V] 



GROOMING AND STABLE MANAGEMENT 



61 



tied. Their sufferings then would teach them a 

 lesson." 



242. Regrowing Manes. — Manes once hogged 

 can easily be regrown, with a little patience and 

 trouble. It takes about six months for a mane 

 to grow long enough to be plaited or weighted. 

 The best method is to plait it (P. 21g), and then 

 to weight it as well. Another method is to use 

 a hood fastened by elastic strings under the 

 horse's neck. (P. 22b.) This hood is of greater 

 use for making untidy manes tidy. The majie 

 must be damped with water before the plaiting 

 is done or before the hood is put on. The latter 

 should be left on for two hours. Civilians, as 

 a rule, prefer the mane to lie on the off side, but 

 the manes of troop horses are generally made to 

 lie on the near side. The near side is more 

 convenient for mounting purposes. 



243. Plaiting. — Manes that are untidy will be 

 much improved if plaited up and left so for a 

 few days. {See P. 21g, 105.) Plaited manes are 

 quite common in the show-ring. 



Plaiting the tail can be done in various ways, 

 with or without coloured ribbons. The tail can 

 be plaited up round the bottom of the dock in 

 various ways [see P. 26, 27) ; it can be plaited 

 from the top for six or eight inches down the 

 back, as in P. 30a ; it can be plaited all down 

 the dock (P. 51^), or it can be plaited, and 

 the plait brought up and plaited into the back 

 of the tail, near the top, as in P. 306, 118/. A 

 tail must never be plaited tightly. Plaiting is 

 in many ways better than banging the hair, 

 because, when flies are bad, the horse has a full 

 tail, or, if he is turned out to pasture, he is fully 

 protected from flies. If a tail is kept neat it 

 looks very well plaited up in various forms in 

 dirty weather. I have seen a great many hand- 

 some private carriage pairs in Canada and the 

 United States with the tails so plaited. [See 

 P. 37.) Saddle horses should also have their 

 tails plaited up in muddy weather (P. 21h). 

 Fortunately, flies are not generally about in 

 muddy weather. On several occasions I have 

 started out riding or driving with a horse with 

 a very long tail, and on reaching muddy country 

 have stopped for one minute and plaited the 

 tail up. Heavy horses on the farm require a 

 tail of good length, but heavy horses in the 

 city, as a rule, have their tails about level with 

 the hocks; this keeps the tail clean. {See P. 

 135&.) Dappled greys, so popular in Canada, 

 usually have their tails left quite long, and 

 tied up, of course, in dirty weather. These tails 

 are usually white. [See P. 26a, b, 52.) It is 

 only a matter of a few moments to clean a long 

 white tail, even if it is not tied up in dirty 

 weather ; there is no comparison between clean- 

 ing a tail, however dirty and however long, with 

 cleaning one of the four legs. Besides, a dirty 

 tail will do little harm compared with a dirty 

 leg, which may cause disease. 



On this point Stephen H. Terry, in "The 

 Crime of Docking Horses," says : " This tying up 

 of the long hairs of the tail has the effect of 

 keeping it clean, whilst not depriving the 

 horse of an ornate instrument for fly destruc- 

 tion and a screen alike valuable for warmth and 

 decency." 



244. An important point that I have brought 

 before the public in the Press is the lazy way 

 some people leave horses' tails plaited up over- 

 night. If a tail is tied up quite loosely at the 

 end, no harm will result ; but, for the horse's 

 comfort, this should not be allowed, because 

 many horses will not lie down and rest. The 

 practice of using ribbons tied tightly around the 

 tail is very dangerous and must never be allowed. 

 A few hours may be suflBcient to cause damage 

 in such cases. The common practice of showing 

 off a horse's quarters and hind action by plaiting 

 the tail is a very humane one and should be 

 encouraged, but the above points must not be 

 neglected. Again, damage has often been done 

 by bending the dock and twisting the hair 

 around near the root of the tail ; this is done in 

 a show-yard to show off the horse's hind action, 

 and is quite permissible, as it is only left up 

 for a few minutes. [See P. 118&.) This must 

 not be done at all tightly, or it will cause pain. 

 Gangrene, the result of stasis, has often resulted 

 from plaiting tails too tightly. On no account 

 must the end of the dock be clipped, as shown 

 in P. 109, Fig. 26. 



245. Treatment of Mane and Tail Diseases. — 

 Neglected manes and tails sometimes get mane 

 and tail eczema, which is a disease of the 

 dermis, or true skin. The causes are dirt, con- 

 tinuous washing, irritant soaps, long exposure 

 to rain and cold, bacteria, etc. The usual symp- 

 toms are rubbing, hairs becoming matted and 

 falling out, skin becoming thick, hard and in- 

 flamed, etc. If the mane and tail are fairly thin 

 — that is, not too thick and bushy — this trouble 

 can easily be cured. A good application is 

 paraffin oil (kerosene) one part, water ten parts, 

 thoroughly shaken together, and well rubbed 

 in immediately. One application is generally 

 sufficient. Or treat similarly with a 2 per cent, 

 solution of creolin, or rub in powdered iodo- 

 form, which should be powdered finely in a 

 mortar. In bad cases a 5 per cent, solution of 

 silver nitrate is very good. If the disease is 

 caused by neglect or by bacteria, and not from 

 exposure to cold or over-washing, always com- 

 mence by washing the part thoroughly with 

 warm water and castile soap. 



Another good application for itching manes 

 and tails is : 



Linseed oil 

 Sulphur (powdered) 

 Oil of tar 



... 20 parts. 

 4 parts. 

 1 part. 



Put these into a bottle and immerse in warm 



