The management and treatment of the horse in the stable, field, and ...

In the Stable, Field, and on the Road. 9
Hitchm, which their owner considered a marvel of per-
fection. He had no doubt spent a large amount upon
them, and I am sure I never saw a more miserable
failure. The stables were lofty, with traps into the
small roof to let the hot air out, but the roof was 14
inches thick of thatch, and no air shaft to convey the foul
air through the root, consequently the air got in through
the false roof, and no further. The architect had
forgotten that pure air was required in the winter as
well as the summer, and there was no way of obtaining
it, only through the windows, which were high up, and
very small, close under the roof, giving no light into the
stable, and if they were open, threw a draught upon the
horses' backs. The doors were upon the sliding prin-
ciple, and when closed I could put my fingers between
the door and the door-post, making the draught enough
to turn a mill. The groom told me that when he went
into the stable the first thing in the morning the am-
monia was so strong that it brought tears from his eyes,
and almost choked him. This was called a first-class
stable—what a third-class one built by the same architect
and superintendent would be like I cannot guess. A
cold stable is not necessarily an unhealthy one, but it
is much better for the doors to be wide open than to fit
badly and cause great draught. Captain Hunt, who
used to keep a stud of horses at Great Bowden, near
Market Harborough, some years ago, always had his
stable doors wide open all weathers, and I never saw
horses look better in the field. His horses never cauorht
colds. Paddy Marr, a well-known groom of the old
school, used to take his horse to the river to drink every