128 



should be faced with glazed tiles or some 

 other sanitary material. Horses should 

 stand on level ground, and therefore the 

 stalls should be made level. In new stables 

 this would probably be the case, but when 

 one is in possesion of a stable with sloping 

 stalls, the following plan may be adopted : 

 Completely cover the floor of the stall Avith 

 a level platform of thick planks raised very 

 slightly off the ground ; the planks must be 

 bored with a sufficient number of auger 

 holes to let water run through. Very 

 little bedding is needed in such stalls, and 

 in fact, vast numbers of horses sleep com- 

 fortably on wood, without any bedding 

 "whatever. But scrupulous and regular 

 cleanliness is absolutely necessary ; the 

 planks ought to be taken up and cleaned 

 daily, and the pavement beneath them 

 carefully washed and dried. In ordinary 

 cases however, there should be an ample 

 allowance of good clean straw for the 

 horse's bed. Eight pounds of fresh straw 

 every day may be considered a fair average, 

 that quantity being prescribed for military 

 stables. 



For full information on these matters. 

 Horses and Stables," by Sir F. Fitz- 



<( 



