Did anyone see the May 17 Equus article on tail blocks, written by Kate Hepworth-Warren, DVM? There was also a piece on “tail nicking”, and other forms of tail alteration. This caused the American Saddlebred Horse Association to issue a press release trying to debunk the information in the very well done and articulate article.
I understand you are on a witch hunt about this issue. But as a Hackney and ASB person, the Saddlebred part was not researched correctly. I don’t have a show horse so no skin in the game currently. I just show groom randomly. There was no limit banning tail cutting in 2014, that was false info in the article. We will agree to disagree that it was a well-done article at least on the ASB part. I don’t know enough about tail blocking to comment intelligently.
Here is a link to the article
https://www.pressreader.com/usa/equus/20170501/281994672339338
Here is a link to the ASHA press release. Which all info in the press release is correct.
https://www.saddlehorsereport.com/news/asha-letter-equus-9010
Most trainers are getting away from cutting tails anyway. Hand stretching is much easier. I wouldn’t mind getting away from sets and braces though. Its a time-consuming pain in the arse, Keeping a good tail is hard work.
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Let’s see. The AAEP condemns any form of tail alteration. This well done article appears in one of the largest Equine publications is the world, condemning tail alteration. And I am on a witch hunt?
The information in the ASHA’s “press release” is deliberately misleading. While the fact is that the PRC of tail cutting did not pass USEF (shockingly!) in 2014, there was, in fact a PRC submitted. In 2017, the ASHA ran a rule through to try and do an end run around my PRC- something that is conveniently NOT mentioned. Why wouldn’t ASHA simply state that they had a rule passed that addressed a number of things, including tails? Not hard to guess. In any event, I sent the following off to Equus, in response to all of this.
To the Publishers and Editors of Equus:
I read with interest your excellent article in the May 2017 issue entitled, “The Truth About Tail Blocks” and the notable sidebar piece “Tail Nicking.” As a 40+ year owner of American Saddlebred horses, I have competed saddlebreds at the highest levels in both the show and sport horse world.
Dr. Kate Hepworth-Warren’s article is an eye opener (or should be) for any horse lover. Dr. Hepworth-Warren incorrectly stated that a rule was enacted by United States Equestrian Federation (“USEF”) in the 2014-2015 competition year. In fact, a proposed rule change (“PRC”) to ban tail cutting in the American Saddlebred division was proposed to USEF and the American Saddlebred Rules Committee, however, the Rule neither made it out of the Committee, nor did it ever see the light of day. Prior to the start of the 2017 USEF Competition year, the American Saddlebred Horse Association (“ASHA”) submitted a PRC under USEF’s “extraordinary circumstances” provision. The ASHA stated the “EO Reason” or intent of the PRC was to “support of welfare for this division.” The USEF Saddlebred Rules Committee approved the rule, as did USEF; the rule is now codified as USEF Rule SB102.2. In my opinion, ASHA was attempting to show the USEF leadership and membership that ASHA is, in fact, aware of the horrendous public perception, regarding the cutting and setting of tails.
Rule SB 102.2 also states that “gingering” a horse is not permitted. Gingering refers to the insertion of an irritating substance into a horse’s rectum in order to force the horse to raise its tail. This practice has been commonplace for decades in all horses including weanlings. Commonly, trainers use a “tail brace”, in addition to the ginger, which holds the horse’s tail in place in a nearly vertical position over the horse’s back. The “look” is considered desirable and many trainers use the brace in concert with the ginger to effect the “look.” To complete the “look,” a shoelace is tied around the tail bone, drawing the tail up and over the brace and tied to the brace to create the “breakover.” Another shoestring is tied to the bottom of the brace and attached directly to the girth in order so that the brace remains in place.
