228 STABLES. 



almost all the horses which are given in England the supposed 

 luxury of a loose box, are tied up for a considerable portion of 

 the day, and, in many cases, even during the night. This 

 custom is particularly cruel when applied to hard-worked 

 horses, like hunters during the season ; for the instinct of 

 the horse prompts him to seek repose in the middle of the 

 day. 



4. Economy of Material. It is self-evident that in the 

 construction of swinging bail stalls, a minimum of material is 

 required, and that boxes demand more material than ordinary 

 stalls. 



5. Facilities of Ventilation. The balance here is some- 

 what in favour of stalls ; for although in the same space they 

 would have more divisions, these partitions would not be so 

 high as those of boxes, and their entrance would be open. 

 Swinging bail stalls evidently offer less obstruction to ventila- 

 tion than any other kind of compartment. 



To sum up, we may say that all valuable horses and all 

 horses kept for pleasure should have boxes ; and that swinging 

 bail stalls should be used only when rigid economy in space 

 and money has to be practised, and when facilities for 

 ventilation are narrowly limited. 



SIZE OF BOXES AND STALLS. 



A narrow box or stall has the serious disadvantage that a 

 horse is more apt to become " cast " in it than in a larger one. 

 I may explain that a horse usually gets " cast " in the act of 

 rolling, by being prevented from completing the turn over on 

 to the other side by the interposition of some object, such as 

 the wall of the compartment, and at the same time being 

 unable to obtain from the said object a sufficiently effective 

 fixed point (fulcrum), by utilising which he might be able to 

 roll back again to the side from which he started. The fact 

 of the bones (humerus and shoulder-blade) of a horse's fore 



