NO VALID REASON TO DOCK A TAIL

There is no valid reason to dock a tail. If you can show horses in a four-up combined driving event with long tails, you can do ANYTHING the draft horse is capable of with the tail on. The best analogy is that everyone used to smoke because there was nothing wrong with it and everyone else did. Draft horses have a need for that tail from a neurologic and functional standpoint. Eastern medicine states that the prime life force comes from the tip of the tail. And, whether you believe in God or Evolution, we cut the tail off and somehow every foal born still has one. I would say Someone is trying to knock us upside the head. NO animal should be docked, cropped or maimed for cosmetic reasons. Period. And no matter what anyone says, it honestly comes down to cosmetics or convenience in 99.9% of cases without regard for the animal's welfare.

This was posted here 2014-08-14: http://ruralheritage.com/messageboard/frontporch/14262.htm