CONSTRUCTION OF STABLES. '21 



of an old usage, merely to avoid open conviction of ignorance. 

 Dark stables were introduced, not because men thought them 

 the best but because they had no inclination to purchase light, 

 or because they thought- the horse had no use for it. 



A horse was never known to thrive better for being kept in 

 a dark stable. The dealer may hide his horse in darkness, 

 and perhaps he may believe that they fatten sooner there than 

 in the light of day. But he might as well tell the truth at 

 once, and say that he wants to keep them out of sight till they 

 are ready for the market. When a horse is brought from a 

 dark stable to the open air he sees very indistinctly ; he stares 

 about him, and carries his head high, and he steps high. 

 The horse looks as if he had a good deal of action and anima- 

 tion. Dark stables may thus suit the purposes of dealers, but 

 they are certainly not the most suitable for horses. They 

 are said to injure the eyes. There is not perhaps another 

 animal on the earth so liable to blindness as the horse. It 

 can not be said with certainty that darkness is the cause ; but 

 it is well known that the eyes suffer most frequently where 

 there is no light. 



Whether a dark stable be pernicious to the eyes or not, it 

 is always a bad stable. It has too many invisible holes and 

 corners about it ever to be thoroughly cleaned. The gloomy 

 dungeons in which coach and boat horses are so often im- 

 mured, are always foul. The horses are attended by men 

 who will not do their duty if they can neglect it. The dung 

 and the urine lie rotting for weeks together, and contaminating 

 the air till it is unfit for use. The horses are never properly 

 groomed. They can not be seen. One may fall lame, another 

 sick, and no one know anything about them till they are 

 brought to the door to commence a journey. Accidents, 

 choking, getting cast in the stall, tearing open a vein and such 

 like, sometimes happen when the horse's life may depend 

 upon immediate assistance, which can not be rendered in 

 the dark, or which darkness may conceal till assistance is too 

 late. I speak not of what might occur, but of that which is 

 common. 



All these things considered, it is evident that the stable 

 ought to be well lighted, and that the expense attending it is 

 ' a prudent outlay. When side-windows can not be con- 

 veniently introduced, a portion of the hay-loft must be sacri- 

 ficed, and light obtained from the roof. This in ordinary 

 cases will not be greatly missed. Let it be well done if done 

 at all. It is almost as expensive to put in a small window as 



