INCONVENIENCE OF STALL-POSTS. 61 



where there is no stall-post he avails himself of it 

 to put his head over the adjoining standing, and 

 thus turns without inconvenience; but where 

 there is, he is forced to tuck his head and neck 

 round like a turkey poult prepared by the poul- 

 terer. This takes him some little time to do ; and 

 there are such things as grooms to be found who, 

 instead of permitting him to do it at his leisure, 

 have a habit of accelerating his motions by a flick 

 with the duster ; round he forces himself, making 

 the standing creak again, and looking — and, in- 

 deed, being — frightened out of his wits, from sup- 

 posing he has done something wrong. But more 

 than this, some timid horses, if told to " go round !" 

 sharply, forgetting the stall-posts, bang their 

 heads against it, and many an eye has suffered in 

 such a case ; master finding his favourite Quornite 

 the next morning with one shut. Of course, the 

 horse " did it during the night, in the dark," where 

 perhaps that eye will for the future remain. The 

 same objection, but in a minor degree, exists in 

 the horse coming round : but he seldom comes 

 round as hastily as he goes back. The elevated 

 ball is not quite, but nearly, as bad ; he can, if not 

 too high, lift his head over this ; but unless plenty 

 of time is given him to do so, bang goes his head 

 against that also. 



I know but of one or two reasons that can be 

 produced in favour of stall-posts: the first is, 

 that each stall in this case, furnishing a prop for 



