SIZE OF BOXES AND STALLS. 229 



legs above his elbow joints being closely tied down to his 

 sides by muscular attachments, renders his fore legs almost 

 useless for enabling him to recover his position when he is 

 lying on his back. Owing to the presence of a ligament 

 which connects the thigh-bone to the pelvis, the hind legs of 

 a horse have very little lateral play. Also, that portion 

 of a horse's spinal column which lies between the neck 

 and tail is comparatively rigid. Hence, a horse is pecu- 

 liarly liable to get " cast " in the stable ; not only in the 

 manner I have described, but also by the animal's head 

 getting underneath some fixed object, such as the manger, for 

 instance. We should bear in mind that a horse largely 

 utilises his head and neck for enabling him to roll and to get 

 up off the ground, as we may see from the fact that when 

 a horse is on the ground, he cannot rise, if his head is held 

 with the muzzle upwards. We may utilise this fact in 

 keeping a fallen horse down. 



An objection which I have heard made against the use of 

 wide stalls, but which I do not consider valid, is that in such 

 a stall a horse might place himself across it, and by looking 

 into the next stall might annoy its occupant. As this could 

 occur only when the sides of the stall permitted a horse to 

 see his neighbour or neighbours, and as it could be easily 

 remedied by blocking up the side divisions near the head of 

 the stall, so as to shut out the view, I do not think that this 

 preventable disadvantage should be held to outweigh the 

 increased comfort in moving about and in lying down, which 

 would be obtained by extra width. 



Experience tells us that a loose box, even for a horse in 

 training for the Derby, need not be larger than 12 ft. by 16 ft. 

 A fair ordinary size is 10 ft. by 12 ft. ; and one of 9 ft. 

 by 10 ft. may be taken as a minimum. A good size for a 

 stall is 6 ft. by 1 1 ft. ; although an extra foot in length might 

 be added with advantage. In Newmarket racing stables, the 



