16 STABLE ECONOMY. 



Besides these transitions, so unavoidable in large stables, 

 there are other evils. A very large stable is not easily ven- 

 tilated ; it requires a lofty roof to give any degree of purity ; 

 it is not easily kept in order ; contagious diseases once in- 

 troduced, spread rapidly, and do extensive mischief before 

 they can be checked ; and a large stable seldom affords a 

 hard-working horse all the repose he requires. His rest is 

 disturbed by the entrance and exit of other horses, or of the 

 persons employed in stable operations. It sometimes happens 

 that one mischievous or restless horse disturbs all his fellows. 

 He would do so in a small stable ; but there he can not an- 

 noy so many. All these objections are not applicable to 

 every large stable. In some the horses go out and return all 

 together. In that case, they are not exposed to such vicissi- 

 tudes of temperature, nor so liable to have their rest broken. 

 But the other evils are not insignificant. A very large stable 

 has nothing to recommend it that I know of. The expense 

 of erection may be something less, and one or two additional 

 stalls may be obtained by lodging the horses all in one large 

 stable, rather than in several small stables. When it is more 

 important to have a cheap than a healthy stable, the large 

 one may be preferred. The saving, however, may ultimately 

 be a great loss, if the builder of the stable be the owner of 

 the horses. 



For hunters and other valuable horses, the stables should 

 not have more than four stalls. These should be on only one 

 side. Nimrod recommends that only three horses be kept in 

 these four-stalled stables, and that the inner partition be 

 moveable, in order that two of the stalls may be converted 

 into a loose box, whenever such an appendage is required. 

 For a pair of carriage-horses, the stable should have three 

 stalls. The odd one is often useful. Should a horse fall 

 sick or lame, another can be taken in to do his work till he 

 get better ; or, the inner partition being made to move, two 

 of the stalls can be thrown into one. 



Hunters, carriage-horses, and others of equal size and 

 value, require a good deal of room. In width, the stable may 

 vary from sixteen to eighteen feet ; and in length it must have 

 six feet for every stall. Some are not above fourteen or fif- 

 teen feet wide, but these are too narrow. Others are twenty 

 feet, which I think is rather wide. There is no need for so 

 much room ; when too wide, the stable is too cold. It is 

 sufficiently wide at* sixteen feet, and roomy at eighteen. 

 Coach-horses, and others employed at similar work, usually 



