TAIL. 



257 



would suffer, if we were placed under similar conditions, 

 and had our hands tied behind our backs. 



Some persons consider that a horse's tail materially 

 helps to balance him when he is turning ; but this action 

 on the part of the tail is so slight, that it need not be 

 taken into account for practical purposes. 



Docking (amputation of a portion of a horse's dock) 

 is a reUc of the barbarous past, and is practised only by 



l'h<ilo ij] 



fig. 339.— Onager. 



[M. H. H. 



persons who are entirely subservient to fashion. The 

 idea that it improves a horse's appearance is an absurdity, 

 because mutilation, especially of a very apparent kind, 

 cannot be an aid to beauty. Faddists of the eighteenth 

 century held a similar view about cropping horses' ears. 

 Thorough-breds (whether they are race-horses, chasers or 

 hunters), remounts, brougham horses, and funeral horses 

 are not docked, as a rule. I am glad to say that some 



17 



