St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1885-11-14
ABOUT HORSES.

Proper Ways of Training Names, Tails and
Coarse Hair About the Heels.
The best bred and thinnest skinned
horses have very little name. it is not
only thin and fine, but the hair is short.
A heavy, matted name means a low.
bred, coarse brute. I am inclined to
think that in state of nature the name
divides upon both sides of the neck,
though Virgil speaks of the dense name
of the young colt falling upon the
right shoulder. Long as the horse has
been domesticated and carefully
groomed, this habit of wearing the hair
is not yet overcome. and the name has
to be carefully coaxed to the right side,
where for thousands of years man has
resolved it should be worn, though the
horse himself insists upon parting his
hair in the middle. Ancient writers
speak of training the name to the right,
but all the horses represented IN the
Elgin marbles show the name close
cropped, or, as we may say. "hosged.
l think it is clear that the right side,
now the .'off'' side of the horse. was
the near side to the ancients. The best
horsemen use no .off'' side or near"
side, except to conform to Their har.
ness. l think man should teach his
horse to be familiarly approached and
allow his stall to be entered on either
side of him. Horses driven in pairs
should frequently change sides, as the
mouth becomes hardened on one side,
and the muscles of the neck become
affected by the unequal pull of the
double reins.
1t occasionally happens that
nervous or vicious horse has great
deal of mischief in the tail. and forms
an incorrigible habit of attempting
feats with it for which the organ was
not intended by nature, catching the
rein and holding it, and then
following this advantage by
running or some other form of mis-
chief Docking either the head or the
tail of such jade is no great loss, and
no one can object to the removal of a
few joints of the bone, the use of which
has been dangerously perverted. but
cutting the dock from a caprice Of
fashion is not good horsemanship.
A fine arching tail, well carried. 4
| NCly sCVus bub ~ Uo Ado II
breeders would follow the Eastern GUS
tom of shearing the hair from the dock
of the colt, and keeping it carefully
trimmed until the period of growth Is
passed. Every horseman is well aware
that foals carry their tails high an;
arched, but when the yearling has
growth of hair, often matted with
burs. or heavy with rain or mud, the
dock is pulled down by the weight. and
the arched tail is lost and clings to the
animal. English grooms often keep
the tail in pulleys, which is said to
have the effect of arching the dock.
Coarse hair about the heels is natural,
but confess to a prejudice against il.
and have it carefully clipped. Hair
growing in thick tuft inside of tbs
ear must never be touched. Ignorant
and officious grooms will remove it
with scissors, but it is great defense
against the Hies that would, in its abb
sence, secure lodgment upon the sensi-
tive skin inside the ear. Long. coarse
hairs upon the muzzle and the eyebrow
are often plucked away. No horse
man should allow this to be done.
These hairs are not superfluous; they
have valuable use. They are like the
whiskers of the feline race having sem
tient power and conveying impressions
to the Worcester Spy.