ELEMENTS OF HIPPO LOGY. 171 



CHAPTER XV. 



STABLE MANAGEMENT. 



The term "stable management" includes the art of 

 proper stabling, sanitary care, feeding, watering, groom- 

 ing, and nursing of horses. 



Stabling and Sanitary Care. — The first requisite for a 

 stable is to provide shelter from inclement weather. In far too 

 many stables this seems to be the only object in view. Of 

 almost equal importance to the item of shelter, for the robust 

 health of the occupants, are ventilation, dryness, and cleanliness. 



Economy of air-space is always sought for in stables. The 

 horses are kept in stalls that usually are only large enough for 

 the animal to stand or lie in. All available space in the stable 

 is used for passageways and for storage of forage and equipment 

 of all sorts; no space is wasted. That horse is lucky in a large 

 stable who has as much air-space as the man who grooms him 

 has in his quarters, although six or seven times his weight.* 



It is, therefore, of the greatest importance that ample fa- 

 cilities for ventilation exist. 



A horse needs shelter to best preserve his strength, 

 but he does not need his shelter heated artificially. 



In order to keep horses' coats short and glossy in the winter, 

 owners generally blanket them. Many, in addition, heat their 

 stables. The latter is, in most parts of the United States, un- 

 necessary; but, as it is much more comfortable for the stable- 



*Three thousand cubic feet of ventilated air-space per horse is 

 recommended as necessary to preserve his vigor unimpaired, according 

 to General Fitzwygram. He adds that, since horses are not so sus- 

 ceptible to draughts and cold as men are, by ample ventilating ar- 

 rangements this demand for air-space may be considerably decreased. 



