26o RIDING FOR LADIES. 



A groom's bedroom is a decidedly necessary addition to 

 a stable, — horses so frequently become ill in the night, or 

 fall to kicking, or get halter-cast when tied up, or contrive 

 to break loose and go wandering about the stable, — in 

 fact, so many things, that this special chamber ought never 

 to be left unprovided, or untenanted. I speak now of 

 establishments where a number of horses are kept ; where 

 there is only one, or perhaps two, and that they are 

 properly seen to the last thing at night, there will not, 

 as a rule, be any actual necessity for a groom to sleep on 

 the premises. 



A common appendage to many country stables is a 

 water-pond. It is usually made to serve for washing and 

 watering the horses, washing the carriage, bathing the fowls, 

 and drowning supernumerary pups, kittens, and stray cats. 

 I strongly recommend its removal— or at all events, the 

 removal of any servant who leads a horse to drink at it, 

 fetches water from it for feeding purposes, or drags any 

 vehicle through it for the ready disposal of the mud upon 

 the wheels. 



Harness and saddle rooms should be entirely distinct from 

 stables. They should contain stoves or fireplaces, and should 

 be perfectly dry, lightsome, and well aired. There should 

 be an abundant supply of racks for whips, &c., brackets for 

 saddles, pegs for bridles, a good wide shelf for miscellaneous 

 articles, and a lock-up press for horse-clothing, leg bandages, 

 and other matters of a like description. 



A cat about a stable is a decided acquisition ; therefore 

 secure a respectable grimalkin of steady, sober habits, and 



