CONSTRUCTION AND FITTING OF STALLS. 235 



apt to harbour vermin. Any projecting portions of wood in or 

 near the manger should be covered with sheet-iron, zinc, or 

 other suitable material, so as to prevent the horse from 

 gnawing them or cribbing on them. 



The hay receptacle should never take the form of the old- 

 fashioned hay-rack, which is placed high up, and which 

 consequently is not an uncommon indirect cause of inflamma- 

 tion of the eyes, from irritating particles dropping out of the 

 hay into them. Besides, with these hay-racks, many horses 

 get into the idle and provoking habit of pulling out the hay, 

 irrespective of their desire to eat it, until all the hay they have 

 not consumed is scattered over the floor, and more or less 

 " messed " about. The idea of a rack (a receptacle formed of 

 open bars) for hay, appears to be altogether wrong ; for 

 it will allow any hay seeds which are in the hay, and which 

 are of nutritive value, to fall out. Also, a rack will hold 

 only long hay efficiently. I have therefore refrained in these 

 pages from employing the term " rack," when alluding to a 

 receptacle for hay. The hay holder which I find most con- 

 venient to use, is similar in shape to the manger, but is a good 

 deal deeper and is somewhat broader and wider. Its opening 

 is provided with a couple of transverse bars, which are nearer 

 their respective ends than the centre of the opening, so as to 

 stop the animal from throwing out the hay in the manner 

 practised by many horses. This hay receptacle is placed 

 alongside the manger and on a level with it, which is an 

 arrangement similar to that generally adopted by the chief 

 manufacturers of ready-made iron stable fittings. The pre- 

 cautions which I have advised when treating of mangers, 

 against inducements to cribbing, and against accidents to 

 horses from striking themselves, apply equally to hay holders. 

 A net, similar to those used by carters, will often prove useful 

 for holding long hay. 



Horses are so fastidious as to the quality of their drinking 



