TJie Stable. 13 



if a horse rolls he cannot roll over without getting 

 cast. The ventilation should be as I described in 

 my last; the ceiling should be at least 12 feet 

 high, without lofts above the stables ; but where 

 they are compelled to be for the value of space, 

 as in towns, air-shafts should be carried from the 

 stables through the roof, and all communication 

 from the stable shut off by doors, as nothing 

 spoils hay sooner than the smells from a stable. 

 A box or stall should be always made at one end 

 of the stable for the purpose of washing horses 

 after a journey, so that the floor of the stable can 

 be kept dry. The saddle-room should be in direct 

 communication with the stable, as nothing is so 

 bad for men as to have to run out of doors in all 

 weathers for everything they require. Many 

 stablemen come to a premature grave by running 

 out of a hot stable in their shirt sleeves when in 

 a state of perspiration; the cold striking them, 

 they become afi'ected with asthma, bronchitis, 

 and rheumatism ; yet not one stable in a hundred 

 has any regard paid to the comfort of the men. 

 The internal fittings of the stable are a matter of 

 taste ; and as every crow thinks its own bird the 

 whitest, so every gentleman thinks his own stable 

 the best. 



