302 HORSE AND MAN. 



accessories to the stable are placed much too high 

 for the convenience of the horse, but should scarcely 

 have felt courageous enough to publish my idea, 

 had not several acknowledged c horsey ' authorities 

 expressed the same opinion. 



Watch a horse feeding and drinking when he is 

 at liberty, and you will see that when he feeds his 

 nose is on a level with his fore-hoofs, and that when 

 he drinks it is below them. The whole structure of 

 his head, neck, throat, and especially that of the 

 veins of the neck, indicates the position which the 

 head was intended to assume when the horse was 

 eating or drinking. Yet we put the hay into a rack 

 above the level of his head, throw the oats, beans, 

 &c., into a manger on a level with his breast, and 

 pour the water into a trough on the same level as 

 the manger. In the model stable, the manger would 

 be on a level with the floor, and the running water in 

 a trough a little below it. 



ONE more defect of ordinary stables has yet to be 

 mentioned. The door is, as a rule, much too small, 

 both in width and height, especially the former. 

 This is not of so great importance when the horse is 

 entering the stable, as when it is coming out. A 

 high-spirited animal, which has passed some eight 

 hours in the stable, is full of spring and joyfulness 



