2o8 Our Noblest Friend, The Horse 



hands at the conchision of the operation, discovered 

 that he had cut off more than five inches of the an- 

 imal's tail-bone, she standing loose upon the stable 

 floor, the halter-rope thrown over her neck. The 

 horse v^hich is placed in " stocks " by the operator 

 — /. e. uprights which keep him motionless — has 

 his apprehension excited, and may squeal as the first 

 prick is felt. Experiment proves, however, that he 

 will do this (for it is only the exceptional case that 

 will so protest) if he is pricked ever so slightly at 

 any other point, and that it is not the pain of the 

 mutilation which causes him to complain. Docking 

 is done with a " guillotine " knife ; the tail is seared 

 with a hot iron; the whole operation does not last 

 two minutes — often not thirty seconds, and you 

 may at once put the animal in harness and drive 

 him, if you so elect. The searing is not painful, as 

 you may prove by taking a pointed bit of ice and 

 pressing it upon your arm. The sensation is so pre- 

 cisely that of the hot iron that, blindfolded, one 

 cannot tell the difference — as the writer knows 



