HORSE-BOXES. 375 



one place to another is a somewhat dangerous proceeding, 

 especially during the act of placing him on the deck of a ship, 

 it should be done only when economy of time is of paramount 

 importance, or when a box is not available. A box may be 

 thus used for embarkation, even when it will not be required 

 during the voyage. 



The inside measurements of an ordinary horse-box are 7 ft. 

 long and 2 ft. 9 in. wide. This length is sufficient, but the 

 width is at least 3 in. too narrow for a hunter or trooper ; 

 because it does not allow enough room for a man to get into 

 the box alongside the horse, in order to arrange his clothing, 

 to pick up a foot, or to perform any other necessary detail. 

 For the conveyance of heavy cart horses, an extra allowance 

 of room should be made. Instead of having a box only just 

 large enough for a horse to stand up in, we might have one 

 sufficiently big (say, 9 ft. by 6 ft.) for the animal to lie down 

 in if he chooses to do so. I have known such an arrangement 

 to be used when taking valuable horses from Australia to 

 India. It proved very beneficial to the health of the animals 

 thus boxed, but the extra expense would not, as a rule, be 

 justified in ordinary cases. 



When two or more horses are taken on the upper deck, it is 

 a good plan to have a box made wide enough for one more 

 than the number intended, and to provide movable partitions, 

 so that any particular horse might be given a compartment of 

 double the usual width, as occasion might demand. Thus, 

 for two horses, the interior width would be 9 ft, and for three 

 horses 12 ft. The same principle should, if practicable, be 

 carried out with horses between decks. 



A box should be provided with doors at both ends, so 

 that the animal or animals may be able to go in or out of it, 

 whichever way it is turned. It should have massive iron 

 rings, placed in convenient positions so as to enable it to be 

 hoisted over the side by means of a crane ; and there should 



