164 LIGHT HORSES I BREEDS AND MANAGEMENT. 



which may be quite feasible in one situation may be im- 

 practicable in another. Generally speaking, however, surface 

 drains, as they are called, are the best, because they are 

 more easily kept clean ; if drains run underground anywhere 

 near a stable there is always a very great chance of foul- 

 ness. In consequence of the high price of straw, peat moss 

 litter is a good deal used both in private and trade stables ; 

 but whatever may be its merits in other ways and it has 

 several it has a tendency to choke the drains. This is a 

 somewhat serious matter when stables are drained in the 

 ordinary way, with a drain in the middle of the box or stall, 

 and where peat moss is used it will, in the long run, be found 

 better to cover the drain with some contrivance which will 

 allow of its removal when required, so that the drains may be 

 flushed. 



At the same time it is only a small number of horse owners 

 who are in a position to have their stables exactly as they 

 wish. Consequently, in spite of all theory on the subject, the 

 horse owner will probably find himself in possession of a 

 stable with underground drains. When this is the case it 

 is absolutely necessary that the drains should be properly 

 trapped ; the gratings in the centre of the stall or loose box 

 must be lifted every day, all scraps of litter must be taken out, 

 and the drains flushed regularly. This indispensable proceed- 

 ing is of a somewhat unsavoury nature, and as it gives no 

 visible results is often shirked. Fortunately the nose is a very 

 good guide on entering a stable from the fresh air, and should 

 a pungent smell of ammonia greet the visitor he would do 

 well to question his groom about the drains. A good deal 

 more might be written on the subject of drainage, but the 

 object of these pages is merely to put the horse-owner on his 

 guard. No directions would suffice to enable any one pre- 

 viously unacquainted with the details of draining to devise 

 a system for his own establishment ; the most effectual plan, 

 therefore, is to call in the assistance of an expert, just as one 

 would in connection with the drains of a house. 



