j8 stable management. 



this arrangement it will be seen that the horses that are 

 exercised in the morning rest during the work of those 

 exercised in the afternoon, and vice versa. (After these have 

 been well dressed, as described before, the horses are watered, 

 and fed at six and again at seven ; and at eight, as in winter, 

 finished for the night and fed with hay. 



The winter clothing is of course of a heavier description 

 than that used in the summer. Both sets should be thoroughly- 

 well dried before using, as damp clothing is most productive 

 of colds : for the prevention of which no stabling should be 

 without a drying-room. The water that is given the horses 

 to drink should have the chill taken off to prevent griping, 

 when it can be safely given ad libitum twice or three times 

 a day. 



The stable should in all cases be kept as near one tempera- 

 ture as possible, about 45 degrees Fahr. in winter ; and in 

 summer as cool as can be. All the soiled straw should be 

 removed as soon as seen, and the stalls and boxes swept clean 

 every day, and allowed to be bare whilst the horses are out 

 at exercise; the doors, windows, and air-holes, should then 

 be kept open, whilst the walls and partitions are freed from 

 dust and cobwebs. A plentiful supply of clean straw should 

 be given twice a week — either of wheat or rye : both are 

 very good but wheat is generally used on account of the 

 scarcity of the other. Sir Wm. Burnett's disinfecting fluid 

 I have used for years, and I think no stable should be without 

 it, in health or in sickness. As a preventive against disease, 

 a little may be sprinkled behind the stalls and boxes daily. 

 Its use and efficacy in sickness I shall advert to elsewhere. 



My object in this chapter is to show the treatment of the 

 horse in health, and the hours generally assigned for his 

 exercise. His gallops and trials will be spoken of later, in 



