BUILDING CONSTRUCTION 159 



a constant supply of water in front of the horses is not recommended 

 for stables, other than " private " stables. In private stables, where 

 labour is not a consideration, the water pot is desirable. 



The water receptacle may be a circular trough adjoining the 

 grain trough. If provided with an outlet pipe and plug the pipe 

 diameter should not be less than 2 inches, in order to reduce the 

 risk of chokage. It should discharge outside the stable, and not 

 be connected directly to the drain. Some water pots instead of 

 being fitted with a plug are made in the style of a tip-up basin. 

 The tap for filling the pot must be set in the wall out of the way, 

 so that the horse cannot rub his head against it and get caught by 

 the halter. Automatic fillers are not always so successful as the 

 makers suggest. 



The most hygienic, and the most easily cleaned, water-fitting 

 is a ring which holds a bucket; the bucket can be removed and 

 cleaned outside the stable, and, if water is not laid on to each stall, 

 is readily filled at any tap. There are on the market bucket-holders 

 formed of a ring of iron which, being hinged near their attachment 

 to the wall and provided with a counterpoise, swing up when the 

 bucket is removed, and fit into a recess in the wall. These are 

 particularly suitable for loose-boxes. The objections to the use 

 of permanent water pots in stalls do not hold good with loose-boxes, 

 because here the water receptacle can be placed altogether away 

 from the manger, so that neither get so foul as in a stall where space 

 is more limited. As loose-boxes are in many cases used for sick 

 animals rather than for regular working horses, a constant supply 

 of fresh water is therefore an absolute necessity in them. 



Yard-Troughs. Advocates of the individual water-pot system 

 plead that when horses are watered in the yard at a common trough, 

 not only is the system of watering irrational, but that they are more 

 likely to contract disease from one another. To a certain extent 

 this may be true, but it is a recognised rule of stable management 

 that if an infectious disease, such as influenza, makes its appearance 

 in a stable or in a town, common water-troughs should be closed 

 temporarily and each horse supplied from its own bucket. 



A yard-trough should be placed out of the way of dust traps, 

 such as are naturally formed at the end of a yard opposite the 

 entrance gate. It is a mistake to have troughs too large. Within 

 reason, the smaller the better, because they are the more frequently 

 emptied and refilled with fresh water. In any case the trough 

 should be emptied once daily, and once a week should be well 

 scoured out. A suitable height from the ground is 3 feet. 



Most yard-troughs are provided with a ball-cock, so that they 



