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"The public prisoners were collected together, the fairest and tallest trees along the river bank were hung with the captured suits of armour, and then the victors crowned themselves with wreaths, adorned their own horses splendidly while they sheared and cropped the horses of their conquered foes."<ref>Plutarch, ''Life of Nicias'' 27.6 (Loeb Classical Library); Andrew G. Miller, "'Tails' of Masculinity: Knights, Clerics, and the Mutilation of Horses in Medieval England," ''Speculum'' 88:4 (2013),p. 970, n. 58 on Plutarch.</ref>
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The October Horse sacrifice is part of a complex of meanings surrounding equine mutilation in Europe.<ref>Miller, "'Tails' of Masculinity," p. 970–971.</ref> In the medieval period, docking the tail of a knight's horse carried a message of emasculation, defamation, and domination.<ref>Miller, "'Tails' of Masculinity," pp. 958–959 ''et passim''.</ref> Dozens of such mutilations are recorded in [[medieval England]] after the practice was brought in by the [[Normans]].<ref>Miller, "'Tails' of Masculinity," p. 959.</ref>
In one of the most striking incidents, ===The Trojan Horse===
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