CHAPTER IX. 



STABLES AS THEY SHOULD BE. 



When considering this subject, tlie writer is freed from all restraints. 

 He has to describe things which exist only in his own imagination ; not 

 to depict any object which has been embodied as a reality, or which has 

 been fancied by another individual. The author, however, will en- 

 deavor to picture such an edifice as in some of its modifications any 

 one, keeping a horse, should possess ability to erect. 



To some persons the following description may appear so grand as to 

 border on the ridiculous. Compared with existing buildings, the 

 author's proposal, no doubt, must seem to be of unnecessary dimensions. 

 But a question of this nature is decided, not by what it seems but by 

 that which it actually is. Is any provision hereafter made, that health 

 does not demand ? If the place is large, so are the animals which are 

 to be harbored within its walls. What is unnecessary, or where is the 

 article which is useless ? As to the accommodation being too ample, 

 what would a Saxon king of Britain say, could he be resuscitated and 

 made to behold the palaces which her present Majesty possesses ? Nay, 

 what would a workman who had existed during the reign of "glorious 

 old Harry" exclaim, could he contemplate the accommodations which 

 surround his descendants of the modern time ? 



Stables, as they now exist, are tainted with all the evils of antiquity. 

 Improvement has changed the homes of the people, and has even 

 amended the prison of the caged songster ; but it has entirely skipped 

 over the jail of the horse. The place and the people about it smack of 

 a time when corruption was the rule and filthiness was a fashion. The 

 question therefore to be considered is, not what stables are, but what 

 they should be. What the animal requires to maintain it in its beauty, 

 in its health, and in its usefulness, is that which we now wish to ascer- 

 tain. All the world has witnessed how much the quadruped can endure, 

 when the master cares not for its comfort, is careless about its health, 

 and does not study the requirements of its nature. 



Bricks and mortar, however expensive such articles may be, are about 



(29n 



