The horse was made strong enough to do the work he's got to do, and man can't improve on him.

Docking is a cruel, wicked thing.

Now, there's a ghost of an argument in favor of check-reins, on certain occasions.

A fiery, young horse can't run away, with an overdrawn check, and in speeding horses a tight check-rein will make them hold their heads up, and keep them from choking.
"But I don't believe in raising colts in a way to make them fiery, and I wish there wasn't a race horse on the face of the earth, so if it depended on me, every kind of check-rein would go.

It's a pity we women can't vote, Laura.