Riding for Ladies: With Hints on the Stable

by Mrs. Power O'Donoghue

CHAPTER XXII.
STABLING.

I think it highly probable that horse-owners who read this chapter will be already supplied with stabling, be it such as it may, and I think it equally probable that whereas some will be ready to compare their premises with those that I shall advocate, and be anxious to effect such improvements as I shall venture to suggest, others will turn scoffingly away from my hints, with the declaration that they have kept horses all their lives, and have pulled along very well indeed without any of the new-fangled nonsense of the present day. Of course it is not for such persons that I care to write, or want to do so; on the contrary, I prefer to address my remarks to those who desire to learn. By setting forth the exact principles on which a stable should, according to my ideas, be built and managed, I shall be affording information to such as shall either be desirous of building anew, or of effecting a series of alterations in premises discovered to be faulty—although hitherto perhaps considered complete.

To begin then. If choice of situation can be had, select that which will admit of draining, and shelter from cold winds. The aspect should be southern, and the soil dry. A stable ought never to be built in a hollow, or near a marsh, nor ought the foundation to be sunk in clay. These things generate damp, and where this evil exists we may expect to find coughs, farcy, glanders, bad eyes, and a thousand attendant misfortunes. If the foundation of a stable cannot be of chalk or well-drained gravel, the proper plan will be to excavate, put in superior drains, and fill up the area to be occupied with concrete. The surface drainage may be connected with the underground, if desired, or may be quite distinct from it. Surface drains, if not constructed in a manner that will admit of their being cleaned out from day to day, had best be dispensed with, and open channels substituted, leading to the outside of the stable.

Walls should be composed of bricks, glazed on the inside, as such do not hold any dirt. Posts should be of oak, in preference to iron—and of the same stout material divisions of stalls and boxes should be made. If expense is not an object, however, brick will be better still for the construction of these.

The roof of a four-horse stable should be at least ten feet high, and that of a six-horse twelve to fourteen, which will be ample. When too lofty, a cold atmosphere prevails; when too low there is need for very large ventilators, which create a current, not always either safe or pleasant.

I do not at all approve of paved flooring, although it is so general. Roughened asphalte is the best; or a most perfect floor may be made by laying a concrete foundation, made up with gas-tar, some three or four inches thick, with stable clinkers set and bedded in it, and the whole grounded in with Portland cement.

I am a great advocate for box stalls, and would never allow an animal of mine to be tied up by the head. It is a barbarous and cruel practice, leading to all kinds of evils, both visible and concealed. A box should be at least twelve feet by fourteen, and I prefer it much larger. If it be of brick, it ought to be lined with wood, and this again with zinc in all places that the horse can use his teeth upon. Projections of every kind should be avoided, as they are apt to be injurious when the occupant moves rapidly, or rolls to refresh himself. In a stalled stable a box may be made by converting the end stall into one. This can readily be done by having a gate that can be hung on the stall-post and fastened against the wall. A screen, hung on rollers from a top bar, is better than a door for closing up a box-stall. It never gets out of order, nor can any horse—even the most ingenious—succeed in opening it when once it is let down.

Where stalls are used they ought to be at least ten feet in length, and six and a-half or seven in width. The flooring of stalls should never slant to any perceptible degree. When it does there is a continual strain upon the back sinews and flexor muscles of the horse, and this he strives to relieve by moving backwards, and resting his hind toes in the gutter,—a practice which grooms call a vice.