CHAPTER V 



STABLES AND STABLE MANAGE- 

 MENT 



The first question which a prospective or any other 

 horse owner should ask himself is — when he has 

 decided upon buying a horse — " Have I a proper 

 place to put him in ? " So many animals are kept 

 under insanitary conditions that it is more than 

 possible that this mental cross-examination will 

 quickly be answered in the affirmative, but that, 

 unfortunately, by no means proves that the reply is 

 correct. Most stables are sufficiently roomy, but it 

 may here be mentioned that in " Light Horses " the 

 minimum width of stalls is given as six feet and the 

 minimum depth ten and a half feet, and, of course, 

 in the case of heavy horses, more ample room 

 should be allowed — but the size of the stable is 

 not all that is necessary for the well-being of th^ 

 occupants. 



Ventilation is a most important, though much 

 neglected, subject in connection with stable archi- 

 tecture, and it is a difficult matter to combine the 

 outlet of foul air and the inlet of fresh with the 

 avoidance of a draught that would affect the horses. 

 The subject of ventilation, however, is so exhaus- 

 tively dealt with in the volume just referred to, and 

 it is of such vital importance to the health of 

 horses, that it cannot be treated of within the limits 

 of an elementary work ; " Light Horses " should be 



