i 9 4 THROUGH STABLE AND SADDLE-ROOM. 



I suppose that 15 hands 2 inches is the average 

 height of our horses, and we shall do well, therefore, 

 in the present instance to take that as our standard. 

 I will here remark, for the benefit of the unlearned 

 in such matters, that the height of a horse is reckoned 

 by hands, and that each hand measures four inches ; 

 a horse, therefore, of 15.2 will be 62 inches high, 

 or, in other words, 5 feet 2 inches. 



The cavalry allowance for a horse of this height 

 is reckoned as follows : Hay, 12 lb., oats, 10 lb., 

 straw, 8 lb., per diem. 



At first this allowance of straw is not sufficient, 

 but after a few days, a fair bed having been made 

 up, it will be found enough, especially if care is 

 taken that only the worst of the soiled litter is 

 thrown on to the manure-heap, and the rest is well 

 dried daily. For horses doing hard, fast work the 

 allowance of oats may be increased, the hay being 

 decreased — the one very much balancing the other ; 

 and on this allowance, if the hay and corn are good 

 of their kinds, a horse should do remarkably well. 

 If he does not, it will be either because he is amiss 

 or the groom is dishonest. 



From the above scale the actual cost of keeping 

 a horse can be arrived at, so that the reader can tell 

 exactly what his stable expenses for ordinary forage 

 ought not to exceed. 



