31\) STABLES AS THEY SHOULD BE. 



the i'.ock might be turned by day ; but so much Uberty could be afiforded 

 the equine captive during the night. The racer being reared for speed, 

 it is surely wrong to cramp its limbs by too stringent a confinement I 



Something also is attained, beneficial to other parties than the quad- 

 rupeds, by having the doors of the boxes to open on the ambulatory. 

 The necessity for mounting many animals within the stables would 

 thereby be avoided ; while the groom, upon rainy days, need not exert a 

 dangerous haste, for fear of wetting his best livery. Hurry is never a 

 safe emotion, when exhibited within the stable. The inhabitants, when 

 they behold their attendant looking vexed, see him move quickly, and 

 hear him speak loudly, from such signs infer danger ; or timidity flushes 

 with a certainty of his displeasure. It is the fault of the present race 

 of stable-men, that they regard the horse as a senseless thing ; whereas 

 the dumb are always the observant, and, generally, are very sympa- 

 thetic. They draw conclusions from scenes and acts which it may be 

 beyond their stretch of reason to accurately comprehend. Being liable 

 to misconstrue, the less they see of exciting spectacles the better. 



Within the loose box there is no rack for hay, to strain the horses' 

 necks, and shake seeds into their eyes, which must be open to direct the 

 teeth. The ordinary manger is also absent. The horse does not sit to 

 eat, nor can it lift the food to the mouth ; but naturally it lowers the 

 head to its gratification, and thus has no need to be accommodated with 

 exalted fixtures. As it can with ease feed off the ground, why should 

 man, in the nineteenth century, persist in forcing the animal, which he 

 domesticates, to forego the habits which nature has engrafted on ex- 

 istence ? 



No rope fastens an animal directly under the opening to a dirty hay- 

 loft. No puffs of cold wind, therefore, can blow upon the quadruped 

 through such an aperture, which is not a loss, for horses are very sus- 

 ceptible to colds, which modern stables are ingeniously arranged to 

 encourage. Like all life, when hotly and impurely inclosed, the steeds 

 become morbidly delicate: the pampered daughters of the wealthy 

 cannot, possibly, be more vulnerable to evil influences than are those 

 equine slaves, whose service demands a body vigorous with health, 

 strong and able to encounter all the seasons in their vicissitudes. 



There are, within the building, three small compartments, placed 

 against the outer wall of each box, and resting upon the ground. Two 

 are situated on one side of the entrance, the third stands by itself in the 

 opposite corner. All project eighteen inches from the wall, and two are 

 eighteen inches high. One compartment is used for water, and is raised 

 two feet, being, as regards length, of the same dimensions. One is in- 

 tended to hold prepared food — this is three feet long; while that meant 



