I read that docked horses used to be charged less to be field boarded than non-docked because they ate less grass, spending more time being bedeviled by bugs.
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I love the goofy appearance of uncropped/undocked Doberpersons.
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Tail nicking in gaited breeds is also illegal in my state (yay).
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Scotch shoes are insane. Mercifully they are less and less common. If only because they are stupid expensive.
The docked tailsā¦I can see why it was done, when horses were solely a tool to be used and therefore often broken hard and fast, and generally were rarely outside in pasture enough to be truly bugged by flies. Many working farm horses today will be turned out at night, but they are otherwise in tie stalls waiting to work, so shaved manes and no tail arenāt a fly issue. A horse can definitely learn that catching a line with a tail creates a complete loss of control. That is going to be real issue if the horse has other gaps in their training. Also, braiding up a tail everyday (even roughly) adds significant time to an already long 12 hour day. Nobody is going to do that. Nor will a braided tail solve the issue of a horse that has learned to catch the lines, or is just a swishy tailed horse and does it accidently time after time. So, yes, docking is an expedient answer to a constant annoyance.
Now, today working )agriculture/transport) with horses is a choice not a necessity, at least for most of us on this forum! One should take the time in training so the clamped tail on a rein isnāt a problem. Or modify the harness. Most horses today are not ground driven, so the tail is far harder to catch. If ground driven, train them so it isnāt a dangerous problem (it is an annoyance) As for manes and tails caught in the harness and the time to deal with thatā¦ Right now, my boys have long manes, forelocks, and tails because I havenāt been able to work them much in the last few months. One of this weekendās projects is taking most of that hair OFF. Their forelocks are getting in their eyes, Buddyās tail got tangled in a heel chain last week, and their manes are just too much. I may well take them both down to the āshavedā look all the way around.
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Good for you 
And the hell? We have pretty low somatic cell count margins for milk and somehow we make it happen with full tails. IIRC, (Iāve been out of dairy for about 2 years now) tails arenāt even supposed to be shaved at the bottom. The switch is supposed to stay natural.
If you canāt clean an udder properly for milking just because the cow has a full tail, sure as shit (haha) youāre doing something wrong and docking is a cheat anyway 
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Iām kind of shocked this is still allowed in this country (along with all the other cropping and weirdness done to dogsācropping Dobermans ears? Really?.)
I think the British driving community has proved how unnecessary these procedures are in a modern world of half-decent animal husbandry. I used to drive undocked horses in Central London. We had to be very, very safety conscious, and frankly is was bloody scary. But a line under the tail was something I never heard of.
So yeah, Iām with Ghazzu on this. Not a PETA supporter by any stretch of the imagination, but disfiguring animals purely for fashion or because weāve always done it? Just no.
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With something like these scotched feet if the judges would excuse them from the ring and not judge them, wouldnāt that stop this practice immediately? How can the judges, who are supposed to be setting a standard (are they not) reward this nonsense?
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I didnāt know tail docking was still done. Iām not going to criticize those whoāve done it, but as horsepeople, we should are look at our practices and attempt to be as humane as possible under public scrutiny. Horse people are losing empathy from the general public.
What are the reasons? Is it safety, or cosmetic? If safety, can the harnesses be made safe? It would be far better to fit the sport to the horse rather than the horse to the sport because our population is further from understanding horses than anytime in history.
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Judges for Draft shows - rated, big $$ shows - are very often Hitch owners/drivers themselves.
So itās hardly likely they would frown on a practice they are using for their own horses.
The godawful shoes do come off when show season ends.
Small light at the end of that tunnel 
???
What info was in that link?
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It was organized by an American outfit in Scotland. No mention in rules and health requirements that docking is illegal in the UK. If you check videos on Youtube, there were horses competing with docked tails. I was surprised that it was allowed to happen.
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Interesting 
Guess the American entries found a way to bypass the No Docking law.
Wonder if that gets addressed on their passports.
Interesting tidbit:
The Announcer for that show last year was American. She does Draft shows all over the US.
I was impressed she was invited to do the show in Scotland, but if it isnāt put on by Scotlandā¦ 
They had classes you wouldnāt see in the UK.
Did the Drivers in Ladies Cart dress like they do here?
Not all, but a lot wear what looks like evening gowns. Some so short, you āsee Franceā 
I can tell you, if I was driving a Draft to a cart thatās gonna bounce at trot, Iām wearing pants! 
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Didnāt see any videos on that class, Did find ādressageā(yawn).They didnāt seem to have got the memo on diagonals. Clydesdales really donāt like 3rd gear, do they ?
Itās kind of hard to get behind banning of docking tails and ears when circumcision is allowed. I mean, seriously - if you can cut off part of your sonās penis, why not a dogās ears? 
I personally have no issue with docking tails (and own a docked tail breed) but ear cropping is different and far more invasive. And far less necessary. Tail injuries are pretty common in many hunting and working breeds, but ear docking is for dog fighting and cosmetics, nothing else.
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Agree that we donāt understand horses as well, mainly because theyāre not much of our lives any more. It used to be that horses were the major means of transportation (besides feet 
) and source of horsepower for work, so people had to understand them to get their jobs done.
These days, we are conditioned to believe that we just have to push a button or turn a switch, lever or wheel to get something done. Nothing about the mental processes, physiology, or well-being of the machine (horse) weāre using at that time. Sighā¦
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Maybe not, but at least that one isnāt docked <3
Iām hitch-ignorant, I admit.
Is there any reason why the tail canāt be strapped to the strap that goes around the bum, so that itās physically impossible for the rein to go under? It wouldnāt have to be tight, even.
