XIIl] 



CRIME OF DOCKING HORSES 



175 



excuse that is robbing the horse of his first aid, 

 of his first line of defence against winged 

 vermin, cold wind, and rain. And let us not 

 forget that the horse-dealer achieves selling you 

 your optical illusion (strong hindquarters) at an 

 enhanced price for a damaged article." 



690. I received the following remarks from 

 the head of one of the largest horse-owning firms 

 in Canada : " Docking horses of any description 

 has always been discouraged by me. It is, I am 

 sorry to say, rather prevalent amongst importers 

 of heavy draught stock, who think that it adds 

 massiveness to the appearance." 



I have received scores of letters from horse- 

 men of note, and some of these will be quoted 

 in the next chapter. As an example of one, Lord 

 Leigh, a well-known horseman, writes: "I fully 

 sympathise with your views as to the docking of 

 horses' tails." 



The Toronto Sunday World says, at the con- 

 clusion of a lengthy article: "With such illus- 

 trations before one it should not be necessary to 

 use any further arguments in favour of non- 

 docking to the people of Canada. But as long 

 as horse shows consider docked horses eligible 

 to compete, so long will the practice continue, 

 unless forbidden by law, as is done in many 

 of the States." 



A noted horseman writes me : " If people 

 could realise how absurd they look perched be- 

 hind a horse with a bob-tail, it would have far 

 more effect than reminding them of the cruelty. 

 We must remember the type of man that en- 

 courages this practice." 



691. People who dock horses should be 

 severely punished. Most of them, I find, are 

 great cowards, and cowards dislike physical 

 punishment. Small fines, such as magistrates 

 are too prone to impose, will never meet the 

 case. 



Our Dumb Animals (Boston) says : " From 

 numerous articles published in the Press it is 

 evident that the bob-tailed horse is rapidly grow- 

 ing unfashionable in Canada. The Duke's long- 

 tailed four-in-hand is, of course, admired by 

 everyone. Trimming the hair is all that is 

 necessary for those who like a short tail." 



The Rider and Driver (New York) says : 

 " They are no longer tails, but hat-pegs. This 

 refers chiefly to the English hackneys." 



The Trotter and Pacer (New York) says : 

 " The custom of docking horses has no justifica- 

 tion whatever, except a senseless and snobbish 

 deference to the decree of fashion." 



692. The Folly of Docking. Telling is the 

 power of ridicule, and one hopes for forcible 

 support from this quarter. I recollect a man 

 in Western Canada, unconscious of his own mis- 

 doings, having a horse docked and driven in 

 tandem. He thought he would be up to date and 

 attract attention ; he was not admired, but it 

 was not until several people told him what a 



fool he was that he realised his mistake. " When 

 in Rome do as Rome does," applies also to other 

 countries. Many people prefer docked horses 

 because they have been used to seeing them ; but 

 they would be just as happy if the practice 

 became extinct. Anyone who has lived for 

 long in the United States or Canada and has 

 noticed the lovely types of undocked horses in 

 all kinds of vehicles must confess how much 

 more handsome they are compared with the 

 poor creatures that suffer from the caprice of 

 Fashion. 



I cannot conceive why some docking advocates 

 absolutely refuse to own natural horses, and even 

 despise those who work for a good cause. Be- 

 cause a poor man imagines he is a king or a 

 teapot he is confined in an asylum ; but the man 

 who uses every effort to encourage the wanton 

 mutilation of an animal is allowed his freedom 

 in a civilised country. No wonder the American 

 papers called such people " Anglomaniacs." 



A Christian should be satisfied with trimming 

 the hair. In China, the home of superstition, by 

 which, in the past, the inhabitants have been 

 dominated, they now see their folly, and are 

 giving up two of their degrading customs, foot 

 binding and opium smoking. These, however, 

 only affected the people who practised them, and 

 not dumb animals. When the Chinese realised 

 their folly, strict repressive laws were passed ; 

 when we realise ours, we allow the practice to 

 continue. Some years ago a noted Chinaman 

 visited England, and on his return home said : 

 "The ladies wear long tails that are useless and 

 insanitary, and yet they deprive their horses of 

 the tail that is of the greatest necessity." 



The sight of a horse constantly switching its 

 docked stump in the fly season and turning its 

 body into all shapes while endeavouring to reach 

 flies is a cruel spectacle. 



693. Dr. T. C. Evans, D.V.Sc., of the 

 Dominion Experimental Farm, Ottawa, writes 

 me : " Docking is an inexcusable piece of bar- 

 barism, except when the tail is diseased, either 

 by a pathological growth or by necrosis. The 

 latter has been caused through grooms and horse 

 dealers tying up the tail tightly and leaving it 

 so for several days ; the after-effects are most 

 distressing." 



A docked hackney cannot be turned out to 

 enjoy pasture in the summer, and just for this 

 little difference in appearance it has to be taken 

 in the day, fed, watered, sheeted, and kept in a 

 stable. I came across a man who told me his 

 former occupation was that of assisting in re- 

 docking hackneys in England for the horse 

 shows. 



Imitation hackneys are not at all uncommon, 

 and the following is an example of what the 

 modern hackney is responsible for. I heard a 

 man ask another if he was going to show his 

 horse, that had high action and a long tail, in 



