EVILS OF MODERN STABLES. 223 



another's service. . Yet, though surrounded by abuse, ill treated and 

 often robbed of its food, the creature has no voice with which to accuse 

 or to complain. There is no one who even cares for its welfare. It is 

 credited with every "vice" and supposed to delight in malice. It is 

 imprisoned, beaten, libeled, and nevertheless gentlemen are often en- 

 countered who pride themselves upon the care and the money which 

 are lavished upon their stables. 



When all that concerns mankind — the formation of their houses, their 

 kind of food, their dress and manners, their laws and customs — have, 

 with the progress of the period, thoroughly changed ; even to such an 

 extent has this alteration been accomplished that it has been often said, 

 w^e our ancestors resuscitated, they would not recognize the land of 

 their birth; it becomes very painful for the mind to perceive that the 

 habits and usages which formerly surrounded the horse remain to this 

 day all but unaltered. It is a proof of the indifference which encircles 

 the stable, when the buildings erected to receive horses at the Royal 

 Yeterinary College, and which date from the last century, are, at the 

 present moment, regarded as models of perfection. Man cares only for 

 himself: of his property in the life which he imprisons, he evidently 

 takes no heed. He pays dearly for his carelessness; and "the beast 

 within his gate " shares none of those blessings which Providence has 

 allowed the human race to enjoy, although religion should teach him 

 that the mere mention of such a possession by Deity, ought to enforce a 

 duty upon humanity I 



Another so-named "vice" of the horse is frequently the occasion of 

 more serious results than any of the before-mentioned accidents. No 

 person has hitherto explained why the skin should be more irritable by 

 night than during the daytime. Such, however, is the case with horses, 

 as it is with men. A quadruped in the morning is often found disfigured 

 by the hair being removed from comparatively large surfaces. Itchiness 

 has provoked the animal to rub itself against any prominence, or to 

 scratch its body with the toe of its iron shoe ; this indulgence has 

 caused the blemish. 



Itching and scratching are numbered among the worst " vices " of the 

 stable. Such faults, however, are only discovered in their effects ; the 

 groom never estimates, when flogging an animal for this wickedness, 

 how far the abhorred sin may have been produced by stimulating diet, 

 by want of exercise, and by impure atmosphere. No 1 He clothes up 

 the body of the animal ; shuts every window ; stops every cranny ; and 

 locks the stable door for the night. The last meal being consumed, and 

 the quadrupeds not being inclined for sleep, they one and all begin to 

 itch. Legs are nibbled; necks are rubbed; and tails are lashed. At 



