ON THE MANAGEMENT OF FARM HORSES. 
231 
sudden cases, as, for instance, in spasmodic colic; and thus the 
interest of the farmer and the veterinary surgeon may both tend 
towards one and the same object, i. e., the prevention of disease. 
If any epidemic should break out (the horses being contracted 
for), the expense of treatment is moderate and limited, which 
is so much the better for the farmer; and if the horses should 
continue free from disease, it is so much the better for both 
parties. 
With regard to the stabling of farm-horses, it should be com- 
fortable without being too hot, and well ventilated without being 
draughty. Means should be afforded at the upper part of the 
stable (but not just over the horses’ heads) for the exit of the 
heated and impure air, and if this be done we need not trouble 
ourselves about affording inlets for the pure and cool air ; it will 
enter quickly enough we may depend on it. In addition to venti- 
lation there ought to be sufficient light afforded by means of win- 
dows, which should be made to open, so as to be used in summer 
for keeping the stable cool. They should, however, be provided 
with shutters, or lattices, to exclude the light. For after horses 
have been hard worked during a long summer’s day, the sooner 
the stable is darkened, after being dressed and fed, the better, so 
as to induce them to lie down and go to rest. 
It is a very bad and thriftless economy in building a new 
stable to stint the room afforded to each horse. A dozen horses 
may be rendered uncomfortable and unable to take their proper 
rest, merely for the sake of making the stable hold one additional 
animal. Where full-sized horses are kept, six feet in width 
should be allowed to each, and stalls* should by all means be 
preferred where practicable. There are few persons who have 
been much used to horses but who can call to their recollection 
broken legs or other fatal accidents arising from the want of 
separation between each horse. Besides which, no two animals 
feed alike — some are slow, others are quick and ravenous. By 
feeding indiscriminately the former is robbed of his corn, and the 
latter is rendered still more ravenous by the hope of getting some 
of his neighbour’s, and consequently does not properly digest 
his food, and thus both animals are injured. Another evil also 
arises from this faulty system. One of the earliest symptoms of 
the majority of internal diseases is a loss or failure of the appetite. 
If horses are fed in separate stalls, the carter can at once discover 
* I prefer a loose box for each horse, or each pair of horses, with a small 
open yard attached, in which a trough for water should be fixed. The door 
from the box into the yard may be closed whenever it is expedient to do so. 
PoRTMAN. 
