The Scottish Parliament is in recess from 28 June to 31 August. We will respond to petitions as soon as we can.

If your petition is seeking emergency action or an urgent policy change, we would advise you to contact one of your 8 MSPs or the Scottish Government directly. Please be aware that the public petitions process is a thorough and often lengthy process and is not designed to respond to emergencies.

Thank you for your patience and understanding.

The Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Team

Under consideration PE2130: Make it illegal to remove all the hair from a horse’s tail

Calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to introduce a ban on the removal of all hair from a horse’s tail to leave a bare stump, other than for medical reasons.

Background information

The tail is an extension of the horse's spine, made up of two parts: the dock, the skin and muscles covering the vertebrae; and long hairs (the skirt) that fall below the dock. It is a vital part of the horse’s anatomy serving several functions: balance and temperature regulation, pest deterrence, and communication of the horse’s mood.

The practice of completely docking a horse’s tail was banned in 1949.

Many horse breeders try to present their horses in a “historic manner”. As they cannot dock the tail, they remove all the hair from the tail, leaving the bare stump. That practice is cosmetic and can cause the horse stress, as well as exposing the horse to, or hiding, other conditions.

An alternative to removing tail hair is braiding which keeps the hair out of harm's way and can be undone easily allowing the tail to function as it should.

  • Created by James A Mackie
  • Considered from 4 December 2024
  • Petitions can collect signatures until the petition has been closed

Sign this petition

40 signatures

This petition is now under consideration

Click here for further information about the consideration of this petition.

Share this petition