Rule SB 102.2 provides that “Surgical release of only the ventral sacrocaudal muscle is allowable if performed by a licensed veterinarian.” Oddly enough, it is a well-known fact that tails are most frequently cut by horse trainers, which makes the licensed veterinarian proviso laughable. There are no testing procedures or penalties for noncompliance of the Rule, nor provision for sanctions of any kind. This fact speaks volumes as to the ASHA’s true intent and commitment to the welfare of the breed.
The ASHA has coined the phrase “releasing the tail”, in order to sanitize and rationalize the surgical procedure to an increasingly critical public. The phraseology does not change the barbaric process that is tail cutting; it does not change the fact that the procedure often permanently maims and disfigures the horse. Formerly, “nicking” was used to describe and minimalize the procedure. Either description fails to accurately describe the surgery, which typically involves incisions at least two inches long and equally deep. While tail cutting is a surgical procedure; it is routinely performed by horse trainers, rather than licensed veterinarians. The result is the illegal practice of veterinary medicine, which is both illegal and unsafe. Tail cutting by any person is illegal in several states, including New York and California. Aftercare is performed by hardworking grooms. The risk of infection and additional damage due to lack of quality care cause many horses to have crooked or deformed tails. Despite the illegality, it is a poorly kept secret as to who to seek out to have your horse’s tail cut.
Success in the American Saddlebred show ring turns on presentation and turnout. Unofficially, the presentation requires a tail that has been “set” aka nicked/cut in order to be competitive, especially at shows such as the Kentucky State Fair, Lexington Junior League and the American Royal. While the USEF rules state a horse may be shown with an unset/uncut tail, it is naïve to believe that horse would be competitive. Hackney show ponies’ tails are also altered. Sadly, the Morgan show world has followed suit, and many of their horses’ tails are now also cut. The core of the issue is vanity. A widely expressed opinion by trainers of these breeds explains the procedure is required to aid trainers’ ability to train a horse to drive. In contrast to this theory, other breeds are driven from a young age and their tails are never altered to accomplish this feat. Combined Driving horses are judged for their ability to lift and swing through their backs and are prohibited from competing with an altered tail.
American Saddlebred trainers work hard to start and finish young prospects to sell them. Prospects without a cut tail are perceived to be less valuable since the trainer didn’t cut the tail. While “hand stretching” a tail may be undertaken to create a similar “breakover” appearance, the process is infinitely more time consuming. Due to the time consumption, tail stretching is rarely offered as an alternative as tail cutting is a quicker means to an end.
In 2016 and 2017, I submitted a “PRC” in order to halt Equine Tail Alteration in all breeds and disciplines governed by USEF. In 2016, the PRC was roundly rejected, never having left the Committee stage, despite the fact that the American Association of Equine Practitioner (AAEP) “condemns the alteration of the tail of the horse for cosmetic or competitive purposes. This includes, but is not limited to, docking, nicking (i.e., cutting) and blocking. When performed for cosmetic purposes, these procedures do not contribute to the health or welfare of the horse and are primarily used for gain in the show ring (nicking/cutting, blocking and docking) or because of historical custom (docking).” Vocal opposition has notably come from the following breed associations and their respective Rule Committees: American Saddlebreds, Morgans, Hackney and National Show Horses, as well as the hunter/jumper discipline. The crux of their argument is that tail alteration is not a welfare issue.
The PRC uses exactly the same language as in USEF’s Arabian section, including testing and penalties for tail alteration. Should the current PRC not pass this year, it is my intent to continue submitting the PRC until a meaningful Rule is enacted to protect these magnificent horses. This issue is without a doubt in my mind a welfare issue- even as acknowledged by the ASHA. As the sanctioning body for many breeds and disciplines, USEF, first, and foremost, is obligated to protect the welfare of all horses and ponies at their competitions. It really is that simple.
Sincerely,
Julie Lynn Andrew
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I read both the article and the response.
