252 RIDING FOR LADIES. 



stable clinkers set and bedded in it, and the whole grounded 

 in with Portland cement. 



I am a great advocate for box stalls, and would never 

 allow an animal of mine to be tied up by the head. It is a 

 barbarous and cruel practice, leading to all kinds of evils, 

 both visible and concealed. A box should be at least 

 twelve feet by fourteen, and I prefer it much larger. If it 

 be of brick, it ought to be lined with wood, and this again 

 with zinc in all places that the horse can use his teeth 

 upon. Projections of every kind should be avoided, as 

 they are apt to be injurious when the occupant moves 

 rapidly, or rolls to refresh himself. In a stalled stable a 

 box may be made by converting the end stall into one. 

 This can readily be done by having a gate that can be 

 hung on the stall-post and fastened against the w^all. A 

 screen, hung on rollers from a top bar, is better than a door 

 for closing up a box-stall. It never gets out of order, nor 

 can any horse — even the most ingenious — succeed in open- 

 ing it when once it is let down. 



Where stalls are used they ought to be at least ten feet in 

 length, and six and a-half or seven in width. The flooring 

 of stalls should never slant to any perceptible degree. 

 When it does there is a continual strain upon the back 

 sinews and flexor muscles of the horse, and this he strives 

 to relieve by moving backwards, and resting his hind toes in 

 the gutter, — a practice which grooms call a vice. 

 ' A stable door ought not to be less than eight feet high ; 

 this will enable a horseman to ride out when mounted. 

 •It should be quite five feet wide, and divided into two 



