142 STABLE EC0N"0MY. 



When the manger is too low, this can not be done, for it pre- 

 vents the horse from reaching the hay-rack. The manger 

 should be raised. This plan interferes in some measure 

 with the horse's rest. If he has to work all day, a wide 

 stall with long travises had better be tried, in preference to 

 shortening the halter-rein. A travis ten, or more than ten 

 feet long, may prevent the hind legs from getting across the 

 next stall, where they are apt to be trampled upon by the 

 neighboring horse. 



Turning in the Stall. — Small horses often get into a 

 habit of standing across the stall, or of turning round in it, 

 head out and tail in. Injuries of the back, the head, the neck, 

 and some lamenesses, are occasionally produced by a sudden 

 and violent effort of the horse to right himself. He should be 

 fastened by a halter rather than by a neck-strap, which gives 

 him too much liberty ; and he should have two reins to the 

 halter, each of the proper length. 



Lying below the Manger. — I have spoken of horses 

 that stand out of the stall, and lie so far back that they can 

 not rise till the head is liberated. Others lie too far forward. 

 For some reason which I can not discover, unless it be to lie 

 well upon the litter, they throw themselves so far forward in 

 lying down, that the head goes under the manger, or abuts 

 against the wall. The horse can not obtain complete repose, 

 and when not young and active, or w^hen the manger is too 

 low, he can not rise from this position. He must be drawn 

 back before he can get up. The space below the manger 

 may be boarded up, and the litter should be spread well back. 

 Perhaps the halter-reins might be attached to the travises in- 

 stead of the manger ; placed so far behind the head, they 

 would keep the horse back ; but I have never seen this tried. 



Halter-Casting. — This is the most dangerous accident to 

 which the stabled horse is liable. The horse often scratches 

 his neck, ears, or some part of his head, with a hind-foot. In 

 doing that, or rather in drawing back the foot after that is done, 

 the pastern is sometimes caught by the halter-rein. In a 

 moment the horse is thrown upon his broadside, while his 

 head and the entangled foot are drawn together. The neck 

 is bent at an acute angle, the head lying upon the shoulder, 

 and in this position it is retained by the hind-foot. The inju- 

 ry which the horse receives varies according to the violence 

 of his struggles, and to the time which he lies in this painful 

 situation. The pastern, or some part of the leg, often the 

 '^^igh. is sometimes deeply cut ; but this is not the worst part 



