25 8 THE TRUNK. 



of our most prominent hunting men in Leicestershire 

 like their hunters to have long tails, and that there are 

 many foreign countries in which docking is not practised. 

 The suffering inflicted during this operation is trifling as 

 compared to the misery a docked horse has to endure in 

 the open during hot weather. In this respect, brood 

 mares which have been docked are particularly to be 

 pitied, and men who dock fillies or get them docked, 

 merit the contempt of all lovers of horses. Apart from 

 the stud question, a docked mare "in season," especially 

 when ridden by a lady in the hunting field or in the 

 Row, is a disgusting sight which should not be tolerated 

 in any civilised country. 



As the hair at the end of the dock grows much longer 

 than at other parts of the dock, the fact of only three 

 or four inches of the dock being removed, will cause the 

 hair of such a tail to be out of all proportion shorter 

 than it would have been, had the animal not been 

 docked ; supposing that the hairs were allowed to grow 

 to their' full extent in both cases. 



The only argument which can be advanced, from a 

 useful point of view, in favour of docking, is that it is 

 safer to drive a docked horse than an undocked horse, 

 because the former is less liable to get his tail over one 

 or both reins, and consequently to " play up," than the 

 latter. This theory has not the support of practical ex- 

 perience, for no ill consequences result from the driving 

 of undocked horses in broughams and hearses in this 

 country, or in vehicles of all kinds in other lands, such 

 as Russia, where docking is not practised. 



Nicking, which is performed as a rule only on Hackneys, 

 consists in the division of the muscles (those of the under 

 surface of the tail) which depress the fail. Hence, when 

 the depressor {sacro-coccygeal) muscles are cut at right 

 angles to their direction, the animal is obliged to con- 

 stantly carry his tail in a raised position. This paralysed 

 condition of the tail is a most objectionable sight to 



