Animals: No More Nicking

Last week New York's Governor Herbert H. Lehman signed a bill which made his State the first to prohibit the "nicking" of horses' tails. Few laymen knew what the expression meant. Even amateur horsemen sometimes think the show horse's smartly arched tail is a result of breeding or training.

A permanently arched tail is the result of an operation and an excruciatingly painful setting process. A veterinarian cuts and breaks the horse's tail much as an unskilled woodsman might hack and push down a sapling. Incisions are made on, the upper side, the...