72 MY horse; my love. 



to pieces, or revenge himself as he pleases ; but is it 

 not the young horse who is docked before he can 

 learn such tricks? 



"A colt may show, possibly by inheritance, the 

 disposition to be easily fretted, and then if his master 

 approve the cruelty, he has little chance of escaping 

 it ; but only extreme age protects a horse from being 

 docked if his master see fit." 



Has the custom been always fashionable, or is it 

 not a recent fad? 



" It has descended to us as a relic of barbarism, and 

 belongs to an era, far less intelligent and christian- 

 ized, than the present century. There was a time 

 when the scriptural injunction 'If an eye offend thee 

 pluck it out' was literally followed; and when an 

 insult was offered from man to man, it was met by 

 a speedy and unerring sword-thrust. So when a 

 driving horse showed a disposition to interfere with 

 the reins by using his tail, the suggestion, 'Cut it off, * 

 seemed the easiest and quickest way out of the 

 difficulty." 



Was there no plea for mercy for the noble brute, 

 who instinctively protected his suffering mouth, or 

 no hesitation at committing so wicked an outrage 

 upon him? 



" None whatever in those days, and hardly any in 

 this enlightened age, as a drive in any of our fash- 

 ionable parks will prove. There you will see that 

 mutilation takes the place of personal beauty, and 

 docking is, forsooth, called 'style.' " 



But tell me. Count, of what particular or impor- 

 tant use is the horse's tail? 



