250 STABLES. 



for it is not only very useful for the breaking-in of saddle 

 horses and ponies, but it also supplies its possessor with the 

 invaluable luxury of a dry and comfortable place in which to 

 exercise his animals in wet, snowy and frosty weather. In 

 Illustrated Horse Breaking I have dwelt at some length on 

 the advantages of a riding school from a breaking point of 

 view. 



We may take the minimum size of a school as that of 

 the arena of a circus, namely, a circle having a diameter of 

 1 3 metres, which is equal to about 43 ft. This length, or 2 or 

 3 ft. more, would be convenient for the side of a square school, 

 which could be used as a square or circular ride, as might 

 be desired. A size large enough for any purpose, would be 

 60 yards by 20 yards, which is that of a full-sized military 

 riding school. 



Supposing that it is intended to have a school, the track 

 of which could be used as a square or circle ; we might get 

 constructed a stone or brick building 50 ft. square externally 

 (or larger as might be required), and having walls about 

 12 ft. high. The place should be well lighted by windows, 

 but not by a glass roof, which would make it cold in winter 

 and hot in summer. The lower portion of the walls on the 

 inside, for a height of about 3 ft., should slope inwards at a 

 gradient of about 4 in I, so that when a mounted horse is on 

 the track close to the wall, the rider's legs and feet may be 

 clear of it. It will be convenient to have two doors, facing 

 each other, in the respective centres of their walls, and made 

 to traverse, so that no accident may occur from a door 

 being left on the swing. A width of about 10 ft. for the 

 doorways will permit of a horse being ridden from the 

 outside across the school at a fence placed near its centre. 

 Mirrors on the walls of a riding school greatly help to light 

 up the place, besides serving their own special duty. 



Although the space in the centre of a quadrangularly 



