FIRST-HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE 



comfortable, healthy, and natural to the horse 

 and his feet and eyes. 



All hay should be fed from the floor, and no 

 hay-racks ever provided. The feed-boxes should 

 be movable, whether wood or iron, that they 

 may be scoured and sunned to keep them sweet. 

 A place should be provided in every stall to set 

 a water-bucket. 



Stall partitions should never be solid, at all 

 events near the floor. This construction is ab- 

 solutely inappropriate to our climate, and it is 

 marvellous that neither owners, stablemen, nor 

 builders have considered this most essential de- 

 tail. If any of them would spend a hot summer's 

 night in one of the stalls to which they condemn 

 their horses, they would know the reason. An 

 inch or two between planks allows air to circulate 

 at the bottom of the apartment, and to carry the 

 foul odors up and away. The partitions should 

 always be of open work, at least above five feet, in 

 order that horses may see each other, be sociable, 

 eat better, and do better. Imagine the solitary 

 confinement of the average equine, staring at a 

 blank wall, another behind him, and one on each 

 side ! 



If possible the apartment for horses should 



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