CONSTRUCTION OF STABLES. 15 



When horses are first lodged in a damp stable, they soon 

 show how much they feel the change. They become dull, 

 languid, feeble ; the coat stares ; they refuse to feed ; at fast- 

 work they cut their legs in spite of all care to prevent them. 

 This arises from, weakness. Some of the horses catch cold, 

 others are attacked by inflammations of the throat, the lungs, 

 or the eyes. Most of them lose flesh very rapidly. The 

 change produces most mischief when it is made in the winter- 

 time. 



All New Stables are Damp. — It is a long time ere the 

 walls get rid of the moisture introduced by the mortar. En- 

 try to a new stable should be delayed till it is dry, or as long 

 as possible. If, as often happens, the stable be wanted for 

 immediate occupation, the walls had better be left unplastered, 

 unless there be sufficient time for the plaster to dry. The 

 doors or windows should be kept off or wide open till the 

 day of entry. A few fires of charcoal, judiciously planted, 

 and often shifted, will assist the drying process. White- 

 washing the walls with a solution of quick-lime, seems to 

 have some influence in removing moisture. When ready for 

 entry, the stable should be filled. A horse should go into 

 every stall. One helps to keep another warm. In the win- 

 ter they should be clothed, have boiled warm food every 

 night [if convenient to cook it] and be deeply littered. 



Damp stables may be rendered less uncomfortable by 

 strewing the floor with sand or sawdust ; by thorough 

 draining and ventilation. In some cases, a stove-pipe might 

 be made to pass through the stable, near to the floor. 



Size of Stables. — They are seldom too large in propor- 

 tion to the number of stalls ; but they are often made to hold 

 too many horses. Those employed in public conveyances 

 in coaches and boats, are frequently crowded into an apart 

 ment containing twenty or thirty. It is not right to have so 

 many horses, particularly hard-working horses, in one place. 

 Such stables are liable to frequent and great alterations of 

 temperature. When several of the horses are out, those 

 which remain are rendered uncomfortably cold, and when 

 full, the whole are fevered or excited by excess of heat. 

 These transitions are very pernicious, and generally neg- 

 lected. The owner wonders why so many of his horses 

 catch cold ; there are always some of them coughing. If 

 he were to make the stable his abode for twenty-four hours, 

 and mark the number and degree of alterations which occur 

 in its temperature, he would have little to wonder at. 



