STALL PARTITIONS. 31 



across from the stall-post to the wall, and this is 

 often a very great convenience ; besides which, 

 a good wide stall gives a horse ample room to 

 roll without fear of his getting cast. Again, a 

 shallow stable gives insufficient room for the 

 gangway, and this, in the case of a kicking or 

 vicious horse, is dangerous. Of course, where it 

 can be managed, there is nothing- so good as a 

 horse-box ; but it is a luxury which is not within 

 the reach of everyone, although a great many of 

 the modern stables are constructed so as to give 

 each horse a box to himself. Where such exist 

 they generally, and, indeed, always, should have 

 the upper part of the partitions railed with iron, so 

 as to allow as free a passage of air through the 

 stable as can be secured. It is argued that boxes 

 consume more straw than stalls. I do not think 

 they do, inasmuch as the straw is not so trampled 

 down and soiled as in a stall. It may take more 

 straw at first to litter a box, but if properly 

 attended to, and not carelessly wasted, it will 

 require no more additional daily straw to keep up 

 the requisite supply than a stall ; indeed, I doubt 

 very much if the consumption is not actually less. 



Where stalls are used the partition should be 

 movable. In Government stables, at least in 

 those used for the: officers' horses, they are in- 



