Gingering

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gingering, or gingering the tail, is the practice of making a horse carry its tail high, and to a lesser extent to encourage it to move in a lively fashion, by applying ginger to its anus. Historically the process, the purpose of which was often to make an older horse behave like one that was younger, or to temporarily liven up a sick or weakened animal,[citation needed] was known as feaguing[1] (from which the modern term figging derives), and involved a piece of ginger.[2] The modern practice commonly involves a paste product with concentrated gingerol.[citation needed]

For the halter horses in the Arabian and American Saddlebred breeds, high tail carriage and animation are desired traits. However, nearly all horse show sanctioning organizations in the USA explicitly forbid gingering and have the authority to disqualify a horse treated in this way. While some areas may be less than rigorous about enforcing the rule, tests such as "ginger swabbing" may be done to detect the presence of ginger in the anus. While it is not entirely reliable, concerns of being detected by anal tests has led to some horse handlers placing the raw ginger in the vagina when the horse is a mare.[3] A modern veterinary dictionary notes that vaginal placement is more effective than anal insertion, because the ginger is likely to remain in place longer, and concludes gingering "would be considered to be an act of cruelty in any civilized community."[4]

See also

References

  1. ↑ The 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue
  2. ↑ Ogilvie, John. Imperial Dictionary of the English Language, 1883. p. 272
  3. ↑ This Practice Is Abhorrent, September 21, 2007, Straight Egyptians.com
  4. ↑ Gingering in the Saunders Comprehensive Veterinary Dictionary, 2007 edition, by D.C. Blood, V.P. Studdert and C.C. Gay; published by Elsevier. Accessed online via Answers.Com.

External links

  • Feague definition with etymology at Wiktionary.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.