134 THE ART OF TAMING HOUSES. 



construction of stables ; but most people are obliged to 

 put up with what they find on their premises. Stables 

 should be so ventilated that they never stink, and are 

 never decidedly warm in cold weather, if you wish your 

 horses to be healthy. Grooms will almost always stop 

 up ventilation if they can. Loose boxes are to be pre- 

 ferred to stalls, because in them a tired horse can place 

 himself in the position most easy to him. Sloping stalls 

 are chambers of torture. 



Hunters should be placed away from other horses, 

 where, after a fatiguing day, they can lie at length, un- 

 disturbed by men or other horses in use. Stables should 

 be as light as living rooms, but with louvers to darken 

 them in summer, in order to keep out the flies. An 

 ample supply of cold and hot water without troubling 

 the cook is essential in a well-managed stable. 



Large stables are magnificent, but a mistake. Four 

 or five horses are quite as many as can be comfortably 

 lodged together. I have seen hunters in an old barn 

 in better condition than in the grandest temples of 

 fashionable architects. 



It takes an hour to dress a horse well in the morning, 

 and more on return hot from work. From this hint 

 you may calculate what time your servant must devote 

 to his horses if they are to be well dressed. 



If you are in the middle class, with a small stud, 

 never take a swell groom from a great stable he will 

 despise you and your horses. Hunting farmers and 

 hunting country surgeons train the best class of grooms. 



When you find an honest, sober man, who thoroughly 

 knows his business, you cannot treat him too well, for 

 half the goodness of a horse depends, like a French dish, 

 on the treatment. 



