ACCESSORIES 31 



into a box, and not a stall when thoroughly tired. 

 In a box, however small, a horse is continually 

 moving about, and as he does so keeps relieving 

 the pressure on each foot in turn ; and he also is 

 much more predisposed to lie down, thus taking 

 his weight off his limbs, and to rest. 



An idle horse or a sick horse, however, needs 

 more room, and should have a larger box, as it is 

 his only opportunity of taking exercise. A horse 

 when free is continually moving about, for the 

 greater portion of the twenty-four hours, resting 

 but for short periods, and therefore, when con- 

 fined in a stable, and not being exercised, he 

 requires a good roomy box in which he can work 

 off superabundant energy. In such boxes, how- 

 ever, much more straw w^ill be used up than in 

 smaller ones, and thus the horsekeeper will find 

 his expenses somewhat increased. 



For a box for horses in hard work, a width of 

 9 feet is sufficient by 14 feet long ; this particular 

 width is convenient in other ways, as it is just 

 the length of an ordinary railway-sleeper. A 

 box is not necessarily always set apart for the use 

 of horses. It may, for instance, be temporarily 

 required for a cow, or even a litter of little pigs ! 

 It is well to use foresight, and think what might 

 be some day required, and a cow would soon get a 

 bad pair of knees if she was tied up in a box with 

 a hard floor. (Some jpersons may not be familiar 

 with the fact that when a cow rises from lying 

 down she raises her hind-quarters first, putting 

 all her weight on to her knees, and then with a 

 sudden effort springs up on to her fore-feet. A 

 horse does exactly the contrary, raising itself on 

 its fore-feet first, and then rising on to its hind 

 limbs.) 



