GROOMING AND STABLE MANAGEMENT 



57 



When the bedding is down and the groom is 

 about, he should remove all droppings whenever 

 he sees them ; these must be taken outside the 

 stable, and not left inside, as is often done by a 

 lazy man. 



A heavy draught horse excretes about fifty or 

 more pounds of dung per diem. The weight of 

 dung is approximately double the weight of the 

 dry food eaten, the water drunk making up the 

 extra weight. When a horse has been tied to 

 the pillar reins with its head to the centre of the 

 stable, the manger should be examined to see 

 that there are no droppings in the manger. This 

 is often neglected by grooms, who will throw 

 the next feed on top of the droppings in the 

 manger, and wonder why the horse does not eat 

 its feed. 



225. Laying Down the Bedding. Great care 

 should be taken to make the bed as even as 

 possible. When baled straw is used, the lumps 

 must be carefully shaken loose with the hands, 

 as it cannot be properly done with a fork ; on 

 no account must these lumps be left unbroken. 

 In approaching a horse in his stall, with a fork 

 of straw, he must be spoken to, otherwise he 

 may become frightened and kick, and possibly 

 run the fork into his legs. I have seen the 

 quietest of horses do this. If a horse will not 

 move over quickly from one side of the stall to 

 the other, on no account must he be struck with 

 the fork ; such an act is contemptible, and will 

 tend to make him fear anyone approaching with 

 a fork. By talking gently to him he will soon 

 get to know his groom, and will do anything 

 for him. (See Chapter III.) I have surprised a 

 great many grooms who had never considered 

 the matter in this light, by being able to do 

 almost anything with a horse which knew me, 

 whilst the same horse had taken little notice of 

 the rough and harsh methods of the groom ; and 

 upon imparting to the groom the secret by which 

 obedience is obtained from such horses, have 

 been able to convince them in a few weeks of 

 the right way to treat a horse. Kindness not 

 only pays, but it saves so much trouble ; so 

 that even a lazy type of groom or driver will 

 gain much by calmness. The bedding should 

 be placed well forward, because horses generally 

 work it back before lying down. The best way 

 to prevent a horse kicking its bedding too far 

 back is to lay it thinly in the centre and thickly 

 on the sides of the stall, because the horse paws 

 mostly in the centre of the straw. The bedding 

 should be attended to the last thing at night, 

 unless the horse is lying down. 



Sanitation in the Stable 



226. The whole stable must be kept scrupu- 

 lously clean ; if it is constructed of sanitary 

 material (see Chapter VIII.), the walls and floor 

 should be washed all over with a 1 per cent. 



solution of creolin or carbolic once a week. 

 Wooden walls and mangers should be white- 

 washed at least once a week. The ceiling should 

 be whitewashed with lime every three months. 

 The whitewashing of mangers is very important 

 in livery and sale stables, where strange horses 

 are coming in continually. Metal mangers 

 should be scrubbed out with hot water and 

 castile soap once a week. Disinfectants which 

 possess an odour, such as carbolic acid or creolin, 

 should not be used in the mangers or watering 

 buckets, etc. A solution of bichloride of mer- 

 cury (one in five hundred) is a good disinfectant, 

 as it has no odour ; but as it is very poisonous, 

 the vessel must be rinsed out with water after- 

 wards. Mercury must not be used on plated 

 metals, as it has a deleterious effect upon them. 



Sanitary distempers and washable paints 

 should be washed once a month. Glazed bricks 

 and tiles should be scrubbed once a week. Win- 

 dows should be cleaned every week inside and 

 outside, to admit plenty of light. Corners must 

 be swept free from cobwebs and dust every 

 week. The floor should be washed out every 

 day, unless it is a wooden floor, which should 

 be kept as dry as possible, or it will rapidly rot. 

 All drains must be opened and flushed out 

 thoroughly with water, and then with a 5 per 

 cent, solution of creolin or other suitable dis- 

 infectant, as Jeyes' fluid, lysol, Condy's fluid, etc. 

 If the drain is not working freely it must be 

 immediately reported, as it may require to be 

 cleaned by a sanitary engineer. Neglected 

 drains are often the cause of horses and grooms 

 becoming ill. 



Smoking or the carrying of lights, lighted 

 pipes, or throwing matches about in the stable 

 must be strictly forbidden. A lamp must not 

 be placed so that it can be knocked down. Oil 

 lamps are very dangerous in the stable, unless 

 they are the regular stable lantern. Smoking 

 should never be allowed near the stable or near 

 any haystack when there is a wind blowing. 



227. Stopping the Feet. Too much washing 

 will cause softening of the feet ; wet roads have 

 not the same effect because the increased circula- 

 tion during work counteracts the softening effect 

 of the moisture. Feet, however, may become too 

 brittle, and require stopping. This is best done 

 by filling the foot over-night with a linseed mash 

 (made with cold water and ground linseed), 

 pressing it well into the foot. It must be 

 thoroughly removed in the morning, and should 

 not be continued for more than two or three 

 nights, or injury may result, due to over-soften- 

 ing. Softening a foot in this manner merely to 

 help the blacksmith to pare the wall down must 

 be strictly forbidden. Puddled clay may be used 

 if linseed cannot be procured. 



To prevent the feet from balling in the snow, 

 they should be brushed over inside with a thick 

 oil or grease before going out. 



