STABLES AS THEY SHOULD BE.
When considering this subject, the writer is freed from all restraints.
He has to describe things which exist only in his own imagination; not
to depict any object which has been embodied as a reality, or which has
been fancied by another individual. The author, however, will endeavor
to picture such an edifice as in some of its modifications any one,
keeping a horse, should possess ability to erect.
To some persons the following description may appear so grand as
to border on the ridiculous. Compared with existing buildings, the
author’s proposal, no doubt, must seem to be of unnecessary dimensions.
But a question of this nature is decided, not by what it seems but by
that which it actually is. Is any provision hereafter made, that health
does not demand? If the place is large, so are the animals which are
to be harbored within its walls. What is unnecessary, or where is the
article which is useless? As to the accommodation being too ample, what
would a Saxon king of Britain say, could he be resuscitated and made to
behold the palaces which her present Majesty possesses? Nay, what would
a workman who had existed during the reign of “glorious old Harry”
exclaim, could he contemplate the accommodations which surround his
descendants of the modern time?
Stables, as they now exist, are tainted with all the evils of
antiquity. Improvement has changed the homes of the people, and has
even amended the prison of the caged songster; but it has entirely
skipped over the jail of the horse. The place and the people about
it smack of a time when corruption was the rule and filthiness was a
fashion. The question therefore to be considered is, not what stables
are, but what they should be. What the animal requires to maintain it
in its beauty, in its health, and in its usefulness, is that which
we now wish to ascertain. All the world has witnessed how much the
quadruped can endure, when the master cares not for its comfort, is
careless about its health, and does not study the requirements of its
nature.
Bricks and mortar, however expensive such articles may be, are about
the most economical purchases which the horse owner can invest his
cash in. It is folly to pay large sums for thew and muscle, when the
place in which such properties are to be lodged will destroy the health
and undermine the strength that are imperative to their preservation.
One or two deaths in a prime stud may cost more dearly than would the
largest of the proposed buildings.
The money which shall be expended upon the improved stable must not be
viewed as cash sunk in an unremunerative object, but as a sum invested
in that which will immediately yield an exorbitant interest. It will
decrease the veterinary surgeon’s bill; it will conserve the health and
prolong the usefulness of the horse; it will put the animal in better
heart, and will enable the proprietor to dispense with those repeated
purchases which now occasion the horse owner to stare at every fresh
steed he chances to meet, and to inquire “if it be for sale?”
When we wish to raise any erection, we should, before we begin to plan,
thoroughly comprehend the purposes which the new edifice is to serve.
A stable is not the home of a horse, in the same sense that a house
is the home of a human being. The animal has not one room for day and
another for night. It cannot retire; it must remain in its compartment;
and it becomes the author’s duty to point out what is imperative to
render the limited space a healthful abode.
In the first place, everything like a stall must be abolished--the uses
of such abominations being supplied by loose boxes. Each box is to be
eighteen feet square; of these there are to be six, ranged in pairs;
three upon either side of the interior. Every box shall be rendered dry
and sweet by six deep gutters, three on either side; and all emptying
into a central branch drain, which discharges its contents into a main
drain, running through the length of the entire building.
The gutters commence eighteen inches from the side divisions of the
boxes; the first is situated three feet from the external wall. Six
feet divides the first from the second gutter; the same space separates
the second from the third gutter, which is removed only three feet from
the central partition.
The flooring or pavement between the gutters is arranged in gentle
undulations, like the walks in a gentleman’s garden. It is raised three
inches higher in the center of each division than where its borders
terminate in the gutter. The two pieces of pavement at either end of
the box begin at the elevation of three inches, and sink to the level
of the lowest surface as they approach the gutter. Thus every portion
of the pavement will incline one in twelve, a fall of fully sufficient
magnitude to allow of the speedy disappearance of fluid, which is
always ejected with force and in quantity. The gutters all terminate
in “stink traps,” which give admission into the branch drains; these
last, as well as the main drain, consisting of circular earthen pipes.
[Illustration: MODES OF STANDING AFFORDED BY AN UNDULATED PAVEMENT.]
