# Breeds with bobbed tails?



## LoriF (Apr 3, 2015)

Well, for harness horses it was done so the tail would not entangle with the harness. I think with riding horses it was a matter of fashion. 

I've read that some thought docking the tail made the back stronger. I'm sure someone made that up and it got repeated over and over until people believed it to be true because everyone was saying that it is true. Kind of like some things on the internet today.


----------



## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

Its hard to tell from photos but all of those tails looked short enough to have been docked.
I would say that a lot of it was fashion and some of it was done because the horses were used for 'ride and drive' and not just ridden


----------



## QtrBel (May 31, 2012)

While a horse can have a genetic mutation that causes a shorter tail bone length and be called a bobtail horse (like a bobtail cat). A bobtail horse is another name for a horse that has had it's tail docked. Some also pull the tails to keep them neat and shorter than normal docked or not. A Bangtail horse has had the hair cut off straight across at or above the hock. From those pics I would suspect the first is cut hair not docked tail but it could be and the other two the tail is docked. A docked tail is cut at or above the fullest part of the butt. A horse that has not been docked will have the tail bone extend much further. My preference is not to dock but I will braid and tie up the tail depending on the equipment we are hitched to.

NM I looked again at that first picture and would say likely docked and banged.


----------



## k9kenai (Jul 1, 2017)

You can read more about horse tail modification in an article published by the AVMA here:

https://www.avma.org/KB/Resources/LiteratureReviews/Documents/Horse Tail Modification.pdf

Docking of the tail in horses is fairly controversial, as you can tell by the article. It is not done as much nowadays in horses (except perhaps Drafts) due to that reason, and is prohibited completely in several states and countries.


----------



## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

Its been illegal to dock in the UK for quite a long time now, unless for some medical reason.


----------



## Nmcowgirl26 (Mar 10, 2017)

i have never heard of docking a tail on a horse before holy cow. lol i will be getting 2 drafts and the mares tail is so short but i am not sure if her tail was docked... it looks a lot shorter than normal though. around here i dont see short tails only being tied up for shows etc ive done that to trailer my horse his mane and tail were SUPER long


----------



## Casmay (Aug 3, 2017)

I have a Percheron mare who came to me through a rescue group from a PMU operation. Her tail was already docked when I got her ten years ago. She cannot use it to swish away flies or to communicate with other horses. She can't even properly lift her tail out of the way when she passes urine or manure. I don't know exactly how much suffering is experienced by horses whose tails are docked, at the time of the procedure or while it heals (a horrible amount of pain, I suspect!), but ever after, their docked tails are still a source of suffering. I can't wait for it to be outlawed everywhere. It is possible to put whole, natural tails up out of the way for driving. I can't see that docking is anything other than a barbaric "fashion". Sad.


----------



## SilverMaple (Jun 24, 2017)

The jaunty docked tails were very common on carriage and sporting horses in the past, especially among the upper class. Why? It was fashionable. The verses of "Jingle Bells" where it talks about the 'bobtail bay' and '2:40 for his speed' refer to a trotting racehorse, or fashionable 'crack' harness horse. Some horses did double-duty as a harness and saddle horse, so again, a docked tail. Stalling horses was seen as ideal, so a docked horse also indicated that you were a person of means and had a stable and caretakers for your horses-- only the poor and lower class kept horses out in a field in many areas, and a long tail was a faux pax among the elite. I would bet that all of the horses in the links you posted had docked tails. Run your hand down a horse's tail bone-- it's a lot longer than you'd suspect.

Docking draft horses and coach/carriage horses was generally done so the horse couldn't get a tail over the lines or get the tail caught in farm machinery. In the days before fly sprays, spooky horses swishing flies and getting a tail over the lines then clamping it down and taking off was a real risk. We like to think of horses in terms of 'today's horses'. Ask anyone old enough to remember when they did most of the farmwork with horses or those who remember the 'horse and buggy days' and it's pretty clear that there were a lot of horses out there who would not exist in today's day and age due to temperament and behavior issues. If you're driving a questionable horse, you want to know he can't clamp his tail over the lines and cause a runaway with the rest of the team. The old saying 'you can drive a horse nobody can ride' was pretty common, and it's opposite of what most people think today. My grandfather raised draft horses and trotters, and my mom says frequently how dangerous most of those horses would be considered today, and at the time, they were considered well-broke and safe. People working dawn to dusk on the farm didn't have the months it takes to get a driving horse solid like we do-- a lot of times you hitched them up in deep snow and kept them circling until they quit running, then drove down the road. When you got back, they were 'broke.' If you put a docked tail side by side with getting the tail caught in an auger or hay rake, you can also see the advantages of it there. Also, even the 'gentlest' of trainers generally was harder on a horse than we would generally be today. You didn't take months to train a horse. You took days, if that. You didn't switch saddles and bridles and bits until you found one he liked-- you used what you had and the horse dealt with it. Behavior issues were seen as lack of training and lack of respect, not possible health issues, so the horse was forced to behave. As a result, spookers, balkers, etc. were a lot more common that you'd see today. And like today, some people are horsemen and some are not-- but in the past, even those who hated or were bad with horses still had to use them, so anything that kept the person safer from a problem horse was seen as ok. 

Docking has continued in the show ring for drafters because of tradition and because it shows off the hindquarters when done up in 'bobs and bows'. Draft horses are often kept in tie stalls, and long tails hit the caretakers in the face and get dirty. Docking needs to be done when the horse is young, so most draft breeders will dock tails on everything unless the horse is already purchased and the new owner doesn't want it done, as it can't be done later without significant trauma to the horse and then you usually won't find a vet to do it unless the horse has injured his tail and it needs to be done for medical reasons. If you have a horse with a docked tail, longer hair can be grown out so the horse can swish flies, or strands of twine or other hair can be braided in. 

Done properly at a young age, docking is not overly traumatic to the horse (or puppies-- most don't even seem to notice, but that's neither here nor there...) Long, full tails have only been desirable on stock horses relatively recently. During the 50's - 70's, a hock-length tail was preferred-- it stayed cleaner, was less likely to get over a rope, and made the hindquarters appear wider than a long tail did-- not a docked tail, but tail length preference has always been driven largely by fashion, and always will be.


----------



## Avna (Jul 11, 2015)

I can speak to the puppy comparison: canids are born very undeveloped. They cannot walk, see, or hear, and will not be able to for weeks. Their nervous systems are also primitive when born. Docking puppies is at two to four days old, and my observation is that they do not notice it very much if at all. That doesn't mean it is right and humane, but it is not a big trauma at the time. 

Equids are born very developed indeed. They hear, see, and stand almost immediately and very soon after they can run. Their nervous systems are completely developed. The likelihood of docking foals being painful and traumatic is, in my opinion, extremely high. It is inhumane, without any doubt in my mind. The more so because there is no reason for it -- any tail can be wrapped while working, as polo ponies are. It is just brutal fashion, once again.


----------

