98 THE HORSE 



tance, we must repeat, is ventilation, and it is 

 always possible to keep windows open, and, if 

 necessary, substitute a door in two parts for the 

 ordinary door. Furthermore, ventilators can be 

 added at very small cost, if the stable stands in 

 such position as to allow of holes being made 

 through the end walls. If the drainage of a 

 stable is defective or unsanitary, it is better to stop 

 it up and use none, than to have the horses stand- 

 ing for the greater part of their lives over minia- 

 ture cesspools. If the stalls are carefully and 

 thoroughly cleaned out daily, there is no actual 

 need for a system of drainage, and horses can live 

 healthily on bedding of sawdust or shapings — in 

 fact some people, to whom expense is no object, 

 use one of these materials in preference to straw. 

 Box stalls are preferable to ordinary stalls in more 

 ways than one, but are, of course, impossible where 

 space is limited. The ability of the horse to turn 

 about and stand in any direction, of which he al- 

 ways avails himself, is of incalculable benefit to the 

 animal. He can get out of draughts ; he can 

 place himself in a position to attain the greatest 

 amount of fresh air ; and the power to move about, 

 instead of being constrained to stand in one po- 

 sition, enables him to obtain thorough rest when 



