l was reading a horse book the other day and there was a picture of this big muscular beautiful horse, but they cut of the tail because they said it makes it look more tough or somthing like that. l got realy mad because that is the horses best defence agianst flies!!! it it look reterede!! l thought it was stupid and ugly and mean, s horse was ment to have a tail, so cutting it off is just wrong. l know they do it with some horse so the tail doesnt get tangeld up in the harness, but im sure there are other ways to fix that other that cutting off the tail. who else agrees

l agree with you, a tail is their best defense against flies! Was this a fiction or nonfiction book?
l have heard of people doing that l think it is mean!

l do! like you said, that is there best (if only) defense against biting flies.. And flies can carry disease, so they have a bigger chance of getting sick and dying. Why can not they just braid the tail or do something with it that wo not be so permanent?!

thats odd that they cut the tail. most of the time they do a dressage braid on the tail to keep it out of a harness

>:3

l agree
and if they cut it too high it cuts thruogh the bone at the top which is v. v. painful for the poor horse.

They do it for looks.
l happen to think it does look nice on some horses.
And most people that will take the time to do that are showing them.. and keep fly spray, masks, sheets, etc on them. So no, l do no think its 'cruel.'

l personally do not think that docking a horses tail is cruel l have a belgian and let me tell you it would be more painful for him if he had a tail get tangled in his harness etc.. l have no problems with flies on him because l remove manure and use sprays etc to help him and if you really wanted to a person could put a twitch in his tail for a fake tail to swat flys but l thik the right maintenance and cleanliness is all you would need

l am a person who uses my horses for trail riding & other things to do not endanger the tail getting caught in anything, & l am a proponent of keeping the tail as natural as l can.

l do not like to see horses like drafts with their tails bobbed as l know they're often turned out & have no tail then to swat flies - however, l know that there is a reason sometimes for the tail being shortened or bobbed entirely - as long as it is a reason that keeps the horse safe, & the owner sees to it that the flies cannot bite the horses, l am OK with it.

You also need to understand the use & care of such horses - some horses that r shown a lot have tails that r shortened for some sort of reason & the owners then take extra care to ensure the use of that tail is substituted with something. For example, a tail can be shortened then put in a tail bag with an extension on it that then allows the swatting of flies. l know of some places where horses do not even have to contend with flies because the owners have gone to great lengths to get rid of them from their property or keep the horses inside when the flies r the worst. About the only thing I've seen that one can not control & get rid of is the horse-fly & here in Michigan, the season for these is short.

l think u should really be careful in passing such judgement on folks as a generality without knowing all the specifics of their situation. You're making an assumption that the horse in question must contend with flies & is miserable without it is tail - when that might not be the case.

In general, simply to shorten the horse is tail leaving it in a natural setting with nothing to contend with flies l agree IS not very nice - but before u go being sure this is the case, find out - THEN judge.

Finally, l will say that l feel the practice of changing an animals looks or way of moving simply to ''look pretty'' - as is often done in horse shows - is abhorrent. This is the reason l will not take part in horse shows any more. l approve of Ranch Horse competitions which include showing but the purpose is to judge the way the horse naturally is built & how he moves. What u may be seeing is a photo from years ago - l remember maybe 20 years ago when a shortened tail on a stock-type horse was desired. People would pull horse is tails so they were about hock-length to gain a judge is favor. Look at some of the photos of top QH & Paint studs from the 70s & 80s & u will see many tails have been shortened this way. Now, however, a longer tail is desired even to the point of people adding fake tails.

Does not this seem strange when the purpose of a horse show to begin with was to exemplify the confirmation & performance of a natural equine competitor? No longer r we actually judging the horse in his natural state - we r now getting closer to a beauty competition where un-natural horses r the norm rather than the exception.

We own a Belgian, & her tail was docked at a young age. She was bred to be a work horse, but we actually use her for pleasure & trail riding. She hates flies, probably because she cant swish them away. l have witnessed her run around the barn in circles because of a large horsefly that she cannot reach on her back. Its sad, & there is no amount of fly spray that will keep away the really big ones that show up here in NY in August. They r scary big! She ends up spending more time in her stall & less time turned out to pasture. :(

l agree with you.

l thnk it is very wrong. If God did not want horses to have a tail then they would not have one.

yeah docking the tail is cruel.they should just bundle it up in a dressage braid. In some places it is illegal, l dont know why people still do it to young draft horses.

Are u sure the horse was not an appaloosa & could not grow one. That kind of runs in the breed.
l have an appaloosa gelding & he cant grow a tail. It weird but it looks better when l cut his mane down :). But having him for the summer with bugs & flies, that really was not a good time, especially since he was sensitive lol. But because he was an appaloosa & could not grow one, it showed his breed & everyone l have talked to liked it:).
But in ways it is not cruel because there r things u dan do for ur horse, like fly spray, fly away supplements, & sometimes u do not need either if u live in an area with few bugs :)
So to me, it really all depends on the situation.

l totally agree! Poor horse will get eating to death by files:(

l do not think it is so much a defence against flies. because there is other things people do to keep flies away from their horses. But l agree that there is no reason to cut the tails. l think it is ugly, which is the reason that l do not like appys that much. But when people ''trim'' it, l think it is the worst. A straight line, way higher than it needs to be. l love long tails, so l think people just need to wash it, braid it, & put it in a tail bag. lol. It is really easy! haha
:D