The morning call., 1893-10-08
IN THE STABLE.
How Our Horses Are rlade Vicious and Unhealthy.

=, fsw heads here and there, but Dot refused
| il altogether Carefully tossing Off sew
] eral LAYERS from the bale to ascertain the
cause l came across quo oil tobacco,
probably dropped by some laborer in the
| field and caught in the BALE | threw off
all tine hay tb at | thought could have been
| contaminated, using 1t Tor bedding, and
| the ponies ate the rest without hesitation.
To sour managers, foul air. slanting floors
and darkened stables. we add stalls so
narrow tn at the animals can scarcely lie
down in them. Four feet is usually con-
sidered sufficient width for the stall, but
| nothing less than six feet is really ade-
quate 10 accommodate creature so large
as the horse After working hard Tor US
all day, he ought to be given chance to
stretch his legs at night. Every horse
ought, really. to be turned loose In box
stall. If this cannot be done bar should
! be put across the end of the stan at night
and the animal left united. Particularly
should this be done if the floor OF the staIi
slants. To stand on an inclined plane al
on it at night is still worse. Gravity causes
him gradually to slip down toward the
gangway until the pulling OF the natter
rope stretches his neck painfully. In THIS
case it frequently happens that be SIPS SO
lar as to be unable to raise his head. whlch
every recumbent horse must do before
ne can rise. and the animal Is cast
and painful predcament. Or, in at
tempting to rise he gets leg over the
halter-rope. In this case if a quiet anil
NAL. be will stand and suffer all night, as
have known horses to do. or he may kick
and plunge until he breaks leg or even
kills himself, as / once knew a powerful
young draught horse to do. The halter
rope took turn about his neck and one
fore leg. Plnnging about to relieve him.
! self be pulled the rope so tight as to stran-
dead IN bis stall next morning lying IN a
| hole which in his struggles he had dug al
most deep enough to serve as his grave.
| The board floors with which we lay our
| sta bleS are particularly bad for the legs
| and feet of horses. Hard dirt floors, kept
level and well packed, are what should be
in every stable. Where these cannot be
had the floors of the stalls, at least under
the fore feet Of the animals, should be OF
brick.
The good stableman is he who under
stands the use OF the blanket. A light
blanket during the day is a great comfort
to horse in keeping off draugh,s and
that still worse foe, flies. A horse can &C
tually be kept thin by the torment inflicted
by these pests. A heavier blanket should
be put on the animal at night all the year
round in this climate. II keeps the horse
cleaner and adds to his comfort Good
judges estimate. moreover, that the use OF
q blanket will save about one-third In
| 1ee0. as the animal does not have TO eat SO
much TO keep warm.
| We have in the horse one of the strong
est most active, nervous and timid of Great
| ures, with lungs enormously large IN pro-
! portion to the rest of its organs, with keen
hearing and scent, relying upon its eyes to
| tell 1t whether what 1t hears and smells is
dangerous, al d we shut it up in a narrow
and il-ventilated pen. tied fast by the
head, in stable permanently darkened.
| leaving 1t to stand for hours In its close
| encompasslng niche in an unnatural posi-
| tiOn, and consider that we have done our
best for its comfort and happiness, and
| sadly wonder why 1t Is that the horse,
which of all the domestic animals receives
the most care and attention should be the
most delicate and liable to accident. He
has list of ailments as long as that which
| human flesh Is heir to. He is constantly
hurting himself in his stall, and is often as
great source OF anxiety and expense to
bis owner as he is comfort and source of
| pleasure, and this purely because
of our signal lack of common sense in
dealing with him. He falls into all sorts
of tricks in the stable that are at first
| merely reSorted to to relieve himself from
fatigue or ennui. He learns 10 pull back,
to break bis halter. to crib, to gnaI( his
manger and bite his halter rope. He tears
his blankets, throws himself or gets cast,
and we worry over him or denounce him
| as vicious. according to our own disposi-
tions. but we learn few lessons from his
mishaps. Every stable should be we'll
drained and ventilated and as light as pos
sible. The walls should never be white
washed-the glare is bad for the eyes.
Stalls should be wide and roomy, with
level floors OF earth or brick. and pro-
vision should be made for so closing them
| at night that horses should not be battered.
Managers and Ieed-boxes should be kept
clean and all bedding should be removed
during the daytime.
Besides all these items there is much to
be considered as to the personal care of
the horse himself, which must be reserved
to some future date. MISS RUSSELL.