CONSTRUCTION OF STABLES 33 



travis should be bound with iron, to prevent the horses eating 

 it. Plate-iron answers the purpose well enough. It should 

 cover the edge to the depth of two or three inches. 



THE STALL-POSTS, that is. the posts by which the partition 

 is bound, are usually made of wood, but sometimes of cast-iron. 

 Those next the manger, termed the head-posts, rise five or 

 six inches above the travis, or up to the ceiling. That at the 

 entrance, termed the heel-post, should be round, or octagonal, 

 not square. The corners injure the legs of a kicking horse, 

 and are easily knocked off. These posts are often no higher 

 than the travis, and surmounted by a ball, or some othex 

 figure, intended for ornament. But in many stables the heel- 

 post rises to the roof, its extremities being square, the lowei 

 sunk in a stone, and the upper attached to the joists. These 

 are better than the short posts ; they keep the travis firmer, 

 and they admit of pillar reins at the proper heights. They 

 are useful for hanging harness, and they afford convenience 

 for slinging a horse, should that ever be necessary. The 

 short posts should be round at top, and not more than two 

 inches above the level of the travis. The surmounting orna- 

 ment is merely an encumbrance : it is in the horse's way 

 when he is turning round. When made of wood, these short 

 posts require to be sunk about three feet in the ground, char- 

 red at the ends, and surrounded by masonry three feet in 

 diameter. When made of cast-iron, they are attached by 

 means of screw-bolts to a large stone below the surface. 

 Short posts, whether of wood or iron, are never so firm as 

 those which rise to the roof of the stable. 



In stables intended for valuable fast-working horses each 

 side of the post should have a ring for pillar-reins. These 

 are used when the horse is required to stand reversed in his 

 stall. Coach-horses are reversed, turned with their heads 

 out, for half-an-hour before taking the road. They are turned 

 that they may not go out with a full stomach ; they are turned 

 arhen the groom is cleaning the head and neck. The pillar- 

 reins, one on each side, confine the horse, prevent him from 

 turning, or leaving his stall, and prevent him from biting while 

 under stable operations. The rings should be about six feet 

 from the ground. When short heel-posts are employed, the 

 ring must be on the top of them. 



THE WIDTH OF THE STALL, I have already said, should 

 vary from five and a half to six feet. For small ponies five 

 feet, or less, may be sufficient ; and for very large dray-horses, 

 ihe stall may ba six feet six inches. The stall is roomy at 



