STABLING. 



STABLING. 



Ventilation is a matter of the first importance in a 

 stable. The means of ingress and egress of air should 

 be always three or four feet higher than the range of 

 the horses' heads, for two simple reasons : first, when 

 an animal comes in warm, it is not well to have cold 

 air passing directly on the heated surface of his body ; 

 and, in the second place, the foul air, being the lightest, 

 always ascends, and you give it the readiest mode of 

 exit by placing the ventilation high up. The common 

 louver window, v.hich can never be completely closed, 

 is the best ordinary ventilator. 



Drainage ought to be closely investigated. The 

 drains should run so as to remove the traps or grates 

 outside the stable, or as far as possible from the horses, 

 in order to keep the effluvium airay from them. All 

 foul litter and mass should be removed frequently 

 during the day ; straw and litter ought not to be al- 

 lowed to remain under a horse in the daytime, unless 

 it be considered expedient that he should rest lying 

 down, in which case let him be properly bedded and 

 kept as quiet as possible. In many cases the practice 

 of leaving a small quantity of litter in the stall is a 

 fine cloak for deposit and urine left unswept under- 

 neath, emitting that noxious ammonia with which the 

 air of most stables is so disagreeably impregnated that 

 on entering them from the fresh air you are almost 

 stifled. 



Masters who object to their horses standing on the 



terminate in most serious consequences. — See " Navicular Dis- 

 ease," page 124. 



