480 THE HORSE. 



will it be sore tiTider ordinary circumstances more than- three 

 days ; and he will be pulleyed and his tail made in one half of 

 the time required by the old method. 



Dressing the Tail: — Sometimes the hair of the tail grows 

 too bushy. Tlie best way of thinning it is to comb it often with 

 a dry comb, having small but strong teeth. When the hair is 

 short, stiff, almost standing on end, it may be laid by wetting it, 

 and tying the ends togetlier beyond the stump. Sometimes the 

 whole tail is moistened, and surrounded by a hay-rope, which is 

 applied evenly and moderately tight, and kept on all night. It 

 makes the hair lie better during tlie next day, but seldom longer. 

 Square tails require occasional clipping. The tail is held in a 

 liorizontal position by the left hand, while it is squared with 

 scissors. The hair at the centre is rendered shorter than that at 

 the outside, and the tail, when elevated, resembles the feathered 

 extremity of a pen. Horses of the racing kind have long tails 

 with the hair cut off, square at the end of the dock ; this is 

 termed the long tail. 



A switch tail is taper at the point, not square. It is of vary- 

 ing length, according to the taste of the rider. It sometimes 

 requires to be shortened without squaring it. The man seizing it 

 within his left hand, cuts off the superfluous length with a knife 

 not very sharp. He does not go slap-dash through it as a pair 

 of scissors would ; but, holding the knife across, with the edge 

 inclined to the point of the tail, he draws it up and down as if he 

 were scraping it ; the hairs are cut as the knife approaches the 

 hand that holds the tail; in this way he carries the knife all 

 round, and reaches the central hairs as much from one point 

 of the outer circumference as from any other. The hairs 

 are thus left of unequal length, those at the middle being the 

 longest. 



The hair of the tail is usually combed and brushed every 

 day, and when not hanging gracefully, it should be wet and 

 combed four or five times a day. White tails, especially when 

 of full length, require often to be washed with soap and water. 

 On many horses the hair is very thin. When the hair is want- 

 ed exuberant, it should have little combing. 



Dressing the Mane. — In general the mane lies to the right 

 side, but in some horses it is shaded equally to each. On some 



