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 an irritant, such as raw
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 liven up a sick or weakened animal temporarily, was known as
feaguing (from which the modern term
figgingderives), and involved a piece of ginger,
onion,
pepper or
tobacco.