No More Nicking

Last week New York's Governor Herbert H. Lehman signed a bill which made his State the first to prohibit the "nicking" of horses' tails. Few laymen knew what the expression meant. Even amateur horsemen sometimes think the show horse's smartly arched tail is a result of breeding or training.

A permanently arched tail is the result of an operation and an excruciatingly painful setting process. A veterinarian cuts and breaks the horse's tail much as an unskilled woodsman might hack and push down a sapling. Incisions are made on, the upper side, the flexor muscles on the under side cut eight to twelve inches back from the base. Then the tail is doubled back, tightly bandaged, supported by an iron "bustle." Three weeks are usually required for the tail to heal and set. Thrown into a sweating frenzy by this prolonged torture, horses often lose more than 100 lb. The operation may have to be repeated six to twelve times before the proper set is obtained. Even then, except when in the ring or on the bridle path, the horse must wear the bustle for the rest of its show life.

Common wherever three-and five-gaited horses are bred, "nicking" is especially prevalent in Kentucky, Missouri and Illinois. Humane societies have long agitated against it. Most breeders admit its cruelty, say they cannot sell their horses without it.

About 75% of the saddle and 10% of the harness horses exhibited at past National Horse Shows in Manhattan have been made smart and spirited-looking by this mutilation. There will be fewer & fewer of them in coming years. The new law rules that no horse may be shown in New York which has had its tail "nicked" after Jan. 1, 1934.

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