180 



MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT 



[CHAP. 



have a law similar to that in California, which 

 imposes two years' pe'nal servitude as a punish- 

 ment." 



The Ottawa Citizen says : " It is a shame to 

 deprive the dumb animal of what Nature has 

 given it for a purpose." 



The Toronto Globe says : " The contrast be- 

 tween horses with long silky tails and those of 

 the hat-peg variety was most strikingly exempli- 

 fied by some beautiful photographs." 



The Toronto Daily Star says : " Docking is 

 due to horse-show maniacs, with no knowledge 

 of or respect for the horse." 



The Field says : " The barbarous practice of 

 docking the tail. ... It is not generally realised 

 that the real use of the tail is as a defence against 

 flies. The New World is far in advance of 

 England in this matter." 



The Daily Express says : " The practice is 

 strongly condemned by nearly all horse owners 

 in Canada and the States." 



The Toronto News says : " Prosecute those 

 who are responsible for such practices." 



The Toronto Evening/ Telegram says : " The 

 practice is mainly due to maniacs." 



The Daily Graphic says : " Horses with such 

 hideous tails resemble hat-pegs more than any- 

 thing else ; they should be disqualified in horse 

 shows." 



The Ottawa Evening Journal says : " Such 

 practices can only be classed amongst the work 

 of barbarians." 



The Ottawa Evening Citizen says : " There is 

 absolutely no reason for the docking of horses' 

 tails. People think, of course, that a short tail 

 makes the horse look like a show horse. Hence 

 the show authorities should look upon the matter 

 more seriously." 



Farm Life says: "The British nation boasts 

 of its kind treatment of horses, yet it allows such 

 an abominable fashion as the docking of horses 

 to continue." 



The Daily Graphic says: "Not until the 

 horse-owning public insists on purchasing un- 

 docked animals will the practice be stopped." 



The Trotter and Pacer (N.Y.) says: "We 

 have always taken a strong ground against the 

 fashion, and never have allowed a picture of a 

 docked horse to appear in our paper." 



The Ottawa Free Press says: "Those who 

 prefer a short tail can, by banging the hair, 

 satisfy their desires without resorting to 

 torture." 



The New York Evening Post says : " The 

 horse struggles, and the tail is off. Then the 

 iron, at a white heat, is applied. . . . After the 

 horse has been mangled he is allowed to rise 

 an entirely different creature. What crimes will 

 a civilised nation allow? " 



The Times says: "The practice is a most 

 barbarous one, and we cannot conceive how 

 experienced horsemen can approve of it." 



I noticed a recent book on photography where 

 it advised lovers of Nature, when photographing 

 horses, to represent the horse as Nature made it, 

 and not to photograph bobtails. 



The Winnipeg Free Press says : " Here it is 

 frequently done because we used to do it in 

 England ; and in this country, where mosquitoes 

 and flies are so agonising, it is horrible to think 

 what the animals must suffer. It is descended 

 from an era far less enlightened than the present 

 one." 



The Toronto Sunday World says: "The 

 practice is not only a senseless one, but cruel in 

 the extreme. It does not enhance the beauty 

 of the horse, but rather does it detract from 

 it." 



The Toronto World says : " Pretty well every- 

 body nowadays agrees that docking is un- 

 necessary, barbarous and cruel, and yet it 

 goes on." 



704. The Chicago Record Herald had the 

 following verses by S. E. Kiser : 



The horse and the dog had teased a man, and fastened 



him to a fence. 

 Said the horse to the dog, " For the life of me, I don't 



see a bit of sense 

 " In letting him have the thumbs that grow at the 



sides of his hands, do you ? " 

 And the dog looked solemn and shook his head and 



said, " I'm a goat if I do." 

 The poor man groaned and tried to get loose, and 



sadly begged them stay. 

 " You'll rob me of things for which I have use by 



cutting my thumbs away ; 

 " You will spoil my looks, you will cause me pain. 



Ah, why would you treat me so ? 

 " As I am, God made me, and He knows best. Oh, 



masters, pray let me go ! " 

 The dog laughed out and the horse replied, " Oh, 



the cutting won't hurt you, you see. 

 " We'll have a hot iron to clap right on, as you did in 



the docking of me. 

 " God gave you your thumb and all, but still the 



Creator, you know, may fail 

 " To do the artistic things as He did in furnishing 



me with a tail." 

 So they bound the man and cut off his thumbs, and 



were deaf to his pitiful cries, 

 And they seared the stumps, and they viewed their 



work through happy and dazzled eyes. 

 " How trim he appears," the horse exclaimed, " since 



his awkward thumbs are gone, 

 " For the life of me I cannot see why the Lord ever 



put them on 1 " 

 " Still it seems to me," the dog replied, " that there 



is something else to do ; 

 " His ears look rather long to me, and how do they 



look to you ? " 

 The man cried out, " Oh, spare my ears, God 



fashioned them as you see, 

 " And if you apply your knife to them you will surely 



disfigure me." 



