60 STABLE ECONOMY. 



nor less. There should be a manger for grain or mash, ani 

 another for water ; and a hay-rack. All these may be rather 

 smaller than those in the stable. They have been objected 

 to in a loose box, as likely to injure the horse. Except when 

 mad with pain or brain-fever, he will take care of himself. 

 The mangers, however, may be made to remove when they 

 are likely to be in the horse's way. There should be abun- 

 dance of air and light, admitted by windows and apertures 

 which can be closed, or their size regulated according to cir- 

 cumstances. The windows may have shutters, for light is 

 sometimes objectionable. They may be placed in the roof, 

 or high in the wall, out of the horse's reach. There should 

 also be a small shelf, near the roof, for holding a light, a 

 brush, bandages, or any other little article. A cupboard for 

 clothes, food, medicines, or articles belonging to the sick 

 horse, is convenient, and may help to keep disease from the 

 other horses. The door should be in two pieces, cut across, 

 the largest half at bottom ; it should open inward, and be 

 secured by bolts. The entrance may be five feet wide ; it 

 need not be wider, and it should not be narrower. 



The number of loose boxes required in a large stud, varies 

 greatly according to the kind of work and the kind of man- 

 agement. In well-ordered coaching studs, one to every thir- 

 tieth horse is sufficient. In some, double or treble this num- 

 ber could be in constant use ; but on such establishments 

 there are seldom more than two for a hundred stalls, and very 

 often not one. In hunting and in racing stables, one for 

 every third or fourth horse is almost indispensable. They 

 are employed for wintering the racer and summering the 

 hunter. 



Their situation in relation to the stables is a matter of some 

 consequence, particularly in large studs. When ranged in a 

 row, one side should abut against the stable or some other 

 building. The boxes are very cold when exposed all round. 

 But they ought, at least some of them ought, to be perfectly 

 separate from the stables, having no communication by which 

 the air may pass from the sick to the sound. The influenza 

 appears almost every year at certain seasons ; and there is 

 good reason for believing that, in some of its forms, or in 

 some seasons, it is infectious. The owner of a large stud 

 ought to be prepared for it. If he had a number of loose 

 boxes, or a number of small stables for two horses, he might 

 avert much loss and inconvenience. These small stables or 

 loose boxes need not be unoccupied at any time ; and when 