This is part of the response letter to Equus, written by Donna Pettry-Smith, President of the American Saddlebred Horse Association:
Before a young horse is taught to jog, the trainers will begin daily stretching of the horse’s tail in preparation to wear the harness, and lessen the instance of the horse “clamping down” on the crupper and kicking. As the horse develops, if their tail tends to be particularly tight (generally with a corresponding tight back), a minor surgical procedure can be performed in which a small incision is made through the ventral sacrocaudal muscle to release the tail, in turn helping to relax the back.
I just don’t understand this, and maybe someone can explain. All sorts of breeds are worked in harness, for driving or pulling weight (as in, logging horses). I have never heard of manipulating or altering the tail, or tail set, to accommodate the crupper. Nor do I understand how a surgical procedure is justified “to release the tail, in turn helping to relax the back”.
What? I have been a groom and navigator in combined driving and recreational driving, with Morgans and other breeds. Careful acclimation and harnessing technique, especially with the crupper, are part of training a horse to harness. If the horse is not yet comfortable with all parts of the harness, including the crupper, the trainer needs to go back a few steps and confirm that the horse IS comfortable.
Cutting the ventral sacrocaudal muscle, near the end of the vetebral column— how does that “relax the back”? That muscle is on the underside of the tail. Removing the ability to contract that muscle, or “clamp” the tail, has no connection to relaxation of the long muscles on either side of the spine, such as the longissimus dorsi. The lengthening or relaxation of that set of muscles needs, in part, the contraction of the horse’s abdominal muscles to lift the back. Without the development of strength in the belly muscles, a horse may appear hollow in the back. Hollow, as in shortened, as in back muscles contracted, NOT relaxed.
If the horse has a tight back, time to revisit the basics of the Dressage Training Pyramid. Rhythm (with energy and tempo) is the first and most basic level. Relaxation (with elasticity and a suppleness) is the next level, built on the skills of Rhythm.
I am not naive, I have seen tail sets, use of ginger and other methods to achieve a high tail carriage; and nerving in QHs to achieve the desired low and quiet tail set.
I’m also very teachable, so if there are points I am missing in this, please educate me. The President of the ASHA has not done so, in the response letter.
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I take issue with the whole concept of there being any possible upside to altering any horses tail, and particularly tail cutting. However, in my many years of experience in the breed, I have to say that I believe that this is a fallacy that has been set forth by the trainers, in an effort to keep this thing going.
Over the years, I’ve worked with many, many horses with tight backs. Tail pulls, back lifts, caveletti and other exercises are your friends.
I also simply loathe the fact that Donna acts as though this is some tiny little surgery. It isn’t, and it is life altering for the horse, particularly if it goes wrong. If you want to see what that means, visit the FB page “Halt Equine Tail Alteration NOW”, for photos taken of horses AT HORSE SHOWS with mangled tails. In other words, this kind of mutilation is considered acceptable for competition, but a natural tail is not.
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It is always a reasonable practice to familiarize a young horse with having it’s tail handled, as that is necessary in temperature taking, harnessing, and breeding etc.
Have you ever seen a horse [with an un-handled tail] get a lunge line under it’s tail? They often freak out, clamp the tail down and buck/kick like mad and make terrible rope burns under their tails. It is a dangerous reaction if a harnessed horse gets it’s tail over a rein.
When I handle foals I routinely get them used to having all parts of their bodies touched. Between the hind legs, and under the tail included.
The procedure of desensitizing a horse to a crupper at breaking/starting is sensible as a horse/pony may have one put on by a future owner. The desensitizing is done the same as for a saddle, or any other piece of tack, just focuses on a more ticklish area.
‘Nicking’ in my day, was a procedure to cut the muscles that allowed a horse to clamp its tail to it’s butt. It left a horse able to lift the tail to defecate, and to swish flies.
‘Nicking’ allowed a tail set harness to ‘train the tail’ to remain in the natural arch of a prancing horse. The tail set would have been very uncomfortable if the ‘clamping muscles’ were intact. A tail set must be used on a ‘nicked tail’ to prevent the muscle remodeling, and the tail being carried crooked.
