14 STABLE BUILDING AND STABLE FITTING. 



Convertible 

 stalls and 

 boxes. 



and is further dealt with in Chapter V. The length of a stable 

 can be easily obtained by multiplying the width of the stalls 

 (say 6 feet 2 inches) by the number of horses to be accom- 

 modated in a single row, and by half the number to be provided 

 for in a stable with a double row of stalls. The stables above 

 described are suited for carriage and coach horses, hacks, and 

 the like, and have an available area in the stalls of 57 feet, but 

 this would not be sufficient for racers or hunters, or the larger 

 class of horses devoted to heavier work. 



Several schemes have been devised for converting two 

 stalls into a loose box, or a loose box into two stalls. The 

 middle heel-post a^ Fig. i, consists of a column secured at the 

 base, and also at the roof, with two revolving sockets, top 

 and bottom ; through this the centre portion b of the two 



Fig. I. 



Fig. 2. 



-^ — 



i^ 



'-•-••''>• 



.. r 



Fig. 3. 



I I r 



4 1 



I 

 I 



1 

 J i 



h h h 



Jo feu-. 



stalls is made to slide, and thus close up the posterior ends of 

 the stalls by a quarter turn of the column, the door to this 

 converted loose box being in the outside partition at c. 

 Another arrangement. Fig. 2, consists of a movable heel- 

 post at d^ and a head-post turning on a pivot hinge at e. 

 This renders the area /, however, a useless space, liable to 

 accumulate dust and debris. 



Neither of these plans are entirely satisfactory, for either the 

 stalls, as stalls, will be unnecessarily long in proportion to their 

 width, and suitable only for hunters, or there will be insufficient 

 depth in them for loose boxes, or not sufficient width for stalls ; 



