THE STABLE AND ITS MANAGEMENT 225 



therefore always under control. Box-stalls, how- 

 ever, are excellent for a horse that comes in very 

 tired, or for one that is sick. So I should advise 

 that in every stable there be one or two box-stalls, 

 but that as a general thing the horses be kept in 

 ordinary stalk. These stalls should be 9 feet long 

 and 5 feet wide. A wider stall makes it easier 

 for a horse to get cast. The ceiling of a stable 

 should not be less than 12 feet.* 



Every stable should be kept cool in summer 

 and warm in winter. But artificial heat should 

 never be used, as it is in some of the sumptuous 

 stables of the over-rich in the large cities. A horse 

 does his work in the open, and there is no sense in 

 pampering him. In very cold weather the stable 

 should be kept as warm as is possible without 

 stoves or steam-pipes, and the horse made com- 

 fortable with good blankets and plenty of straw 

 for his bedding. In the summer when the 



* A carpenter in my neighborhood once asked me to select a horse for 

 him from a drove that was on sale in the village. I picked out a large fine 

 fellow, and the carpenter bought him. The next day I saw him with an- 

 other horse. "Why, where is the roan?" I asked. "Oh, I had to take him 

 back, he was too big for the stable!" "Why the dickens did you not make 

 the stable bigger ? " was my comment to the carpenter. 



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