HABITATIONS 293 



admit of being interfered with by him during his hours of 

 idleness, may be employed. 



The door of a loose box should either be sliding or open 

 outwards, on no account should it open inwards, as it is 

 then only opened with difficulty when the bedding is down. 

 The width of a loose box door should not be less than four 

 feet. 



The number of outside doors must depend on the length 

 of the stable ; the question of exit in case of fire should not 

 be forgotten, and there must not be too great a length of 

 stabling without a door. 



The Inside Walls should be impervious and capable of 

 being cleaned, tiles of various tints, neutral, green, ivory, 

 etc , may be employed, or slabs of marble. White is not a 

 desirable colour, excepting in a dark stable, owing to the 

 glare. These impervious walls may be rendered handsome 

 in appearance, and are extremely sanitary, for they readily 

 admit of being swept and cleaned, and this is particularly 

 important with that portion immediately above the manger. 



The lining of boxes must be wood carried up to the level 

 of the top of the manger. 



The Roof should be open to the outside air by ventilating 

 tubes in the ridge. These tubes should be surmounted by 

 a fixed extraction cowl (see p. 73), and the number of 

 these must depend upon the number of horses in the 

 stable. This matter has been fully discussed under 

 Ventilation to which reference should be made. It may, 

 however, here be noted that these tubes are only of use in 

 small stables ; where a large number of horses are brought 

 under one roof, ridge ventilation by louvres under control 

 should be adopted ; the only reason for putting the louvre 

 under control is to be able to alter the size of the opening 

 in very windy weather, or prevent snow drifting in. 



The roof of the stable will most likely be a closed one, 

 as over head is demanded for lofts and perhaps sleeping 

 accommodation. It is a bad arrangement, but if it has to 

 be adopted the ceiling must be so arranged that extraction 

 tubes surmounted by cowls are carried through to the 



Digitized by Microsoft® 



