Stable Management. 9 



the chronic disease of the eyes which is popularly known as 

 moon-blindness, engendered by the evolved ammonia and 

 vitiated air ; but the mares and sires so afflicted, conferred 

 on their offspring a hereditary tendency to this complaint. 

 Under such stable conditions, it was not to be wondered at 

 that chest troubles, asthma and chronic bronchitis, for in- 

 stance, were rife among these horses. Besides, the germs of 

 ' stable fever ' were permanent residents in these abodes, into 

 which, no young horse fresh from grass, could be put without 

 his becoming afflicted by this disease. The principles of 

 proper stable sanitation require no special study ; for we 

 have in ourselves a sufficient guide to their just comprehen- 

 sion. If a stable be so clean, well-drained, and properly 

 ventilated, that an ordinary, cleanly, healthy man or woman 

 could, without well-founded repugnance, eat their meals and 

 sleep in a stall, we may feel fairly confident that it is good 

 enough for a horse to live in. But if, after personal experi- 

 ence, we find that the air is close and there are bad smells 

 in it, we may be equally certain that it is no place in which 

 to house a horse. Ventilation with horses, as with men, 

 should be obtained (except in the tropics) without draughts, 

 which, in cold and temperate climates, are apt to give rise 

 to coughs and colds. The worst kept stables as far as neglect 

 of proper ventilation went, were those in which the old Irish 

 post-horses lived. I remember one four-horse coach in which 

 there was only one eye capable of seeing with, and that 

 belonged to the one-eyed driver. Much of the coaching was 

 done with Bianconi's quaint-looking conveyances, which were 

 long and large four-wheeled outside cars. The horses of all 

 these coaches were terrible cripples with hardly a sound leg 

 among twenty of them ; and yet when they were warmed up 

 with a mile or two's travel, they would face their collars, 

 stride along, and stay their distance in gallant style. I 

 remember asking an old coachman, by whose side I often 

 sat on the box seat and whose utterances I treasured in my 

 youthful memory, how it was that such ancient and appar- 



