AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 251 



In fitting up the interior of a stable, particular attention 

 must be paid to the size of the stalls, which should not be 

 less than six feet wide, and the sides sufficiently high to pre- 

 vent any sort of contact or communication between the 

 horses. I know it will be urged as an argument against 

 this, that they are sociable animals, and thrive better with 

 a companion than when alone ; this is certain'y true : but, 

 on the other hand, I am convinced, from long observation, 

 that horses do not feel themselves in solitude when they are 

 thus prevented from touching or playing with their neigh- 

 bors ; besides, if we consider the numerous accidents that 

 happen from low stalls, how frequently they kick or bite, 

 and otherwise injure each other, there can be no doubt, I 

 think, of the superior advantage of high stalls. 



The stalls should also be of considerable depth, that a 

 horse may not, by drawing back, have the power of kicking 

 those in the adjoining stalls. 



The floor of the stall should be made of hard brick, as a 

 more equal surface is then formed than can be obtained by 

 paving with pebbles. Very little declivity is necessary to 

 drain off the urine ; and as great inconvenience sometimes 

 arises from suffering a horse to stand in a stall where the 

 fall is considerable, creating unnecessary exertion in the 

 muscles of the hind leg, and keeping the ligaments constant- 

 ly in a tense state, it has been recommended to make the 

 drain in the middle of the stall, whereby the hind and fore 

 feet of the horse might stand on a level. In whatever way, 

 however, the stall is made, it should be carefully cleaned 

 twice a day, that none of that putrescent matter may accu- 

 mulate which generates ammonia, or that pungent vapor 

 which is so abundantly found in close, filthy stables. An 

 iron rack is preferable to one of wood, being more easily 

 kept clean, and furnishing no splinters ; which, where wood- 

 en racks are used, sometimes injure the mouth. The man- 

 ger may be so contrived as to slide into the wall like a 

 drawer ; and then, while the groom is wisping him, he would 

 have nothing to lay hold of with his mouth, by which prac- 

 tice horses often become crib-biters. The height both of the 

 rack and manger should be such as to enable the horse to 

 feed with the greatest ease : the former is sometimes made 

 so high that the horse is obliged to exert the muscles of his 

 neck considerably in order to reach it ; and this has been so 

 placed, under an idea of its having a tendency to make him 

 carry his head more gracefully : it is more probable, how- 



