a hot iron, to melt and run it 

 over the wound. 



This is the general process of docking, and the operation 

 is attended with the greatest risk, particularly when it is 

 performed by a careless, unskilful, and unfeeling operator 

 (who generally acts on the impulse of the moment, using his 

 pocket-knife or the first handy weapon), especially if tho 

 horse is fat or fleshy, and the tail be cut or chopped off too 

 near the rump. 



Nicking means cutting four or five gashes across the 

 under side of the tail, for the purpose of giving the horso 

 an " elegant appearance," by causing the tail to curve. 



* See " Crupper Dock," in Article " Fitting the Harness." 



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