92 • THE HORSE. 



these pavements were equally rough and uneven as 

 the old street pavements of the City of London, on 

 which the miserable animals were made to stand, or 

 lie down if they could, on a bed of torture, not of 

 rest. Dutch clinkers laid perfectly even and level, 

 make the best stable pavement, and a grating and 

 drain in the centre of the stall contribute to keep- 

 ing it dry, without the necessity of the usual consi- 

 derable descent from the manger, which places the 

 horse in a forced, unnatural position, his chief bear- 

 ing being upon his hinder quarters, occasioning his 

 hinder legs to swell, examples of which I have often 

 seen : and Mr. Goodwin observes, in reference to the 

 fore legs, I presume, that the horse being compelled 

 to stand with his toes up and heels down, the un- 

 usual strain on the muscles of the back part of the 

 leg, and the ligaments of the joints, particularly 

 those connected with the foot, must be productive of 

 serious mischief. These drains or cesspools must, of 

 course, have an outlet from the stable; and could 

 they be made to discharge themselves upon the 

 dungheap or pit without side, it would be a great 

 saving of manure. It would be useless to propose 

 improvements out of the reach of keepers of the 

 class of stables here referred to ; beyond that more 

 attention might be afforded to airing them, and a 

 more frequent removal of the dung, too often left 

 in the stall as a substitute for clean straw. 



Very considerable stables, unobjectionable in other 

 respects, have no drains whatever, the dependence 

 being upon a constant daily (it should be every stable 

 time) removal of the dung and foul litter which have 



