WARMTH. 159 



can not rise to a great height, unless it be produced by artifi- 

 cial means. I have never seen a stable heated by fire, and 

 can not say what would be the result of excessive heat. 

 Diseased liver, debility, a broken constitution, are said to be 

 the consequences of a long residence in a hot climate, but 

 whether a horse's work and temperance save him from these, 

 or whether an elevated temperature alone will produce them 

 in him, I do not know. There is little analogy between a 

 horse living in a hot stable, and a European living in a hot 

 climate. Other circumstances differ so much that nothing 

 could be learned by contrasting them. 



Warm Stables. — [When exposed to an average tempera- 

 ture of 60 to 65 degrees, to keep up a healthy animal heat, 

 the horse expires every twenty-fours, 97|- ounces of carbon. 

 The food which he eats supplies this carbon, and the oxygen 

 which is respired in the atmosphere, is its consumer. The 

 union of these two, carbon and oxygen, produces heat, and 

 this is all we know of it. The colder the atmosphere the 

 more oxygen it contains ; it follows, therefore, that the lower 

 the temperature to which animals are exposed, the greater the 

 consumption of carbon in their respiration, and the greater the 

 amount of food necessary to supply that carbon ; and this is 

 the reason why a horse in a warm stable fats faster, or is kept 

 in better condition with the same amount of food than in a 

 cold stable. A warmer atmosphere, or warmer clothing, 

 as stated by Liebig, is merely an equivalent for a certain amount 

 of food. The warming of stables is unnecessary except for 

 the racer or trotter when in training, and the hunter and stage- 

 coach horse at full work. For horses engaged in the ordinary 

 work of the farm or the road, they are extremely pernicious ; 

 for the moment they are exposed to a raw wind, or to standing 

 in the open air, they are liable to take cold, when inflammation 

 of the lungs, founder, and other diseases, are pretty certain to 

 follow. We are persuaded that roomy, well-ventilated stables, 

 of nearly the same temperature within as the atmosphere is 

 without, are decidedly the most healthy for the horse ; and 

 that he will do more ordinary w^ork during the winter thus 

 lodged, than if kept in a heated atmosphere, and be a hardier 

 and longer-lived animal. If the cold weather makes his hair 

 a little longer, or his coat somewhat the rougher, this is of 

 no consequence, when by it we secure greater hardihood, con- 

 stitution, and endurance. Our rule is to feed horses well ; 

 keep them dry and clean ; use them fairly within their pow- 

 ers ; walk them cool after being heated ; then take them to 



