THE STABLE. 125 



the tail at the joint above tlie highest incision. In order to 

 prevent the hair from coming off, it should be unplaited and 

 combed out every fourth or fifth day. 



THE STABLE. 



The most desirable thing in a stable is ventilation. A horse 

 requires air equally with his master ; and as the latter requires 

 a chimney to his sleeping apartment, so does the former. This 

 may be a mere outlet through the ceiling, or it may be formed 

 as a dome or cupola. It should not, of course, be open at the 

 top, or rain will get in, but roofed over, and have an opening 

 at the sides. Besides this, there should be openings in the 

 wall, near the ground, but not in the stalls. This will produce 

 a tliorough air, and may be so placed as not to expose the 

 horses to the draught. 



The stable should not be less than twelve feet high, from floor 

 to ceiling, and the floor should be well paved, slope slightly back- 

 ward, and along the back of the stalls should run a gutter, about 

 a foot wide and an inch or two deep. No stable should be less 

 than eighteen feet deep, and each stall should be at least six 

 feet clear; but if eight feet can be allowed, so much the better. 

 Although some horses will agree when kept together in one 

 stall, it is far preferable to allow each a stall to himself. The 

 manger should be about sixteen inches deep, the same from front 

 to back, more narrow at bottom than at top, and two feet in 

 length. The rack is best when closed in front, the back part 

 being an inclined plane of wood sloping gradually toward the 

 front, and terminating about two feet down. This kind of 

 rack effects a considerable saving in hay ; for the reader 

 scarcely needs to be reminded that in the common rack much, 



