i62 POLO PONY MANAGEMENT. [Chap. Vll. 



whatever material is used, should be removed, and the 

 floor of the stall or box swept clean and dry every 

 morning when the stable is mucked out. I like to let 

 my ponies stand on the bare floor for two or three hours 

 a day, as I think this practice helps to harden their feet. 

 The use of peat moss or sawdust is an excellent 

 preventive against ponies eating their bedding. 



Apart from the question of gloss on the coat, it is a 

 mistake to suppose that a pony dirties himself more on 

 peat moss than on straw. The contrary is, I think, 

 the case, if we may judge by the fact that a white horse 

 does not stain so easily when kept on it, as when 

 bedded down on straw. 



STABLES 



Can hardly be too cold, provided there is no draught, 

 and that the ponies have plenty of clothing. The 

 ventilation should be at the roof or high up in the walls. 

 Colds, coughs, influenza, roaring, cracked heels and 

 other diseases are far more rare in cold stables than in 

 hot ones. It is best for stables to have no drains, 

 which, if they exist, should be flushed out with water 

 from time to time, and kept clean. As a disin- 

 fectant, we may use one part of either crude carbolic 

 acid or phenyle in twenty parts of water, or dry 

 gypsum. Whitewashing the walls, ceiling and floor 

 will keep them in a sanitary condition. 



USING POLO PONIES IN HARNESS. 



Although circling a pony with the long reins on foot 

 (Figs. 50 and 51) is much the better plan for keeping 

 him in exercise ; still, if it is a matter of covenience, we 



