The sun., 1905-12-31
DOCKING new YORK HORSES.
A DRIVER or HIGH STEPPER'
TELLS row IT rs DONE.
Declares That the Operation Is Not Painful
and l. OF Benefit TO the Horse Fashion
the chef Reason for the Practice
The Heal Objections TO Long Tails.

--Inc hPhl VDJptllOHS 10 IOnB idilS.
Agitation is promised TO urge this passage
Of laws against docking har>os, and owners
Of horses in Ncw York are being petitioned
TO join in the crusade DealerNnever dock
horSesJ JeXcCpt at the request of a buyer
, To offer horse for sale with bob tail is
to create the suspicion that it is second
hand" one that has seen service before in
the city. instead o! being fresh from green
,pastLres Yet noue Of The dealers will sign
the petition. They declare that he opera
tion of docking is not excessively painful
and is atoned for by the easy life it leads to-
To have the tail shortened l. the initiation
the rough horse pays to gain the comfort
and light duties Of private stable.
Fashion is not the only reason to aotuate
the buyers in having their horses docked
but it ia the principal one. few say that
the shortening of the tail makes for cleanii-
ness, as the tail does not become draggled
with mud and dust when docked and an
-other set maintains that it is really a COM
fort to horse to remove the heavy and
useless mass of hair City horses do not
craze in pasture, SO the argument that the
switching of the long tail keeps away mos
leuitoes and flies has no value in this argu-
I1enlr DuC utNlNltN OllIc'ilbll may ne
viced against the nuisance switching tails
would be to a horse or pair in heavy harness.
All style and grace in front action, a pair
with hanging tails would look as untidy
otherwise as a woman in bedra ggled skirts
So saii one OF New lork's coaching anna
teurs, and he had plenty to add to the plea
for doc6ing
Essentially docking is not a painful
operation" continued this driving man.
"Shears Gre no longer used, and if the
horse is fretful, nervous one, it is first
chloroformad. But have never seen this
done; nor aas it been necessary. In the
epring | havs had vet. dock half dozen
in half an leur in my stable when con-
verting road totters into road coach teams
This Is how W. do it,
"We do not feed the horse on the mornin z
Of the operation. and when il is brought
into the operating stall the horse at once
begins to munich eagerly on the oats in the
Manager. canvas hammock is flung un-
der its belly and the horse hosted to its
tiptoes by pulleys when a gate is stuck
across the stall close to its heels and the
tail pulled over, the fiat top rail making
an operating table. A stout twine is tied
The hair is turned back and bound, ex-
posing the bare skin, and the assistant
takes hold of the lower end of the tail and
holds 1t firmly for the docking
"A few short jabs VII h a surgeons knife
and the tail is severed, Meanwhile, a
cauterizing iron has be n brought to a
white heat in a charcoal hand fire, such az
plumbers carry, and the next act is to scar
the cut with the iron. The assistant holds
the severed part so that the hairs will cover
the cut, and with the application of the iron
there is an odor of burning hair and flesh
The horse winces, and would crouch kick
or break away but for being stCung up in
the hammock But it does not take the
tenth part Of a second to seal up the wound
AS soon as the iron is tax n of the horse
will resume it's munching of oats. and il
feeds without check, excepting while the
cauterizing iron is applied, throughout the
entire operation,
"Trotting horse breeders and drivers all
along have been prejudiced against dock
ing" concluded the whip, and | was glad
to see that the Horse Show judges did not
share this feeling, for the trotting stallion
to which they awarded all the highest
honors, Guy Fortune had a docked tail
and was also driven in heavy harness as a
highstcpper. The tapping tail is a nuisance
to road drivers, and the only way a sulky
driver overComes it is 10 sit on the brush.
The long, heavy tail is, to my mind, waste
of energy. The horse should put his
strength into better things every ounce of
IL. Al hackney farms the colts are docIed
before they are weaned and while the carti-
lage Is soft. To sport docked tail seems
now the destiny Of half the trottng bred
horses, so fail to see why the trotting men
should aid the anti-docking bills. If they
we're up to date the trotting horse breeders
would do the docking at the farms"
No one knows what the horses think
about it. That. docking is cruel may he
granted, but the gains to the horse seem
to counterhaance the hurts. The pain is
-momentary; the benefits long and substan-
tial ones. The movement in favor of the
nti-docking bills is supported mainly by
non horse owners, say the whips who drive
highsteppers and like 'em docked.