Horse and man : their mutual dependence and duties . they could have been adornedwith a Greek or Latin title, such as Otoclids orAuriclauders, made ornamental, and, like blinkers,could bear the crest of the owner. There are manymen still living who can remember when a horsewas considered quite unfit to be looked at unless hisears were cropped close to his head, just as was thecase only a few years ago with many breeds ofdogs. At the present day we should say that the wholebeauty of the head was destroyed by the loss of themobile ears, which indicate the emotions which passthrough the animals m
Horse and man : their mutual dependence and duties . they could have been adornedwith a Greek or Latin title, such as Otoclids orAuriclauders, made ornamental, and, like blinkers,could bear the crest of the owner. There are manymen still living who can remember when a horsewas considered quite unfit to be looked at unless hisears were cropped close to his head, just as was thecase only a few years ago with many breeds ofdogs. At the present day we should say that the wholebeauty of the head was destroyed by the loss of themobile ears, which indicate the emotions which passthrough the animals mind, and that the horse washopelessly disfigured. We might also say that tocrop the horses ears was indirectly dangerous to 246 HORSE AND MAN. man, because the mode of carrying the ears is oneof the tests whereby to judge a horses temper. All this is perfectly true. But it was equallytrue in the days when cropping was in fashion, andyet its truth had not the least effect on the advocatesof the custom. This figure of the Cropped Horse is taken from. a cropped horse. a hunting print of the period in which cropping wasin fashion. At the present day the ear is, happily for thehorse, allowed to retain its full dimensions, so thatthe animal can direct it as he chooses, and be sensible,as he ought to be, to the slightest sound. But, thoughthe groom may not cut the ear off, he cannot let italone. The inside of the ear is furnished with a BLINKERS. 247 supply of hairs so arranged that they exclude dust,flies, and other extraneous objects, while they donot interfere with the passage of sound. Therefore, the presence of these hairs is anabomination to the professional eye, and the groom,if left to himself, will remove the hairs as far aspossible, sometimes cutting them off, and sometimes,when he wants to be very professional, singeingthem down with a candle flame. Deafness is oftencaused by this atrocious practice ; but that is nothingto the groom as long as the horse is got up accordingt
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Keywords: ., bookauthorwoo, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjecthorses
