130 The Horse Farriee. 



DOCKING. 



The horse's tail is regarded by some as a useless appen- 

 dage, and fashion requires it should be shortened. The 

 tail was given to the horse to fight the blood-sucking 

 flies. There can be no question of its utility to the horse. 

 To dock it, deprives him of a portion of his strength, and 

 he has no protection from flies, which for two months of 

 the year are exceedingly annoying. 



The animal should be cast, the point of amputation having 

 been selected, the operator feels for a joint or articula- 

 tion, just posterior to which he commences a circular in- 

 cision, carrying the knife right round the tail to the point 

 of commencement, cutting down to the fascia. The in- 

 teguments are then to be forcibly drawn upwards, while 

 the operator disarticulates the joint by making an incis- 

 ion right through it. The coccygeal arteries are to be 

 secured by ligature. 



The integuments, instead of being . retracted r above 

 the lower end of the bone, are now below it, and thus 

 can be made to protect it from injuries. Two or three 

 stitches are now needed to approximate the edges of the 

 wound, and the operation is finished, without much loss 

 of blood, and with little if any pain to the subject. The 

 after treatment is very simple ; cold water, or some tinc- 

 ture of aloes, will complete the cure. If they should 

 not, owing to profuse suppuration, use pyroligneous acid, 

 and give a dose of medicine." 



NICKING. 



Nicking is another fashionable barbarism that very few 

 horses escape. The world of horsemen have decided, no 



