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

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.