STABLE
.—Stables are the receptacles for horses in general, and are of very different descriptions; not only in respect to the various sorts of horses for which they are intended, but the improved mode of construction, and the numerous conveniencies they are now made to contain. As horses were never in such high estimation, or of such intrinsic worth, as at the present moment, so never was so much money expended upon their preservation. There can be no doubt, but the health and condition of valuable horses, may depend much upon the situation and structure of the stable; and although every person will appropriate the size of the stable, and the number of stalls, to their own wants, yet there are certain judicious rules, and desirable conveniencies, which should admit of no deviation. Whether a stable consists of two stalls, four, or six, it may be rendered equally uniform, and confidently replete with every thing that can possibly be required.
It is an established opinion, that a building of BRICK (lined or not lined with deal) is preferable to STONE for the purpose; the former being dry, and always in the same state: the latter is influenced, or acted upon, by the changes of weather; and in a hazy atmosphere, generally damp; and in constant (or continued) rains, the walls are frequently streaming with water. This, however, depends much upon the aspect to which they are erected; a circumstance not always sufficiently attended to, till it is found too late to repent. Stables are paved with bricks, clinkers, flints, pebbles, or stone, as may best correspond with the conveniences of the country in which they are erected, and where, perhaps, some of those articles are difficult to obtain. Stalls should never be less than six feet wide; nor the stable less than nine feet high: eight feet in the clear should be allowed from the heels of the horse to the wall behind him; and iron hay-racks are preferable to wood, as the latter (wherever spirited horses stand) are always in want of repair. No stables can be called good, unless they have proper rooms annexed for the reception of SADDLES, BRIDLES, HORSE CLOTHS, and every article necessary to the proper support of such an establishment; each of those become more perishable amidst the nocturnal steam of the horses than by daily use.
Experience has demonstrated the advantages of general cleanliness, temperate air, (according to the season,) and regular exercise: to the want of these, in part, or all, may be attributed the ills at INNS and LIVERY STABLES, as well as the fashionable increase of Veterinarians. Upon entering the stables of these public receptacles, (particularly if the door has been a few minutes closed,) the olfactory sensations are instantly assailed by such a profusion of volatile effluvia, as to extract moisture from the eyes, in opposition to every endeavour made to restrain it. Here stand rows of poor patient animals, absolutely fumigated with the perspirative transpiration of their own bodies, broiling with heat, and panting with thirst, in a degree beyond the temperature of a common hot-house, in the severity of the winter season. Each horse is observed to stand upon a load of litter (clean at top, and rotten underneath) very little inferior to a common cucumber-bed in heigth, with all the advantages of equal warmth from the dung below!
In this unexaggerated state stand hundreds within the environs of the Metropolis; their owners the complete dupes of ignorance, indiscretion, and imposition; the animals themselves in a constant state of languid perspiration, and bodily debility: deprived the comforts of pure air, and regular exercise, they become dull, sluggish, and stupid, as if conscious of, and depressed with, their almost perpetual imprisonment. All this erroneous mode of treatment instantly affects the eye of experimental observation. The carcase seems an incongruous accumulation, evidently full, and unnaturally overloaded, for want of gentle motion, and general friction; the legs become swelled, stiff, and tumefied; and, sooner or later, terminates in cracks, scratches, grease, or some more vexatious disorder. The hoofs, by being constantly fixed in a certain degree of heat, begin to contrast, and get narrow at the heels, holding forth the pleasing promise of hoof-bound lameness. The eyes, from a constant watry discharge, give proof of habitual weakness; the lassitude of the body, the heat of the mouth, the general gloom, and every corresponding circumstance, seems to display a frame the reverse of those whose health is preserved, and condition promoted, by a system of discipline opposite in practice, and different in effect. See Groom.