STABLE ROUTINE. 107 



and work. Horses that have suffered from injury to the spine, 

 or whose hocks are diseased, will not lie down, or if they do, 

 they cannot get up again without assistance. It is generally 

 necessary with such to place them in slings when they come in 

 from work, in order that they may rest in them, in a standing 

 attitude, instead of lying down. 



Of course, after a hard day's work, the first thing to be 

 done is to attend to the horse's comfort. If he is very ex- 

 hausted from fatigue, or long fasting, a bucketful of warm (if 

 the weather is cold) oatmeal gruel should be given him as soon 

 as possible, before anything else is done to him ; during the 

 process of cleaning, hay may be allowed, and when he has been 

 thoroughly cleaned, clothed, bandaged, and bedded down, he 

 may have his grain feed mixed, if necessary, with a pound of 

 linseed boiled to a jelly, the hay rack being filled with hay. 

 Then he ought to be allowed to rest until next morning, when 

 he should be well groomed and exercised if standing in a stall, 

 or allowed to rest for the day if in a loose box. 



Nothing conduces more to rest and cheerfulness than 

 having horses which agree with each other placed in adjoining 

 stalls; quarrelling, biting, and kicking are the results of 

 incompatibility of temper among horses, and as a rule may be 

 prevented by mating those which like each other. A troublesome 

 horse should be put in an end stall, and if he is inclined to bite 

 his neighbour, a spare stall may be allowed to intervene, or the 

 collar-rein may pass through a ring at the far side of the manger, 

 instead of the middle. 



STABLE ROUTINE. 



For the good management of all stables, a certain routine 

 and discipline are necessary, and these must be rigorously carried 

 out ; without them, the stable will neither be clean, healthy, 

 nor comfortable, and the horses will be in an unsatisfactory 

 condition. If the proprietor cannot himself superintend the 

 management of his stables, that duty should be confided to a 



