110 STABLE ECONOMY. 



centre is rendered shorter than that at the outside, and the 

 tail, when elev^ated, resembles the feathered extremity of a 

 pen. Horses of the racing kind have long tails with the 

 points of the hair cut off. 



A switch tail is taper at the point, not square. It is of 

 varying length, according to the taste of the rider. It some- 

 times requires to be shortened without squaring it. The man 

 seizes it within his left hand, cuts off the superfluous leng^th 

 with a knife not very sharp. He does not go slap-dash 

 through it as a pair of scissors would ; but, holding the knife 

 across, with the edge inclined to the point of the tail, he 

 draws it up and down as if he were scraping it ; the hairs 

 are cut as the knife approaches the hand that holds the tail ; 

 in this way he carries the knife all round, and reaches the 

 central hairs as much from one point of the outer circumfer- 

 ence as from any other. The hairs are thus left of unequal 

 length, those at the middle being the longest. 



The hair of the tail is usually combed and brushed every 

 day, and when not hanging gracefully, it should be wet and 

 combed four or five times a day. White tails, especially 

 when of full length, require often to be washed with soap and 

 water. On many horses the hair is very thin. When the 

 hair is wanted exuberant, it should have little combing ; in 

 the studs of equestrian actors, the comb is never, or it is very 

 little used. When applied to separate the hairs, care is taken 

 not to pull them out. The operator seizes the hair near the 

 root with his left hand, while the right uses the comb, which 

 in this way is not permitted to act on the roots. At other 

 times the water-brush, a little moistened, keeps the hair 

 smooth and clean. 



Formerly, many years ago, it was the custom to dye the 

 tail and often the mane. Red was a favorite color. Nothinor 

 of that kind is done now, and the process need not be de- 

 scribed. Both mane and tail used to be preserved in a bag 

 when the horse was not at work. 



Dressing the Mane. — In general the mane lies to the 

 right side, but in some horses it is shaded equally to each. 

 On some carriage horses it is made to lie to the right side on 

 the one, and to the left on the other, the bare side of the neck 

 being exposed. From some, especially ponies, it is the cus- 

 tom to have the mane shorn off near to the roots, only a few 

 stumps being left to stand perpendicularly. This is termed 

 the hog-mane. It is almost entirely out of fashion. To 

 make a mane lie, the groom combs and wets it several times 



