CHAPTER XXI 



STABLES 



npHE cost of a stable usually has little to do with its 

 -*■ comfort or healthfulness. Everyone has seen 

 stables costing many thousands of dollars in which the 

 stalls are too narrow or too short, or slope too much, 

 or the flooring is slippery and dangerous, or some other 

 important defect is apparent. An old, tumble-down, 

 wooden building may be made perfectly comfortable 

 for the horses stabled in it. 



Perhaps the most important requisite of a stable is 

 that it should be dry. Dampness is especially bad for 

 horses. A stable constructed against a bank, or partly 

 underground. Is almost sure to be damp and unsanitary. 

 Sunlight is essential, and it is the best disinfectant in 

 the world. Sand is the best soil on which to build a 

 stable, gravel comes second, chalk third, and clay last. 

 Every stable that has to be locked up should be pro- 

 vided with slatted doors, so that on summer nights the 

 ordinary doors may be left open. 



STABLE FLOORS 



It is a great mistake to have the flooring of the stalls, 

 or even the flooring of the passageway behind the 

 stalls, of any hard, slippery material such as brick, tiles, 

 asphalt, or cement. This makes an extremely uncom- 

 fortable floor for the horse to lie upon even though 



[ii6] 



