158 THE HORSE. 



stalls does not conduce to the health of the horses, and although 

 it may please the eye of the master to look down a long line of 

 valuable animals, this arrangement is by no means to be recom- 

 mended. Either two stalls with a loose box at one or both sides, 

 or, perhaps, as I said before, even four stalls with a similar arrange- 

 ment of loose boxes, should be the aim of the builder of a stable 

 for general private work, and in this, as well as in all other cases, 

 appearances should be sacrificed to utility. 



Of late years there has been a great demand for loose boxes, 

 and every private horse-keeper who could afford the extra space, 

 has adopted the plan, at all events for a large proportion of his 

 stud. For hunters and race-horses, when they are doing severe 

 work, there can be no doubt that the quiet and liberty allowed in 

 a box are far preferable to the restraint of a stall, where the horse 

 is constantly liable to be disturbed by the ingress and egress of 

 men and horses. In the stall, also, there must be a slope (though 

 not necessarily a great one), from before backwards, so as to pro- 

 vid'^ for surface drainage ; and this compels the horse who is tied 

 to tJ e manger <") stai d wi*h hif hind feet lowei thaif his f-^re, 

 which is a tiresome position if continued for any length of time, and 

 which therefore induces so many to stand back to the full length 

 of their reins. But the horse is a social animal, and does not like 

 solitary confinement any more than the dog; indeed, some which 

 will do well when placed in a stall, will even refuse their food, and 

 actually lose condition, if removed to a loose box, out of sight of 

 companions. If therefore the quiet and comparative liberty of a 

 loose box can be combined with the society of the stall, the only 

 objections to each are got rid of, and the best kind of accommoda- 

 tion for the horse is provided, though even in a loose box it is not 

 always desirable to leave the inmate loose. 



In large stables intended for business purposes, such as for 

 omnibus, cab, and wagon horses, loose boxes are out of the ques- 

 tion, on account of the area which they require, extra width being 

 necessary for the horse to turn round in, inasmuch as he cannot in 

 them put his head over the travis, as he always does while turning 

 in a stall. A full-sized animal must have his box at least 10 feet 

 wide by 12 long, which gives an area of 120 superficial feet, in- 

 stead of 80 or 85, the area required for a six-foot stall, including 

 the gangway. Indeed, the above dimensions are scarcely large 

 enough for a box, a roomy one being from 15 to 18 feet long by at 

 least ten feet wide. Again, the consumption of straw in a box is 

 much greater than in a stall, the droppings of the horse not being 

 deposited in any one place, as in the latter, but scattered all over 

 the surface, and spoiling the litter whereon they may happen to 

 lie. For these reasons loose boxes are not introduced into any 



