XIIl] 



GRIME OF DOCKING HORSES 



169 



standard works on the horse. He explains the 

 terrible tortures the horse had to go through to 

 satisfy objectionable fashions and foolish super- 

 stitions. 



Good Queen Victoria rewarded Dr. Fleming 

 for his efforts against the docking craze. I do 

 not know what her Majesty would have thought 

 of some of the six-inch "hat-pegs" we see in 

 the modern hackney ring, horses bred and 

 owned by people who doubtless deem them- 

 selves animated by sincere regard for the animals' 

 welfare. 



662. The following paragraphs are taken 

 from Dr. Fleming's book : " Hartzmann asserts 

 that during the last century the English cavalry 

 were several times rendered almost useless from 

 the losses among the horses, caused by the 

 attack of flies from which they could not pro- 

 tect themselves. In 1756 the flies caused so 

 much trouble among the British dock-tailed 

 horses at Minden that the battle was nearly lost. 

 Beringer adds : ' Yet such is the cruelty and 

 absurdity of our notions and customs in crop- 

 ping the ears of horses, docking and nicking 

 their tails.' Percivall, the veterinary surgeon of 

 repute, asserts : ' The unfortunate creature is 

 subjected anew to torture, so that there is reason 

 to believe that many horses are docked thrice. 

 It would ill become me as a professional man to 

 decry the operation.' 



" Bloomfield alludes to it : 



4 In thy behalf the crest waved boughs avail 

 More than the short-clipped remnant of a tail, 

 A moving mockery, a useless name, 

 A living proof of cruelty and shame. 

 Shame to the man, whatever form he bore, 

 Who took from thee what man can ne'er restore, 

 Thy weapon of defence, thy chiefest good, 

 When swarming flies, contending, suck thy blood.' 



"Sidney remarks: 'No carriage horse, nor 

 pack horse of any kind, can be ranked first class 

 without a noble tail.'" 



Fleming continues : " But the danger of reins 

 getting under the tails of saddle horses cannot 

 surely be offered as an excuse. Are our eques- 

 trians less accomplished and less courageous 

 than the tens of thousands of horsemen whose 

 horses' tails almost reach the ground and who 

 almost live in the saddle? Docking is a mania." 



663. Sara Linard reminds us that the custom 

 of docking has descended to us as a relic of 

 barbarism, having originated in an era far less 

 intelligent and human than the present century. 

 She continues : " In those days the Scripture, ' If 

 an eye offend thee pluck it out,' was taken 

 literally ; and, if a tail got in the way, to cut 

 it off seemed only right. There was no plea for 

 the poor animal that was trying to ease its 

 suffering mouth from the jerks of an ignorant 

 driver." 



664. Cruelty of Docking I remember a 

 w 



doctor in a Canadian city who fancied that a 

 nice little horse of his would look smarter if 

 docked. He did the operation himself. The 

 method adopted need not be explained ; suffice 

 it to say the horse was utterly ruined, and would 

 not even allow this man to enter the stable. It 

 had to be sold, and has ever since been driven 

 in a grocer's cart. 



In India a colonel in the British cavalry, 

 many years ago, had a number of the troop 

 horses docked. Some of these stood in pools of 

 blood afterwards, and some almost died. Does 

 not this seem almost incredible? 



A clergyman, some ten years ago, was dis- 

 covered trying to dock his own horse with a pair 

 of scissors. The horse's moans were heard, and 

 the perpetrator got several months' imprison- 

 ment. 



The above are typical examples of the many 

 hundreds of cases that I have come across ; to 

 quote more of them would certainly revolt the 

 reader. 



665. Excuses for Docking. The usual excuses 

 put forward are : that the docked tail is cleaner ; 

 that it strengthens the hindquarters ; that with 

 a long tail it is dangerous to drive ; it always 

 has been done, and that it looks smart. 



The Cleanliness Excuse. The foolish plea 

 has been made that in muddy weather a horse 

 with a long tail might switch mud on to the 

 rider or on to someone else. A sportsman would 

 give three answers to this : (i) If afraid of a 

 little dirt, do not ride ; (2) plait the tail, as is 

 now commonly done ; (3) bang the hair short. 



I am fully aware that many coachmen and 

 grooms make the excuse that they have not time 

 to clean long tails in muddy weather. If long 

 tails are not even plaited or banged, however 

 dirty they may get, it takes but a little while 

 to clean them properly compared with the time 

 taken to clean one of the horse's four legs. My 

 advice to those who employ such grooms is to 

 dismiss them immediately. A lazy man is no 

 good in a stable. Such an excuse only throws a 

 useful light on the maker of it. 



666. The subject of plaiting and banging has 

 been discussed in Chapter V. P. 26, 27 show 

 types of plaiting ; P. 28, 29 show types of banged 

 tails. 



A tail that is well cared for is, of course, 

 more easily kept clean inside, i.e. at the roots 

 of the hairs; it should be kept fairly thin, and 

 not left thick and bushy. (See Sees. 240, 658.) 

 Examples of well-groomed tails are seen in P 

 16, 59, 63, 64. 



Docked horses seldom look neat, and the 

 stump-tailed hackney does not belie its woe- 

 begone aspect. The taste of those who drive 

 behind some of these is admired by few people. 

 To dock a shire horse's tail to keep it clean and 

 then to leave four white legs to grow twelve 

 inches of hair on them, is an inexpressibly 



