84 PUTTING INTO CONDITION. 



being exercised during this time ; thereby producing 

 fevers, rheumatisms, bad surfeits, and inveterate 

 mange. The man who pays fifteen hundred rupees 

 for his nag, generally adopts the first of these, the 

 hot and dark stable, by way of taking care of him ; 

 the man who pays five hundred, the open mydan, by 

 way of allowing the poor brute to take care of him- 

 self ; either way impairing their constitutions, and 

 making them miserable. ~* A stable in all the warm 

 latitudes of India should be nothing more than an 

 open thatched or tiled pendal, fifteen feet high, and 

 made into loose stalls of twelve feet square each. 

 During the hot and rainy months also, if the ground 

 is not damp, make his bed outside ; the insects in 

 some places may be more numerous, but it is cooler. 

 If at a cold station, and one side of the stable closed 

 up, let it be the north-east side, and open to the 

 south-west. Should you be anxious to ascertain 

 whether it is the proper temperature, and clean or 

 foul, sleep in it yourself for a couple of nights ; and 

 if you find it close and uncomfortable, so will your 

 horse. 



A small jhool, merely covering the back, and not 

 even meeting under the belly, is but half a jhool. 

 Jhools, whether to keep the horse warm, or to keep 

 the rain, the sun, or the flies off, should all be made 

 on the same principle, A fourth-inch broad band 

 should tie or buckle across the chest, to prevent it 

 slipping backward ; the hinder part should cover the 

 thighs nearly down to the hocks, a large hole being 

 cut for the tail ; this in the cold weather prevents the 

 wind from rattling along the belly ; but, when the 



* The Bombay cavalry are always picketed outside, and this is called a 

 state of nature. . 



