XII] 



ANATOMY AND USE OF TAIL 



165 



becoming dry. In two or three days the wound 

 is again dressed, and in a couple of weeks will 

 be quite healed up, leaving a portion of the 

 muscles divided. The degree to which the 

 muscles should be divided will depend on the 

 extent to which the tail is held down by the 

 horse when he takes hold of the reins. There is 

 no need to tie up the tail to a pulley or tie it over 

 the back, as is commonly done even to-day by 

 some thoughtless persons who perform illegal 

 operations for horse-show exhibitors. 



Straightening " Kinked " Tails 



650. A very important point concerning the 

 above operation is the straightening of a kinked 

 or crooked tail, or one that is carried to one side 

 or other. By the above simple operation tails 

 that have kinks in them can be made absolutely 



straight, or a tail that is carried to one side can 

 be made to hang perfectly straight. If the kink 

 is small, a slight nick is made on the concave 

 side of the kink, i.e. on the side towards which 

 the tail is bent ; if the tail is carried on one side, 

 the nick is made on the same side near the root 

 of the dock. The wounds are gently plugged and 

 the tail is bound and treated similarly to the 

 treatment after nicking, as described above. After 

 the operation the horse is none the worse, and, 

 in fact, is far better, as it is less liable to have 

 its tail docked. This is similar to a human being 

 having the squint removed from the eye, and 

 can scarcely be called an operation performed 

 for fashion. 



In the place of cocaine, the ether spray can 

 be used for operations for kinks in the tail, as 

 they are so near to the surface. (See Chapter 

 XVI.) 



