THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY TUESDAY, JUNE 24, 1913. DOCKING OF HORSES.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXV, Issue 10713, 24 June 1913, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY TUESDAY, JUNE 24, 1913. DOCKING OF HORSES.

The'dooking of horses' tails is a practise that has been indulged in for many years. That it is accompanied by a measure of pain goes almost without saying. But that it leads to the improvement of the appearance and to the general comfort of the animal is equally manifest. There are a number of well-intentioned people in New Zealand and elsewhere who contend that the practise i s cruel, and that it should be discontinued. 1 These people will next be demanding that the docking of sheep and the vaccination of ohildren shall also be abandoned. It is surprising to find that in. England the agitation against the docking of horses' tails has resulted in the introduction of legislation on the subject. The Minister of War ha« stated that after three years docked horses will not be bought for the Army. Whilst wo believe that the cruelty attaching to the practise has been grossly exaggerated, it ig instructive to note what are the objectionable features. The Westminster Gazette, in an article dealing with the subject, described an exhibition that had been given by Mr Walter Winans, a well-known American horse-fancier. The Bill that was introduced to Parliament was designed to prevent, not a mere trimming of the tail, but a surgical operation—often clumsily performed by unskilled hands—that involves the removal of a number at the caudal vertebrae, the

cauterising of the wound, and often the dipping of the mutilated of the tail in boiling tar. It is contended that tills is practically painless ; that it is necessary; and thai ii improves the appearance of the horso, and Mr Winans'a object was to show that these wero unsound. According to the Westminster Gazette, "horse after horse was brought j out of hiskstables —trotters, thoroughbreds, ooltg unbroken to harness; all kinds, in fact—and each was put through its paces in such a way that the utility of the undocked tail and its tharmlessness wore made quite evident. Some of them Mr Winane drove with their tails over the reins—a thing that is >said to be impossible, since the horse is supposed to grip the rein fast, between the tail and the flank, so that the driver loses control —or even with their tails securely held, and even pulled." An unbroken colt cantered round unconcernedly with a tin filled with stone« tied to its tail. Horses with docked and undocked tails were paraded together, to show that a ,docked horse is very nervous of being touched or the flank, and also how much more graceful in carriage and perfect in balance wer© the horses with natural tails. The appearance of the famous Russian troika team —an American trotter in the shafts and an English thoroughbred a« a galloper on each side —reminded the Westminster that in Russia docking is practically unknown and that all over the Continent a docked tail' is said to be cut "a I'Anglais,'' "and no other explanation of its ridiculous appearance is considered necessary."