The undulations of the pavement not only facilitate the speedy removal
of fluid, and thus tend to keep in a state of purity the atmosphere
within the building, but the surface presents every variety of
standing ground to the choice of the quadruped. The animal, by this
arrangement, can select an upward slope, a downward incline, or a level
plane, whereon to rest the feet; an ability of appropriation which
intelligence will not be slow to comprehend or tardy to appreciate.
[Illustration: DIAGRAMATIC SECTION OF A SUPERFICIAL GUTTER, SEVERAL OF
WHICH KEEP DRY THE LOOSE BOXES.
1 1. The Dutch clinkers.
2 2. The prepared ground on which the gutters and the
pavement repose.
3. The semicircular earthenware gutter along which the
fluid flows, covered by the loose iron grating.
]
Each gutter should be two inches wide and two inches deep. They ought
to commence at the depth of a Dutch clinker from the surface, and be
covered by a perforated loose iron grating, the holes in which are a
quarter of an inch wide, one inch long, and the last distance asunder.
Thus should the horse, when down, lie over one of these gutters, the
body cannot then repose on a good conductor of heat.
[Illustration: PATTERN OF THE LOOSE IRON GRATING WHICH COVERS THE
GUTTERS.]
The gratings are not flat, but incline on every side toward the
openings. This pattern was selected, because the author has beheld flat
bars eaten into by the acridity of the fluid, and retaining liquid that
yielded an abominable stench. Neither are these coverings fixed into
their situations. They are merely laid upon the sides of the earthen
gutters, which are three inches wide at the openings; the iron can
afford to dispense with other fastening than its own weight supplies.
Should the channel which the grating guards ever become clogged, then
the easy lift of the metal-work will allow the gutter to be cleansed.
[Illustration: CROSS SECTION OF THE DRAINS IN LOOSE BOXES.
Supposed to be seen on the line =D E=, in the plan of drains to be
shortly introduced.]
[Illustration: LONGITUDINAL SECTION OF THE DRAINS IN LOOSE BOXES.
Supposed to be viewed on the line =E F=, which is marked on the plan of
drains.]
The openings, which are ample to permit the escape of all liquid, are
purposely made small, because rats and other vermin too frequently
enter stables by the drains. It is by no means unusual for such pests,
where they are numerous, to attack and gnaw the hoofs of living
animals. The horn is without sensation; therefore it can be gradually
removed without the horse being at all inconvenienced; but, assuredly,
the proprietor will be vexed at a destruction which necessitates
the quadruped should be idle until nature has repaired the loss of
substance.
The branch drains, which commence at twenty inches from the surface,
can be only entered through a stink trap; that article also opposes an
obstacle to the free passage of vermin. All these branches terminate in
the main drain, which, where the tube begins, is situated thirty-four
inches within the soil, and, as it proceeds, has a fall of about one
foot in fifteen feet.
Neither the pipes, the gutter, nor the clinkers are placed within or
rest upon unprepared soil. Such may be the usual plan after which
most stables are now built; for the drainage of these places does not
generally extend beneath the surface. The pavement of the contemplated
stable, however, is to be raised two feet above the level of the ground
on which it is erected. For the entire space which the structure will
occupy, the soil is, in the first instance, to be removed to the depth
of one foot. After the foundations have been properly laid, the walls
are then to be raised till they are built up two feet above the natural
level of the surrounding surface.
A layer of large flints or of coarse brick rubbish is then to be thrown
in; this layer is to be two feet six inches in thickness. Within this,
the main and the branch drains are to be arranged, though the principal
drain will also have, toward its termination, to be sunk into the
earth. The remaining six inches is to be filled in with coarse sand;
upon this the gutters are to commence.
[Illustration: DIAGRAM, EXPLANATORY OF THE MANNER IN WHICH THE GROUND
OF THE STABLE IS FORMED.]
The gutters are two inches deep. They all originate at five inches from
the upper surface of the clinkers. The shallowest has a fall of fifteen
inches, but others have a much greater inclination, as all empty into
the branch drains which communicate with the main drain. This last,
sinking deeper as it proceeds, quits the building at a depth of six
feet six inches from the exterior of the sand within the walls of the
stable.
