Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-05-07

| you have a horse with short banged tail"
] "Oh, yes, several of EN-"
"Then send me around the horse with the
shortest bang, and the young man went off.
The writer for The STAR accosted him little
| later and asked him why he wanted horse
with only half tail. He seemed surprised at
the ignorance OF tho man who could ask such
| question and proceeded to explain that long
tailed horses had not been the fashion for fifteen
years and that rather than ride one he would
walk the balance Of his days He said he liked
horse with short locked tail best. but that,
II 1t was q case OF necessity, he could on q
| pinch put up with bang-taied nag, but he
could not conceive Of any circumstances that
| would induce him to go through the streets on
horse with a long flowing tail. Here was
clearly a case Of prejudice.
The writer then met gentleman who has a
speedy trotter or two and asked him if he had
locked his horses tails. He fred up at the
very suggestion.
II wouldn't be seen with one of the mutilated
| beasts IN front of me-" said he, land have my
opinion OF the man who would drive such cattle,
10 pang horse'E tail is a grIevous mistake, but
| 70 dock 1t Is an outrageous crime" There
would seem to be certain amount Of preju-
dice on his side, too.
| HoRsEMEN ToUcHY ON THE suBREcr.
There are few subjects that horsemen are
| more touchy about than this subject of their
horses tails. certain class of people won't
ride or drive longtailed horse if they can
possibly help it, and sometimes they 60 SO far
| as to tie up long tail, in the vain endeavor to
make 1t look like banged tail. If those
| slaves to passing fashion buy horse they
nave his tail locked or banged at once On
the other hand there are people who won't
buy horse unless he has his natural TAIL al
though he may suit their purpose exactly in
all other respects.
Every horseman remembers that lust before
| the fashion OF banging horses tails came into
vogue there used to be seen fe old nags, in
the scar and yellow leaf, with what were then
called bob tails, which is merely the old
fashioned term for locked tails They we're
survivors OF a style that had been very popular
nfteen or twenty years before that The
fashion went out and long flowing tails were
the correct thing for many years; then people
began to cut their horses tails square, but with
plenty OF hair left; then they cut them square
right up close to the bone; then they began to
cut the bone, and now docking is a custom as
common as cutting terriers ears.
STYLES OF DOCKING.
There are a good many different STYLES of
wearing the hair for men and women and al
most as many for the hair of horses tails.
First Of all to consider the bang. There is the
long bang. the short bang, the parted bang
and the fan-shaped bang. The first of these
contemplate the cutting off of all the hair on
the tail below about four inches of the bone
With some horses it is rather becoming, and
especially with saddle horses it shows of the
build OF the horse and gives him neat COM
pact appearance. There is not much cruelty
involved either, as there is a good switch
left to take care of the flies, and if
| the horse is turned out to pasture in
the summer his tail will grow out again
At any rate, there is no permanent injury
done. The short bang involves cutting the
| hair square of right up to the bone. With
| some horses this means very short tail. but
not SO with others. for the length of the bones
of horses tails varies very considerably. Some
big horses have short tail bones and some little
horses have long ones. In most cases the horse
with short bang is at the mercy of flies, how
ever. The parted bang II a singular fad now
much affected by some people, but not as pop
ular as II was couple OF years ago. 1t is more
common on locked tails than on banged
tails, but 1t can be used on a short
tail bone that has not been cut. 1t
consists simply in parting the hair
of the tail and brushing it down
| smoothly on both sides. As for the fnn-shaped
bang, that requires considerable art in the cut
ting, for the effect must be obtained Of the
hair spreading out on both sides somewhat
like palmetto fan. The hair underneath the
bone is cut quite short and is shorter near the
stock OF the tail than the end, the latter being
rounded rather than square. Both the parted
bang and the fan-shaped bang belong more
properly to the locked tail. A banged tail
strictly speaking is one the hair of which is
cut square, just as girl is said to have bangs
when she wears square-cut forelock.
Is DOCKING A CRUELTY?
us docking horses tail cruelty such as
should be prohibited by law?" This question
was put to member Of the Humane Society,
and he promptly answered ''Yes." As a mat
ter Of fact there are a good many cases of ar
rest anc fine for thus mutilating horses, and in
prf, Sx,o 80
pense of having the operation performed. But
the cruelty is not in the actual surgical opera
ton itself 30 much as in the lifelong incon-
venience and sometimes torture that ensue. OF
| course no one can pretend that cutting horses
tail off does not hurt. The amateur rustic
| method of performing the operation
is barbarous. It consists simply in
| backing the animal against fence
or tree and chopping his tail off as though it
| it were piece of kindling wood. Veterinary
| surgeons are, OF course, more scientific. They
take the requisite number OF inches of, so that
! the shock is the principal Inconvenience. The
| actual excruciatiug pain comes from the ap-
plication Of the hot iron to the stump as soon
| as the operation is performed. This is the
] same sort of torture that used to take place in
England when subjects right hand was cut
] of for some such offense as striking another
within the precincts Of the kings palace yard.
Men wero found who would suffer the
| mutilation without groan, but when the
stump the stoutest- hearted man would give a
scream Of pain. However, this only lasts for
| little while, and then tho locked tail is not
painful. Now, suppose this locked tail to re-
| main always IN the stable Of the man that had
| it locked There the horse that owns it has a
sheet on him in summer to keep the flies of,
and when he is in use he usually goes along
pretty fast and the flies do not bother him
much.
At THE MERCY OF THE FLIES.
II he is ever given run in the fields he has
quite fight for it, but he is nearly always in
the stable. II such is his life then The docking
Of his tail, while cruelty, Is not such an in
cessant torment after all. But suppose, now,
that the rich man who has his horses tail
locked gets tired of the horse, or the horse
breaks down, az horses which are used ut ir-
regular intervals and then used hard are pretty
sure to do. He sells him, say, TO livery stable
keeper. There he gets good usage a. long as
he in the stable, andthe stable is usually kept
tolerably free from fies Still the poor horse
without any tail keeps stamping and sinking
himself from morning till night In the dull
season the livery stable man sends lot Of his
horses into the country to run at pasture, and
there the locked tail nag Is in constant tor
mept He cannot eat in peace, he cannot
! stand still in tho shade and rest All day long
he 10 battling with singing hiex II
! the horse leaves the livery stable
l. Hon tn Sryn -.