Tail nicking and tail docking started centuries ago… as solutions to the issue of working cart and plow horses getting their tails over the lines/reins while swishing at flies. A bucking, bolting work horse could kill people back the day.
People found the look of the ‘nicked’ tails pleasing, same as they like the look of a horse in pasture prancing with the tail up. So a fashion was born that lives today. People have been altering their animals to look more pleasing, and be more functional, since they began keeping animals. Are dogs tails and ears docked for function or fashion these days?
All tail nicking that I witnessed was done with the horse in a trailer [in lieu of stocks] by a vet using sanitary surgical procedures. That is an area that is easily infected.
I never saw any brace used while the horse was ridden.
I believe the issue with ‘outlawing’ the practice of nicking is that it could render a large portion of the existing show horse population unusable. The Saddleseat industry is struggling in many areas and the loss of so many horses could be a blow to their industry.
I believe the dog show world is dealing with similar rules governing the altering of ears, and docking of tails in certain breeds.
Personally… I like horses [and dogs] with their bodies whole, and unaltered. Except, of course, if an illness or injury makes a surgical procedure necessary.
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I didn’t know merging was done to quarter horses. Could someone explain that?
Do you mean ‘nerving’? This is when a substance is injected to block the nerves that allow a horse to move its tail. It is/was common in showing QHs where a quiet, flat tail is wanted, and swishing or wringing the tail may be penalized as a sign of resistance. The effect may wear off with time, but may also cause a tail to be permanently paralyzed, leaving the horse unable to use its tail for flies, or lift it when passing manure.
Artcle, but warning, there are graphic photos:
I had no idea…pardon my ignorance about this. It’s a world I know nothing about, obviously. Sounds really just as awful as the other practices mentioned in this thread
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IMO, it is. Especially because it can result in permanent damage, and may be done by people other than licensed veterinarians.
If you watch some of the QH Congress videos on YouTube, you’ll see the tails. They look “dead”, some have added false tail extensions. There is no natural “lift” as you would see in another horse that is moving especially at the trot (jog) and canter (lope). The tail hangs with no swing as the horse moves.
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I think the AQHA has has inspectors at many shows that check tails.
If a horse is found with an altered tail, he is eliminated from competition and there may be more to that, I don’t remember those rules, that have been around for a good 30 years or so.
We bought long ago one horse that had a “dead tail”.
It was an odd feeling tail, no life to it.
Horse could switch just a bit sideways, enough to get flies off and defecate, but it does make you mad a people.
Trainers have been getting better at training so they don’t cause wring tail horses.
I overheard one a while back say that for several years now they didn’t have any horse that would ring his tail.
Not breeding horses that have very “expressive” tails also has helped, I think.
Some lines were known for being easily irritable and that general grouchy attitude detracted as a show horse.
When those were not used for show performance breeding, that took out some of the tail wringers along with it.
In life, there are always those looking for an advantage and the rest trying to catch them at it.
Too bad when that involves our horses.
Tail extensions don’t have anything to do with dead tails, is something all showing horses, western or English do when their horse doesn’t has much tail and they are in a judged class, where the overall impression, not just performance counts.
A horse with a dead tail will not move as a normal tail would during transitions and will bang away behind the horse because the horse can’t hold it any more, is easy to see.
I think that if the associations wanted, they really could stop that, judges told not to penalize light overuse of a tail and any horse under a certain age that can’t use it’s tail fully be eliminated permanently.
The trouble is, there are degrees of disabled tails and some times a horse just naturally doesn’t hardly move it’s tail.
Hard to set tight limits when tail use is inconsistent.
