THE HORSE HYGIENE AND SANITARY CONDITIONS. 641 



greatly damages the animal, it is a sufficient reason for extra 

 care to secure good ventilation. 



The custom of throwing the damp bedding forward under 

 the manger, is a very damaging one. It defiles the feed in the 

 manger, and the horse is compelled to breathe its poisonous 

 fumes. The bedding is better to be removed from the stable 

 entirely each morning. If this can not be done, then at least 

 carefully remove all that is wet, and pile the remainder in the 

 rear rather than under the nose of the horse. Since the days 

 of close, warm stables, we note the disease of pneumonia, and 

 lung troubles are increasing. 



The Temperature of the Stable. This is an important 

 consideration. The extremes of heat and cold tax the system 

 heavily. The office of the lungs and skin is so essential in the 

 work of depuration or cleansing the system, that it can not be 

 interrupted without danger. The lungs and skin of a man 

 throw off about three pounds of carbon a day, and any thing 

 that clogs or closes the pores hinders the process of respiration. 

 It is well known that the normal condition is best preserved 

 when the temperature is neither high nor low. About 60 to 

 70 in summer, and 40 to 50 in winter may be considered 

 favorable. 



Because a warm stable favors a glossy coat and less feed, 

 grooms and owners are inclined to keep the stables close and 

 tight, that the temperature may be kept up by the heat thrown 

 off by the animals. The danger is two-fold. The air becomes 

 vitiated and the animals debilitated. The coat of the horse 

 or ox kept day and night in a warm stable does not thicken up 

 enough to protect against a chill that comes when taken out of 

 the stables. Unless there is constant and prompt attention to 

 covering with a blanket as soon as exercise ceases, the animal is 

 suddenly chilled, and the tax on the system is most damaging. 

 If the stables are close enough to keep the winds from sweeping 

 through, and to prevent all draughts of air on the animals, they 

 will be comfortable with a lower temperature than when draughts 

 are felt. 



The farmer who uses his horses for slow work will not find 



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