Avery's own farrier. 161 



docking, pricking, and nicking. 



A good tail adds very much to the beauty and value 

 of a horse, whether it is natural -or artificial. Dockino; 

 is a very simple and easy operation to perform; it con- 

 sists merely in cutting the tail off any desirable length, 

 which can be done in the following manner; First part 

 the hair wherever you wish to cut off the tail, saving all 

 the hair above you can, by tying it over on the tail. 

 Then back the horse up to some convenient place where 

 the tail will lay on a plank nearly level, and sever it at 

 one blow with some sharp edged tool and mallet, in a 

 transverse direction from the horse, leaving the bone a 

 little the longest on the under side. Then bring the hair 

 down and tie close below the end of the bone without 

 searing. By occasionally breaking the tail over on the 

 back, or pulleying a short time while it is healing, you 

 can obtain a good tail by only docking the horse. Cut- 

 ting the tail off in the above manner is better than to 

 turn it over on the back and unjoint it, for then the cords 

 are strained most on the under side and cut off, which 

 will have a tendency to pull the tail down instead of up. 



Pricking. — Although some may think best to let well 

 enough alone (as they say), for they have got the idea 

 some way that it weakens the horse in the back to set 

 up his tail, still they will contend that docking is an ad- 

 vantage to the horse because it makes him fill up better 

 in the hind quarters, and makes him tougher. 



Now this is owing in part to a want of knowledge of 

 the anatomy of the horse, for all the cords and tendons 



