2bS ROAD, TRACK, AND STABLE. 



The Stable. 



The first thing to notice is that the occupants poke 

 their heads out as we approach. This means that 

 they are kept in box stalls, and are accustomed to 

 be petted and to be fed with apples, carrots, and other 

 equine dainties. I am a believer in box stalls. A 

 horse loose in his box — and he should not be tied 

 unless for some special reason — gets an appreciable 

 amount of exercise in walking about his quarters. 

 The difference in this respect is so great that often 

 a horse, whose legs stock in a straight stall, will re- 

 main perfectly smooth if he be given the run of a 

 loose box. So also, the animal in a box stall, having 

 more freedom of movement, is much less likely to 

 take to kicking, cribbing, or weaving, — all these 

 vices being induced by ennui and restlessness. But 

 the chief advantage of a box stall is that it gives the 

 horse more opportunity to lie down, to stretch him- 

 self, and to roll. He likes to lie, as a dog does, 

 with his head flat on the ground, and with all four 

 legs stretched out at length, and this attitude is 

 impossible in a straight stall unless it be extraordi- 

 narily wide. Every stable should contain at least 

 one box stall, to be occupied by the horses in turn, 

 or in case of illness. 



The more a horse lies down, the longer will his legs 

 and feet last. Therefore, in a straight as well as in 

 a box stall there should always be bedding under the 

 horse, and, if tied at all, he should be so tied that 

 he can lie down at ease. It is a common, almost an 

 invariable, fault of grooms to tie up their horses too 

 short, lest they should get cast. But with nine horses 



