96 



MODERN HORSE MANAGEMENT 



[CHAP. 



along the back of each stall at least 1 ft. in the 

 rear of the partitions or heel posts. These drains 

 should be made of half-pipes (concrete or pot- 

 tery) measuring about 3 in. internal diameter. 

 In such cases the floor of the stable must slope 

 i in 80 from one end to the other, or from the 

 centre to each end, so that the depth of these 

 drains will remain the same. Metal pipes are 

 very easily broken unless they are thick. 



In private stables that are carefully looked 

 after, underground drains may be used. I do 

 not like a centre drain in each stall ; a drain 

 behind each stall is far better. This drain should 

 be covered with strong iron grating, and should 

 lead into a common pipe running down under 

 each side of the centre passage. The passage can 

 be made level, and the drain laid deeper as it 

 passes along to allow for the correct slope of 1 

 in 80. 



If the drains run into a sewer pipe outside, a 

 perfect type of gully-trap must be used to prevent 

 foul gas getting back into the stable. With open 

 drains the pipe should run open for at least 6 ft. 

 outside the stable, and then into an ordinary 

 underground drain. This open space acts as a 

 trap to prevent gases from the underground 

 drain getting into the stable. 



After the bedding has been taken out to air 

 in the morning, every stall should be washed 

 down with a 2 per cent, solution of creolin, or 

 suitable antiseptic, and scrubbed clean with a 

 hard stable-broom. Then a good quantity of 5 

 per cent, creolin should be poured down the 

 drains if they are underground. The half-pipe 

 open drains must be scrubbed clean as well as 

 the grooves in the floor. 



378. If peat moss or sawdust (Sec. 223) is 

 used, drains are sometimes not used at all ; but 

 as peat moss is not good for horse's feet when it 

 is soaked with the wet from the floor I cannot 

 recommend this method of stable sanitation. 

 There is no reason at all why upstair stables, if 

 made with ferro-concrete floor (or any kind of 

 floor for that matter), should not be properly 

 drained. 



A loose box (box stall) (see Sec. 386) should 

 drain in the centre if underground drains are 

 used, the floor sloping about 1 in 80 towards the 

 centre. If surface drains are used, the floor 

 should slope 1 in 80 to the back, and slightly 

 towards the centre, similar to an ordinary stall ; 

 the partition at the side next to the passage must 

 be raised an inch or two at the bottom to allow 

 for drainage underneath. 



379. Damp. A horse always keeps more 

 healthy in a dry stable ; dampness, besides being 

 one of the friends of disease-producing microbes, 

 causes various ailments, such as rheumatism, 

 debility, etc. 



In addition to having the walls damp-proof 

 (Sec. 373) and the floor 3 ft. thick and made as 

 described in Sec. 376, the site of the stable is of 



great importance. In a drained city the site, of 

 course, does not matter so much. Sand is the 

 best soil on which to build a stable, and clay is 

 the worst. The stable should be on high ground, 

 if possible. If on low ground the site should be 

 drained. 



After the foundations have been made (see 

 P. 86), and three or four layers of bricks have 

 been completed above ground level, a layer of 

 pitch should be laid over the whole thickness of 

 the wall as well as over the inner and outer 

 walls. This prevents the damp from rising up 

 the wall. A stable should be isolated from other 

 buildings where possible ; if this is done, more 

 fresh air and light will reach it. If circum- 

 stances permit, its longer sides should face the 

 east and west, so that both rows of windows (if 

 there are two rows of horses) will get a little 

 sun. If facing the north and south, one row 

 would get all the sun and the other none at all. 

 The practice of building a stable with a coach- 

 house as a wing on one side, and harness-rooms, 

 etc., as a wing on the other, is not a good plan, 

 as it shuts out light and cuts off the free supply 

 of fresh air. 



For purposes of drying bedding every day, a 

 concrete floor, of 1 ft. in thickness, roofed to 

 keep rain off, should be made close by. It is 

 not a good practice to lay it under the outside of 

 the windows, as the gases arising from it will 

 re-enter the stable. 



380. Sanitation. Drainage and sanitation are 

 discussed in Sees. 377-8. If glazed brick walls, 

 concrete ceilings, and iron mangers are used, 

 whitewashing will be unnecessary. The parti- 

 tions, if of wood, must, however, be scrubbed 

 and painted with Hall's sanitary distemper, 

 alabastine, or other suitable washable sanitary 

 paint every six months. The concrete ceilings 

 should also be mopped with an antiseptic solu- 

 tion every three to six months. Walls and ceil- 

 ings that cannot thus be washed, such as ordin- 

 ary brick or plaster, should be whitewashed 

 at least every three months, or painted with 

 sanitary paint every six months. 



381. Wooden stables, which are dangerous 

 on account of the risk from fire and are also 

 very insanitary, must be whitewashed all over 

 inside at least every three months. Wooden 

 mangers should be scrubbed out with hot water 

 and soap every month, and brushed over with 

 whitewash. Greolin, or strong-smelling anti- 

 septics of any kind, must not be used, nor must 

 water-buckets be used to put these chemicals in, 

 as horses very much object to their odour. 



If a diseased horse has been using the manger, 

 it must be made thoroughly antiseptic by being 

 painted two or three times with chloride of lime. 



Buckets and watering-troughs must be kept 

 scrupulously clean, but not have creolin or car- 

 bolic put into them. The best antiseptic to use 

 for mangers and buckets, etc., is bichloride of 



