AND HIS DISEASES. 195 



hair, and though more troublesome is preferable. Too much 

 searing is to be avoided, as exfoliation of the bone sometimes 

 follows, the injudicious use of the firing iron. 



Nicking and pricking are one and the same operation, the 

 latter being aA improved method of performing it ; the 

 object being to cause the tail to be carried in an elevated 

 position, which is much admired in road horses. It is also 

 performed to set the tail straight when carried awry, which 

 is a serious eyesore to a good-looking horse. Youat terms 

 it " a barbarous operation which has long been sanctioned by 

 fashion ;" as a fashionable operation we most decidedly de- 

 nounce it, but as remarked above, there are exceptional cases 

 in which it is justifiable. Pricking is nothing more nor less 

 than tenotomy of the depressor muscles of the tail — an ac- 

 quaintance with the anatomy of which is necessary before 

 it can be satisfactorily performed. 



It is best to secure him with a twitch and side line ; the 

 hair at the end of the tail is firmly tied, and a loop formed, 

 to which the weight is to be attached. The only instrument 

 used is a long-bladed scalpel, or the common pricking knife ; 

 the tail is raised with the left hand, while with the right the 

 centre of the bone is felt for, and the knife is passed in 

 (with its flat surface next the skin) to the opposite side, 

 when the cutting edge is turned toward the bone and the 

 muscles carefully divided. When simply to straighten a 

 wry tail, if the faulty tendons are discovered and divided, 

 one incision may be sufficient, but in " setting up " a tail 

 two and sometimes three are required. The muscles having 

 been thoroughly divided the tail is supported by means of 

 the double pulley over the back part of the stall ; the cord 

 attached to the end of the tail is passed through the wheels 

 of the pulley, and sufficient weight attached to keep the tail 

 elevated, to prevent readhesion of the divided muscles. He 