The contemplated structure will be thus thrice drained. First, there
will be the deep tubular main and branch drains; next, there is the
sand and brick rubbish; while, lastly, there is the surface drainage
effected by the grated gutters. So much pains have been consciously
bestowed upon the dryness of the building, because nothing will, in the
end, prove more detrimental to the horse than confinement in a damp
abode. Not only does perfect drainage conserve the health of the equine
inhabitants, but it likewise tends to preserve the bricks, the mortar,
and the expensive fittings that should adorn every stable.
[Illustration: PLAN OF DRAINS.
=S= indicates the position of a trap door, which leads to the
coal-cellar under the gig-house.
The dotted line, connecting the two letters =D E=, represents the
situation of the supposed section of drains, previously introduced.
The dotted line, indicated by the letters =E F=, points to the
supposed situation of the cross section of drains, which has
likewise been exhibited.
]
According to the supposed view, which forms the frontispiece to the
present volume, there is a free but covered space, twelve feet wide,
extending all round the building. The soil of this free space, covered
ride or ambulatory, should also have been removed, and subsequently
have been filled up, after the plan already described, as necessary
for the interior of the stables. It need not, however, be paved with
clinkers, as sand forms a better ground for a horse to exercise upon
than can possibly be made with the hardest of known bricks.
The roof, having sheltered the ride, terminates immediately over a
metal gutter. This gutter communicates with five pipes upon the western
and upon the eastern sides, with two pipes upon the southern, and with
three upon the northern aspects of the building.
The roofing of the ambulatory is upheld by thirty-one posts, each
twelve feet high, and the same distance apart. Between every two of
these posts, on all sides of the stable save the front, are placed
smaller uprights, which reach only to six feet. By these smaller posts
are supported one end of three movable bales on either side, the
opposite extremities of the bales resting against the larger posts;
each bale being six feet long, and reaching from the small uprights to
the main supports. The first bale is one foot from the ground; while
the others are at equal distances, and so placed as to leave four
inches of clear pole to project above the highest rail.
The pipes leading from the metallic gutter are fastened to the pillars
and empty into a drain, which encircles the building and receives
the water from the roof; it also conveys away that which is used in
washing the carriages, or for general purposes. This is carried to
any convenient pond, while the liquid manure of the stable is, by the
tubular pipes, conveyed into a tank situated at least twenty yards from
the principal building.
Drainage of the entire roof is thus assured, and the dryness of the
ambulatory in all weathers is rendered a certainty. No large stable
can approximate to its requirements, in which a covered ride is not
provided. It is, however, by no means uncommon to behold grooms
trotting the animals on which they are seated, and which the servant is
supposed to be taking out for the morning exercise; but if a horse is
to be mounted and put to its paces by the man as well as by the master,
it necessarily follows that the quadruped must perform double duty, or
endure excessive wear.
Many grooms habitually do more than merely ride. These men are,
generally, excited when in the saddle, and removed from all chance of
supervision. Some of these individuals delight in antics. Most stable
attendants love to display the spirit of the quadrupeds they wait upon;
and all of lively dispositions, when their companions in service are
looking on, naturally strive to convert duty into a pleasure. The horse
is his own for the time, the animal being then entirely subject to the
servant’s authority, and he being far away from all that might control
his actions.
An anecdote will, perhaps, best illustrate the above observations. A
medical gentleman, established in the north of England, possessed a
handsome bay gelding, for which he had recently given a heavy price.
Soon after the groom professed to have brought the quadruped into
working condition, the doctor began to use the animal for his afternoon
exercise. He was fond of a particular road; but he could not persuade
his horse to pass a certain low, roadside tavern. At the door of this
place the quadruped would always stand still. Punishment was of no
further use than to make the animal, much to its master’s disgust,
leave the door and bolt into the yard.
There was nothing, then, to be done but to turn the creature’s head
homeward. No sooner did the quadruped’s face point in this direction,
than the steed began to exhibit a speed which seemed to say the doctor
was riding on affair of life or death. The gelding, in consequence of
the disgust which its strange proceedings had awakened, was shortly
afterward sold at “an awful sacrifice;” nor does the medical gentleman,
to this hour, comprehend the reason of his dumb servant’s eccentric
behavior.
The public house was famous as the resort of grooms. Here, “early
purl” was prepared in perfection; while, at later hours, nothing could
excel either the “neat liquors” or the “dog’s nose” which the tavern
provided. The horse was accustomed to stand before the door; or,
during those days when the doctor might walk abroad, the animal was
concealed within the yard. Intelligence had learned its lesson, and its
owner, being a timid rider, wanted the resolution necessary to force
his slave to receive and to obey a new instruction.
