222 THROUGH STABLE AND SADDLE-ROOM. 



long, heavy mane cannot. A mane should never 

 be palled so that its edge is in a straight line. 

 Clumsy grooms are very apt to do this, as it is 

 easier and less tedious than to pull it as I have 

 described. 



For ponies, and anything under 14 hands, I 

 consider hogging a mane is decidedly an improve- 

 ment. Anything over that height should never 

 be hoofg-ed. When a mane is hogo-ed, the hair 

 should be cut quite close down, and finished in a 

 low, level ridge, but cut as short as it can be. A 

 mane hogged after the fashion of the Parthenon 

 horses is not smart. It is the fashion, in all but 

 racehorses, to cut horses' tails short, and it has a 

 smart appearance, and improves the appearance of 

 a horse considerably ; but it is a difficult matter to 

 cut a tail well, and it must be remembered that it 

 must be cut so that when the horse is going, and 

 carrying it out, the cut edge is parallel to the 

 around. Nothing- looks worse than to see the 

 stump of the tail, when the latter has been docked, 

 sticking up in the air end on, as it were. When a 

 horse's tail is handled, he generally tries to tuck it 

 in, and so the right angle for cutting must be judged 

 when it is carried naturally. Docking horses after 

 they are a certain age is cruel. It is, I fear, cruel 

 at any time, and should never be done except by a 



