so: 



The Book of the Horse. 



to rust or become mouldy. There must also be presses for putting away horse-clothing, stocks 

 of bandages, sponges, leathers, and all the reserve tools required by a groom. The saddle- 

 room should be provided with a good stove (the pattern invented by Captain Galton, in 

 use at Woolwich and in many barracks, is one of the best), taps with hot and cold water, 

 and a sink. This will often be the coachman and groom's dressing-room, and when that is 

 the case time will be saved and cleanliness ensured by good, plain lavatory arrangements. The 

 hot-water pipes, as before observed, in the chapter on the hunting-box, should be utilised to 

 keep the saddle-room dry ; but to dry wet horse furniture of any kind, and the men's clothes, 

 after hunting, a hot closet or drying-room should be expressly provided. Horses suffer greatly 

 from being covered with damp clothing. 



The money expended in making the saddle-room a comfortable living-room for the 

 grooms is not wasted ; it will save many an hour's work that would be wasted elsewhere, if 



\ >, 



k=^ 



SADDLE STAND. 



STALL DIVISION. 



BRIDLE HOOKS. 



it were dark, cold, and draughty. Dark holes and obscure corners are answerable for a great 

 deal of waste of material and time in stables. 



In large establishments oats are best stored in a proper corn-loft over some part of the 

 stable buildings prepared for the purpose by floors and sides partly lined with lead or zinc, 

 and communicating with a corn-chest, of iron, by a spout, all under lock and key in charge 

 of the head groom. 



In town stables, where space is valuable and ventilation important, stables are ingeniously 

 planned so as to be open to the roof, but with galleries on each wall for the storage of fodder. 

 But in every great town it is easy to find examples of well-planned, well-managed stables. 

 The great point is to attend to the arrangements which secure plenty of light, dry, fresh air, 

 and the detailed contrivances for securing neatness. 



Coach-house arrangements are much more neglected than those of stables. A carriage 

 requires as much care as a sofa, and is often treated like a wheelbarrow, thrust after use 

 into a damp shed, to encourage the decay of the silk, velvet, or leather linings, and cause 

 violent colds to the ladies who sit in it without the slightest precaution, when within doors 

 they carefully dry and warm everything, from a pair of stockings to a pocket-handkerchief. 

 The coach-house in small establishments is often also the harness-room. It .should have a 

 well-laid wooden floor — wood block pavement is the best — the walls carefully plastered or 

 lined with match-boarding, and, if possible, be artificially warmed. Ventilation should be 

 secured by shafts or windows ; the doors should close and open easily. 