I read the article and found it insightful. I owned a draft horse. When I bought him as a foal the breeder asked me about docking his tail. I said, “Why?” He said if a draft clamps his tail over the lines, he can effectively keep the driver from stopping or turning the team. We talked awhile and decided on a “long dock” for my Percheron. His tail bone was cut to 8 inches --I chose to do that because I wasn’t sure I was going to keep him (never having owned a draft before) and didn’t want him to have to have his tail cut as an adult. If I’d known I would have him for the rest of his life, I wouldn’t have done so. But at the time, it seemed the right decision since docking an adult would be much more difficult. The Percheron’s tail grew normally, he could swish it, and carry it “high” --eventually it swept the ground and we kept it trimmed to keep him from stepping on it. The article condemned tail-docking in drafts --but as I recall didn’t address the concern of the tail catching the lines. Some people do a short dock (3") --I don’t think those horses can swish their tails to keep flies off. To this day, I don’t know if it was the right decision --when the lines did catch under my Percheron’s tail, I could easily flip them out —I don’t know if I could have done that if he’d had a 16 inch tail bone . . .
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fairly certain lots of people drive horses successfully without cutting most, or even half, of their tails off. As to resale value, I’d rather a horse went home with somebody who thinks more about the horse than common custom. But that’s easy for me to say, since I have the land and means to keep a hay burner around.
it’s not easy.
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I don’t know anything about driving, but couldn’t tie up the horse’s tail, the way they do for polo?
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There is nothing about outlawing tail nicking that would render Saddleseat horses unable to be Saddleseat horses.
The Existing horses could be grandfathered and appurtenances/add ons like sets, tail braces, ginger, etc. be grounds for elimination at shows.
People would learn quickly to leave such things at home. Eventually horses would age out and the practice of ‘getting a better looking’ tail through surgery and artificial appliances would be eliminated.
Except for the badly done tails that become crooked, most horses that are nicked will appear to have normal tails after a few months of not wearing a set: It would require hands-on to tell if they had been nicked at any time. So there is no reason to allow the continuation of the ‘fashion of set, braced or gingered’ along with grandfathering those horses already nicked.
Outlawing horses with ‘partial or altered’ tails, ears, body scars or brands (hot branding is becoming illegal in the EU) from show activities does nothing for the horses.
This is quite different from REWARDING people/placing them higher if they have ‘the look’ of being set/docked/branded/ whatever.
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Nicking a tail to ‘loosen a tight back’ is akin to having a horse in full cup ‘blind’ blinkers to avoid shying from visual distractions.
Wrong thinking. Not addressing the true issue.
And thinking that action A = the nicking procedure; is the one having the desired back loosening effect.
In reality, Action B = the aftercare, and daily handling of the tail, use of crupper wear for 24 hrs daily, wrapping, manipulation, applying ointments, etc. is MUCH more likely to be the true desensitizing, ‘loosening’ factor.
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The USEF PRC doesn’t seek to stop any horse whose tail has already been cut from competing. The purpose is to stop the practice, moving forward.
No one wants to see unemployed American Saddlebred show horses do, believe me. I know exactly where they wind up.:mad:
However, if a horses’ tail has never been altered, and they wash out as a show horse, they have many more attractive options available to them.
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In my area Saddleseat will be finished with the current generation of horses, so ‘grandfathering’ is a moot point here.
I find the few Saddleseat folks left in the game way too eager to leap to their sport’s defense when no offence was offered. And like so many rushing to defense, they often shoot themselves [and their sport] in the foot when doing so.
That’s really reason Saddleseat is dying here. While it used to be supported by the genteel crowed, there is now so much bickering, kvetching, haranguing, ranting, and frickin drama… people just steer clear.
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I feel the same way about tail alterations in horses that I do about it in dogs: it’s for fashion only and is CRUEL and should be banned. I stopped breeding a particular breed of dog because I could no longer justify mutilating their tails for NO GOOD REASON. It’s horrifying. Thank you for posting this article and “rebuttal.” I appreciated your letter too.
I hope the sport manages to change enough to keep going.
Absolutely love seeing a good 5-gaited horse flying along in great form. And a slow gait like Imperator’s, sigh.
It would be a poorer world without variety.
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