250 THE COMPLETE FARMER 



we have described in the ceiling, that they may be occasion- 

 ally shut, either wholly or partially, so that, by means of 

 these and the windows, the temperature can at any season 

 be easily regulated, according to the weather or state of the 

 horse's health, more accurately if a thermometer be kept ; 

 an instrument which appears to be a necessary appendage to 

 a well-conducted stable. If, during the cold days of winter, 

 the contrivance we have proposed should be found insuffi- 

 cient to raise the temperature of the stable to the desired 

 point, the air may be easily warmed to any degree by means 

 of stoves placed on the outside, with iron chimneys passing 

 through the stable. It maybe placed in the saddle-room : 

 this, however, is scarcely necessary. 



Light is also a tiling of much importance in the construc- 

 tion of a stable ; and, for the purpose of admitting it readily 

 to every part, the windows should be large and properly 

 placed. 



There is no doubt that the eyes of horses are often in- 

 jured by dark stables ; and when a horse is just taken from 

 a dark situation, it is easy to perceive that light at first irri- 

 tates the eye and gives pain ; and this is more remarkable 

 when he is brought suddenly into the sunshine; nor is it to be 

 wondered at, that so delicate an organ as the eye should 

 suffer materially from the frequent repetition of this sudden 

 change. 



Though a light stable is desirable, the sunshine should 

 not be allov/ed to fall on the eyes of a horse as he stands in 

 his stall ; nor should the wails or ceiling be of a white color, 

 as, under such circumstances, the eyes would be over stimu- 

 lated and rendered weak : and when it is considered how lia- 

 ble horses are to diseases of these organs, and how frequent- 

 ly they terminate in blindness, no one will think any circum- 

 stance tending to their preservation too trifling to be noticed. 

 With regard to the best color for the walls and ceiling, a 

 stone or dove color is perhaps to be preferred, and may be 

 made by mixing a little lampblack, ivory-black, or blue- 

 black with the common white-wash. 



The door should be larger and higher than we usually see 

 it ; for horses are very liable, in passing through a narrow 

 or low one, to strike their hips or heads. I have seen some 

 troublesome accidents happen in this way ; besides, even if 

 the hair be struck off about the hips, it is thought a blemish, 

 because it may not grow again ; or, if it do grow, the hair 

 may be white. 



