5 TA G — STA GGE/?S 



as then, if there are windows both in front of and behind the 

 horses, they get the morning and evening sun whilst avoiding 

 that of the midday, which is often too warm for them. If 

 they face the east or north they are exposed to cold blasts 

 of air every time the door is opened in the winter, and if 

 their floor stands on a slightly higher level than the ground 

 outside they will be drier. A common fault in the con- 

 struction of stables is inattention to the importance of proper 

 ventilation, and the drains in many expensively constructed 

 buildings are lamentably defective. As a rule it is the best 

 plan to avoid stabling a horse so that he can neither see nor 

 hear another animal, as a lack of society frequently leads to 

 the development of some undesirable stable vice. Old 

 stables are, as a rule, unhealthy, and not infrequently 

 verminous, especially if they are roofed with thatch that 

 has been allowed to get into a bad state, and no horses 

 should be put in such a place until it has been thoroughly 

 disinfected, lest its previous occupants may have left some 

 communicable disease behind them. (See Box, Drains, 

 Floors, Light, Roofs, Stalls, Ventilation^ 



Stag. — An American term for a stallion that has been 

 castrated late in life. 



Staggers is usually a result of some affection of the 

 brain, but an attack may also arise from indigestion ; indeed 

 it is pretty generally accepted that stomach trouble is, as 

 a rule, primarily accountable for both forms of staggers. 

 Sleepy staggers is often the precursor of mad staggers, and 

 its symptoms are dulness and loss of appetite, accompanied 

 by drowsiness and an evident difficulty in keeping on his feet. 

 The breathing and pulse are slow, and the little water that 

 is passed is very high in colour. Should the trouble be due 

 to entirely stomachic sources, the stomach swells and a good 

 deal of pus is formed, the other symptoms being the same 

 as the above. The treatment is a strong purgative and 

 an enema to relieve the bowels, and hand-rubbing of the 



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