[Glad2bnuts]

Trimming tails is mutilation? What do you call it when you get your kids hair cut?

[libh8er]

Horse tail isn't all hair. There are vertebrae too. It's the vertebrae with which they 'clamp down'.

[skr]

Tail trimming is just cutting hair. Tail docking is cutting the dock or bony part of the tail. Some docking leaves the horse a partial tail and others go all the way to the horse’s tail joint to the hindquarters which is extra cruel, leaving nothing for the horse to protect itself from flying insects.

[TangoLimaSierra]

Trimming tails is mutilation? What do you call it when you get your kids hair cut?

Kids can swat flies easily without their hair.

[Avalon Memories]

Trimming tails is mutilation?

It isn't "trimming." It is amputating the long tail bone down to a nub. This leaves the horse with no ability to control flies that bite horses. It is cruel and unnecessary. Tails can be braided for shows so the tails don't interfere with any of the harness.

[central_va]

Trimming tails is mutilation? What do you call it when you get your kids hair cut?

What do yo call it when you get your kids breasts removed?

[metmom]

My understanding is that without a tail, the horses have no recourse to stop flies from biting.

The tails are there for a reason. Leave them alone.