Sleeping while Standing 313 



difficult to overcome. It is often necessary to remove 

 the bedding during the day, and sometimes the muzzle 

 must be resorted to after he has had his night feed. 



Resting one hind foot upon the other. — It is very 

 common to see a horse standing with one hind foot 

 semiflexed and resting upon the front surface of 

 the other. The principal causes perhaps are fatigue 

 and unevenness in the stable floor. The habit may 

 result in serious consequences to the horse, as he 

 often wounds the coronary band, particularly if 

 sharply shod. Sometimes the walls of the foot be- 

 come so much thickened as to change the direction 

 of the foot entirely. The only means of preventing 

 these defects is by protecting the exposed parts with 

 leather boots. To overcome the habit, do not work 

 the horse to excess, or if due to unequal footing, level 

 the stable floor. 



Sleeping standing. — There are horses that never 

 lie down, a habit that seriously detracts from their 

 capacity for work. The principal cause, no doubt, 

 is nervousness, especially in the case of heavy horses. 

 To overcome the habit, change the horse from a com- 

 mon stall to a large box stall deeply bedded with 

 fresh straw. If he still refuses, give him two or 

 three days' extra hard work, feeding him in a common 

 stall and on the night of the second or third day 

 bring him in late, when the stable is quiet, and turn 

 him loose in the box stall bedded with fresh straw 

 up to his knees and hocks. He will usually eat his 



