LOOSE BOXES. 243 



need to employ any special apparatus to hold the hay, 

 which, in that case, can be put into a corner for the 

 horse to eat. If a receptacle is needed to hold the hay, 

 and it is not convenient to get a ready-made hay-holder, 

 a cheap and serviceable one may be constructed of wood, 

 which should, of course, be protected by some substance like 

 zinc or sheet-iron, that the horse will not seize with his 

 teeth. If wood be objected to, a brick wall, 3 feet high, may 

 be built across one corner, at the head of the box, so as 

 to leave a triangular opening at the top. A similar structure 

 might serve to hold the manger. 



For feeding a horse off the ground, we may use a sheet 

 or large wooden box for the corn, and may put the hay to 

 one side or the other, at the head of the loose box within 

 convenient reach of the animal. 



The horse may get his water out of a sheet-iron bucket 

 placed in one of the corners of the box ; provided of course 

 that he shows no inclination to play with the bucket and upset 

 it. To avoid accident, it is well to have no handle on a bucket 

 left on the floor in a box or a stall. An arrangement which 

 I have found to work well, is that of suspending to one of the 

 bars of the door or division at the entrance of the box, a 

 bucket of water (Fig. 27), and giving strict orders for the 

 bucket to be kept constantly full, by being, after the animal 

 has drunk its contents, detached from its bar, taken out 

 of the box, filled directly from the water source (tap, pump, 

 cistern, pond, or other means of supply), and replaced, so 

 as to avoid getting the water tainted. No tying-up chains 

 are required in a loose-box ; although a rack-chain will be 

 necessary. 



SICK BOX. 



A sick box is useful in the smallest stable, and is a necessity 

 in a large one. The only thing needed to convert an ordinary 



1 6* 



