204 THE HORSE. 
is not very great. I have myself adopted this plan with advantage in 2 
two-stalled stable which is too narrow for a travis, the whole width for 
two horses being barely ten feet. Here, of course, two stalls would be 
"unsafe, for no horse can be accommodated properly with less than five 
feet six inches from inside to ins{de of stall-posts, and this would require 
eleven feet six inches, being eighteen inches more than I had to do with. 
I find that a plank of elm, one inch and a half in thickness and eighteen 
inches deep, will protect a horse very effectually from the kicks of his 
neighbour ; and as I happen to have had an inveterate kicker in one of 
the stalls for six months, without injury to her fellow, the trial has been 
a pretty severe one. The hangings at each end are just the same as for 
bails, a chain, in my stable, descending from the ceiling, and no tail- 
post being used on account of the propensities of the mare in question. 
She would have demolished any fixed post behind her in a single night ; 
but the hanging plank of elm not being a fixture, gave way to her blows, 
and she soon left it alone. Ifthe horse is tied up with one rein only, he 
can bite his neighbour with great facility over the bail, but two reins are 
just as efficient with hanging bails as with a travis, and these should never 
be neglected. 
THE TRAVIS may be either of wood or iron, or partly of each material. 
If cheapness is an object, all that is necessary is to fix a head and tail post, 
and connect these by three strong rails ; inch elm-boards are then nailed 
perpendicularly, and cut at the top to the proper sweep, or “ramp,” as it 
is called, after which a thin fillet of elm is bent to the shape and nailed 
on to the top. Most travises, however, have an ornamental tail-post, and 
a framed top rail, rebated on the lower edge to receive the boards. In 
the present day iron, however, is substituted for wood ; but as, when cast, 
it is very lable to break, it should be wrought for the posts and cills. The 
following are the prices of these articles, varying with the degree of orna- 
mentation :— 
Lie Sie Ge Fess ee 
Wrought-iron stable posts, with ornamental cast tops, 
each from . aed le olic pay agegesk is i aie Ser ae 4 0to2 7 0 
If with rings for pillar reins, additionai 1 0 to 50 
Cast-iron ramp, each from one 1A aro aly 
Ventilating ramp with patent bars . my i woes, OW 
Wrought-iron cill, each from . (en Onto GUAR 
Intermediate rail, each from . (aiGutole ela 
Thus a plain iron frame-work, consisting of wrought-iron post and cill, 
with cast-iron ramp, may be obtained for about 20. 4s. to which must be 
added the expense of boarding both sides, which will come to about 10s. 
in deal or elm, exclusive of the labour, being fully double the cost of 
wooden posts and rails, put up in a correspondingly plain way. ‘The 
length of the travis should never be less than six feet six inches, and if 
the stable is fourteen feet deep, which it ought at least to be, the travis 
may be seven feet long with advantage. Beyond this length it should 
not extend except in very roomy stables, as there is danger of straining 
the back in turning out of a narrow gangway into the stall. No travis 
should be less than seven feet in height at the head, and four feet six, or 
five feet at the tail-post. If lower than this, the horses can bite each 
other over the head, or kick over the tail, and so become hung, from 
which latter accident serious mischief may ensue. The tail-post is gene- 
rally made only to reach high enough to take the ring for the pillar reins, 
but it is far firmer if carried to the ceiling. "When the stable is to be 
built from the ground, the tail-posts may be made to economise wood in 
