See p. 605. 



DOCKma HOKSES. 657 



Chloroform, Giving. 



Control, Horse. 



1 have discussed the subject of horse control at consideral)le 

 length in " lUustrated Horse-Breaking." 



Docking Horses. 



This subject is admirably discussed by Dr. Fleming in his 

 " Wanton Mutilation of iVnimals." 



USES OF A HORSE^S TAIL.— The chief office which the normal 

 equine tail fulfils, is to drive awny flies and other irritating objects 

 which hap23en to alight on tLj hind legs, flanks, genital organs, 

 and lower part of the abdomen. The normal mane performs 

 similar good service for the neck ; the forelock, for the face ; and 

 the mouth, for the breast. The croup is mechanically protected 

 from these causes of irritation by a thick layer of fibrous tissue 

 which lies under the skin of that part. The skin of the shoulders 

 and portions of the trunk which are not guarded in any of the 

 ways just described, is lined with a thin and very broad muscle 

 (panniculus carnosus), which, has great power of twitching and 

 consequently of driving off flies and other objects that may irritate 

 it. In this work, a horse's means of protection are called into 

 play, far more in the open than in the stable, and particularly 

 in hot weather. At grass in summer time, when flies abound, 

 we may often see a long-tailed mare Whisking insects off the 

 forehand of her foal, who stands alongside her, and intelligently 

 places his head near her hind quarters, so as to get the benefit 

 of her tail, because his caudal appendage is unprovided with long 

 hairs. All of us who have lived among horses in the open, and 

 especially in hot climates, know that the tails, manes, and fore- 

 locks of unmutilated horses at grass, save them from an immense 

 amount of discomfort, similar to what we would suffer, if we 

 were placed under the same conditions, and with our hands tied 

 behind our backs. 



In hot countries, the annoyance by flies to horses is so great, 

 that the custom of docking is practically unknown in those parts 

 of the world. The protective layer of fibrous tissue which covers 

 the pelvis of the horse is considerably prolonged both fprwards 

 and downwards in the ass, whose tail, by the process of evolution, 

 is consequently provided with long hairs only near its end. 



42 



