2 HORSE MANAGEMENT IN INDIA. 



by a wall, screen, or other object, the distressing effects 

 of the heat will be felt in a moment. Stagnation of 

 air, in nine cases out of ten, is the cause of the many 

 cases of fever which occur during the hot weather, espe- 

 cially in large cities like Calcutta, where houses are 

 crowded together. I have seen, on different occasions, 

 horses, that were almost dying from the effects of heat in 

 stables situated on low and confined positions, recover 

 their condition and health, in a very few days, after 

 being removed to others on high and airy ground. 



I have tried the experiment of keeping a race-horse 

 in my own house during the hot weather, but he suffered 

 far more, even under a punkah, from the confined at- 

 mosphere inside, than he had done in his stable, which 

 was actually many degrees hotter, but through which 

 there was a free current of air. 



If valuable horses be kept during the hot months in 

 the plains, punkahs may be used with advantage ; but 

 if they cannot be conveniently fixed, and the horses 

 feel the heat much, a couple of coolies may be told off to 

 each animal, to keep him cool during the mid-day heat 

 with a large hand-punkah. 



I have always found that, when proper precautions 

 have been adopted, horses, in dry climates, such as 

 those of the North- West, Oudh, and the Punjaub, have 

 retained their health and condition during the hot wea- 

 ther, quite as well, as they did during the cold months. 

 This is in conformity with the fact that the horse is a 

 native of a dry, hot climate. 



In order that the stable should be kept as dry as pos- 

 sible, its walls should be constructed of some material 



