314 VETEEINAEY HYGIENE 



A careful inspection of the figures is essential to a clear 

 understanding of the subject, which is one of the most 

 important in connection with the fittings of industrial 

 stables. 



There is a difference of opinion whether bails should be 

 suspended from above, or to a post behind. The argument 

 in favour of a post is greater security of attachment, and 

 the fact that the post may be made to hold the harness. 

 The disadvantage of a post is that it frequently causes 

 horses to kick ; a bail fixed to a post has much less lateral 

 play than one attached from above. One of the objects of 



bails is to have a yielding partition 



when a horse is turned round in its 



stall. 



For light swing bails there is no 



reason why they should not be attached 



above, but perhaps a post is essential 



for the heavier ones. 



When a horse gets over the bail, he 



generally succeeds in removing strips of 

 Fig. 126.— Ball to pre- gj^jjj from the coronet to the groin, and 



vent injury irom the ° 



chain or rope, when if close on the ropo or chain, this in- 

 the baT ^''^' "'"' flicts a certain amount of injury on the 

 perineum during the struggles. To pre- 

 vent this a cylinder of wood or wooden ball is frequently 

 placed over the rope as indicated in Figs. 124 and 126. 



There are other methods of liberating bails than that 

 shown in Fig. 122, several being worked on the principle 

 of a spring hook which opens at a pressure of about two 

 hundred pounds. All these are satisfactory when first 

 fitted, but through constant use or defective material soon 

 get out of order, so that the bail falls with very little 

 provocation, or else fails to release itself. There is nothing 

 more effective than the hook seen in Fig. 122, which at 

 once opens on pulling up the link. 



From a sanitary point of view bails are superior to fixed 

 stall divisions, as they interfere less with the free circula- 

 tion of air. 



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