LAND CARRIAGE 4G5 



methods or more now in vogue is by no means reassuring to the horse- 

 owning public, and so long as such divided opinions and practices exist, 

 so long may we expect accidents to continue, and litigants to press the 

 advantages of. one system in order to fix blame on another. 



" In tethering horses in boxes the general practice at present adopted 

 is to engage two stout ropes and a head-stall. The former are tied in 

 various ways, not only in the service of different comjjanies, but also in 

 dift'erent boxes belonging to the same company. The more common arrange- 

 ment is to have an ' upper ' and a ' lower ' rojae. These in some companies 

 have a reflation length of 3 feet for the former and 1 foot 10 inches for 

 the latter, while in others the length of rope to be allowed is left very 

 much to the discretion of the porter. When adjusted, one end of each rope 

 is attached to the right or left side of the head-stall below; the other end, 

 belonging to the long rope, is carried upward to one side, and securely tied 

 to an iron ring immediately beneath the roof above; while the still loose 

 end of the short rope on the opposite side is in some cases attached low 

 down to the partition in front, in others to a ring in the manger-board, 

 and in a third to a ring in front of the manger. 



"Another system is to run both ropes from the head-stall through a 

 ring in the last-named position, and then fasten them to the front end of 

 the box right and left of the horse's head. In some boxes only a single 

 rope is employed, in which case one end is attached to the chin-strap of 

 the head-stall and the other to a 6-lb. weight, which keeps the rope taut 

 through a hole in the manger-board. 



" It will be seen from this that, in all these methods of tethering, the 

 ropes, in one form or another, are made to rest on or near the manger or 

 manger-board, as the case may be, and consequently within reach of the 

 horse's feet whenever he is disposed to place them there. It is no rare 

 occurrence for excitable and refractory animals to land their fore-limbs in 

 this position, even when the head is tied down within 6 inches of the 

 manger-ring, and by entangling themselves in the ropes, to suffer severe, 

 if not fatal, damage; indeed, this is the great source of mischief in connec- 

 tion with our horse traffic by rail. 



" An ingenious and simple device for correcting this unsatisfactory state 

 of things, and one in which I have taken a practical interest, has been 

 designed by Mr. Bartrum, late veterinary officer to the Midland Eailway 

 Company, who have already recognized its merits and brought it into use. 

 The appliance consists of a rope, one end of which is attached to a ring in 

 front of the nose-band by means of a spring hook working on a swivel. 

 The rope then passes upward, and over an adjustable pulley-wheel fixed 

 in a slot in the partition between the stall and the coupe. Attached to 



