12 THE COMPLETE HORSEMAN 



in the middle of the stable, the channel sloping 

 towards it from each end. On no consideration 

 whatever should the material of which the channel 

 is made he of a porous nature. I have seen these 

 channels made of freestone and they looked well 

 and answered admirably — ^till the stables were 

 regularly used. 



The channels should empty themselves into 

 a pipe which should be taken through the stable 

 wall and empty itself into a receptacle made 

 for the purpose. It is a good plan to have an 

 iron vessel placed in this, and emptied every day. 

 By this means waste is avoided as well as cleanli- 

 ness insured. And care should be taken to 

 flush the channels and drain every morning. 

 It should be stated that a well-known writer on 

 Horses and Stable Management, Mayhew, has 

 advocated a plan diametrically opposite to the 

 one I have just described. Instead of sloping 

 the stalls to the heel he would slope them to 

 the front and he claims that horses stand with 

 more ease to themselves on ground sloping to 

 the front than they do on level ground or on 

 ground sloping to the rear. That close observer 

 and great authority on all appertaining to the 

 horse, the late Capt. Horace M. Hayes states 

 that he has not been able to verify this state- 

 ment, and it is difficult to see how any reliable 

 decision can be arrived at on the subject. It 

 is certain that a horse standing in a stall with 

 a slope of one in sixty is neither inconvenienced 

 nor harmed though he certainly suffers con- 



