DOCKma. 659 



are docked," but " Cecil," when editing a new edition of that book 

 in 1854, states in a foot-note that "this operation has now become 

 obsolete." I remember that the custom in Ireland during the 

 late fifties and early sixties was to bang the tails of hunters 

 at such a length that when the long hairs were drawn down, their 

 ends were just clear of the points of the animal's hocks, as is the 

 present custom with ^ace horses. In the thirties and forties, 

 long swish tails as well as bang tails were to be seen in the hunting 

 field. 



The usual fashion nowadays is to dock all half-bred hunters, and 

 to leave all thoroughbreds undocked, whether they are race horses, 

 chasers, timber-toppers, or hunters. I am glad to say that Lord 

 Lonsdale and Mr. Hedworth Barclay, who are the two most promi- 

 nent hunting men in Leicestershire, like their hunters to have 

 long tails. 



FOR AND AGAINST DOCKING.— The chief arguments in 

 favour of docking are as followis : — 1. That it improves a horse's 

 appearance. I cannot see how a mutilation can be a beauty. 

 In the judgment on the dishorning case of Ford v. Wiley, Mr. 

 Justice Hawkins states : " Docking is another painful operation 

 which no doubt may occasionally be justified, but I hold a very 

 strong opinion against allowing fashion or the whim of an indi- 

 vidual, or any number of individuals, to afford justification for 

 such painful mutilation." 



2. That it prevents him, when he is in draught, from escaping 

 out of the control of his driver, hy getting his tail over a rein, in 

 which case the horse, as a great rule, will remain master only 

 as long as he keeps the rein imprisoned by the downward pressure 

 of his tail. If an animal which is in this position is vicious or 

 nervous, he will probably try to kick the trap to pieces or run 

 away, in which case, the driver will be unable to restrain or guide 

 him. A few horses, probably not more than one in 10,000, 

 acquire the vice of endeavouring, when in harness, to get their 

 tail over a rein, and if they succeed in this dangerous attempt, 

 they will generally do all they can to produce an accident. Here, 

 the position of the driver is an important point for consideration. 

 All Russian harness horses have long tails, and the driver's seat 

 in almost all Russian native vehicles is so low that the reins 

 are seldom held much higher than the animal's stifles. Al- 

 though the reins are thus in a very convenient position for the 

 horse to swish his tail over either of them; an accident from this 

 cause is practically unknown in Russia, because the driver can at 

 once free the imprisoned rein by a side pull. If the driver's seat 

 is high, as is usually the case in England, he would have to trust 



42* 



