

FOOD AND GENERAL TREATMENT. .. - 423 



entirely level, as otherwise the horse can not habitually stand 

 easy and comfortable. The construction of some floors, by 

 which they are made to slant backward from the manger, 

 is altogether wrong. Its unpleasant eftects upon the horse 

 may be understood from the simple experiment of standing 

 three or four hours with one's toes an inch or so higher than 

 his heels. 



Let the floor, we repeat, be level, as dry as possible, and, 

 by frequent sweepings, kept perfectly clean, with litter and 

 bedding often changed. 



BEDDING. 



This is often called litter, but what is really needed is a 

 bed for the horse to lie down upon, in his stall. The latter 

 should not only be roomy enough, and so arranged that its 

 inmate can lie down in it, w^hen so disposed, but it should 

 always be spread with a good, clean bed of straw, or some 

 proper substitute, such as that most excellent one saw-dust. 

 1^0 matter what is used, however, the portions wet by the 

 urine, and all the manure, should be removed every morn- 

 ing, and if the horse stands in the stable during the day, at 

 evening also. The urine and the soaking straw decompose 

 very rapidly, and give ofl* large amounts of offensive vapors, 

 especially of the injurious fumes of ammonia, or hartshorn, 

 and hence they should be removed frequently. In many of 

 our best stables, this is done every few hours — an excellent 

 regulation, worthy of adoption every-where. 



The bedding should not be too thick, or so as to cover the 

 feet of the horse, as this tends to heat them, and thus induce 

 inflammation and disease. Two inches of bedding, of what- 

 ever sort, will be ample for any season of the year. As an 

 act of humanity, it is due the horse that he be given a bed 

 to both stand and lie down upon in his stall. A percepti- 

 ble difference may be discovered between the condition of a 

 horse that stands continually upon a hard floor, and that of 

 another who has a good bed provided for his use at all times. 

 In winter a sufficiency of bedding will do much to counter- 



