POSTERIOR EXTREMITY. 173 ^ 



ience, on account of the function devolving upon this region, especially 

 in broodmares ; it is rejected in services of luxury, on account of the 

 ungraceful appearance which it gives to the animals. 



We have already said, in speaking of the mane, that horses with a 

 gray or white coat, with curled woolly mane, always have melanotic 

 deposits in the interior of the body. This state of the mane is extended 

 also to the tail, and constitutes a cause of depreciation so much greater 

 as it is more accentuated, for melanotic tumors often cause the most 

 serious complications. 



Merchants have the habit of plaiting the tails of their horses when 

 the hairs are very long, principally in those of heavy draught, before 

 they present them for sale. This practice, intended to give greater 

 apparent width to the posterior part of the trunk and to make the 

 posterior quarters appear more prominent and vigorous, is generally 

 accompanied by a small fraud, which consists in introducing a piece of 

 ginger into the anus. Suddenly the animal feels very energetic, a 

 feeling which he manifests by the elevated carriage of his tail and the 

 vivacity of his movements. We will return to this custom when speak- 

 ing of the animal at the sale. 



A more serious fraud, the employment of which, however, is, rare, 

 is the application of a false tail to horses with a rat-tail, for example, or 

 in the case of a pair of horses in which this region is dissimilar. If 

 any doubt is entertained as to this manoeuvre, it may always be detected 

 by unpiaiting the tail and withdrawing the straw and other accessories 

 which jockeys employ when the horse is to be sold. 



When the tail has been the seat of operations practised by dealers, 

 it is useful, at the time of buying, to be guaranteed as to the pos- 

 sible results. On two occasions we have seen animals die of tetanus 

 following amputation of this organ, performed by the seller. 



In relation to its movements, the tail, during work, should be 

 carried high and remain immobile. If it is agitated in a jerking way, 

 the animal switches the organ, as seen in urinating, ticklish mares when 

 the posterior parts of their bodies are touched or approached. Care 

 should then be taken against kicks and bites ; the attitude of the ears 

 and the expression of the physiognomy afford information concerning 

 the intentions of the animal. 



Let us remark, in conclusion, that the horse threatened or struck 

 from behind instinctively depresses the tail between the buttocks. It 

 is often sufficient to seize him by this appendage and exercise upon the 

 hairs strong traction from above downward, to prevent him from 

 rearing. 