The foregoing anecdote should also enforce the wisdom of masters
making some further acquaintance with their living property than
simply to know it for its uses. There are, however, a numerous class
to whom anecdotes are not illustrations, but nothing more than amusing
stories, easily invented and readily embellished. With these people,
nevertheless, seeing is believing. The writer, accordingly, with all
humility, invites his readers to peep down some of the many dealers’
yards, which they must pass during a morning’s walk through the streets
of London.
One side of such a place is always thickly littered with straw, and
securely roofed in. Slowly riding up and down this covered way may
be beheld a mounted groom, who is leading another horse. Now, horse
dealers are not deficient in knowingness, and many of them have, during
former years, been in service themselves. Therefore, most of the class
are well acquainted with the secrets of domestics; and they never trust
a steed to be exercised where some of the family may not overlook the
groom. “Oh, yes, they do!” the reader may exclaim; “for I have often
remarked ‘breaks’ being driven through the highways of the metropolis.”
Perfectly true! Such articles are to be met with in the middle or the
after-part of the day, propelled by high-actioned and well-matched
horses. A little inspection will show the reins are in the possession
of no ordinary groom. The master or the foreman guides the quadrupeds
which are then being shown to the public, and are not simply raw
purchases receiving exercise.
Dealers always exercise the horses at home; the windows of the house
invariably face the ride. Every London inhabitant may not be able to
command a covered way opposite his drawing-room windows; but he may
prevent his servant from playing tricks with his animals, by ordering
the man, when out exercising the creatures, to pass the family
residence at stated periods. By such an arrangement, some of those
strange accidents, which occasionally spoil the proprietor’s breakfast,
and which are ever reported to him as having been done by the horse in
the night, might be prevented. While the owner, by claiming a right of
supervision, would also instruct his servant that the quadrupeds the
servant is engaged to attend upon are not absolutely given up to his
pleasure.
The proprietor will, however, gain much by never permitting his
animals to be exercised off the premises. This can only be done in
the country, or where an ambulatory surrounds the stable. Under a
sheltering roof all weathers are immaterial; the owner can easily
ascertain whether his commands are shirked or fulfilled. A sick or a
lame horse can be led about upon such a spot; for the soil, consisting
of sand, and being always kept properly watered, is cool and soft
to the feet, as well as free from dust; while a machine called a
“tell-tale” will in some measure announce the time which the quadruped
may be kept walking; it will also bear testimony as to the rate at
which the man travels. These things, when supervision is impossible,
are now left entirely to the groom; whereas a “tell-tale,” fixed at any
part of the building, will render the rate of exercise cognizable to an
absent master.
[Illustration: A PEEP INTO A DEALER’S YARD.]
Exercise should never, save in illness, be given at a less pace than
four miles an hour; the horses, while it is administered, should
always be clothed more lightly than when standing still within the
stable. It is fashionable for a groom to exercise a horse in full
body-clothes: such a custom seems like tempting cough and cold, to
which the quadruped, in this climate, is too much disposed. It must
feel the change when its owner rides forth upon its unclothed body,
and must suffer severely, should the master not return to the stable
till the sun is down. Any active man should with perfect ease walk four
miles in an hour; but such a rate is quick enough to oblige the animal
to proceed at a gentle trot, which should not provoke perspiration, but
will be sufficient exertion to promote a healthy glow of the skin.
Each groom, when on the ambulatory, should walk between two horses,
holding a rein in either hand. Should one of the animals show signs
of excitement, he is to leave the quiet one behind to the care of any
person who may be at hand, and to run once or twice round the building
with the spirited steed. Such a manœuvre is all that is necessary to
quiet those creatures which, on first quitting the boxes, may skip or
prance about.
When returned to the stable, the horse does not enter solitary
confinement. Its loose box is eighteen feet square, and is inclosed by
a fence seven feet high. Only four feet of this partition is composed
of close inch and a half boarding. At that height, a stout rail, having
its edges rounded, is fixed upon the topmost edge of the wood-work.
From this rail spring round iron bars, placed three inches asunder, and
having the higher extremity inserted into another rail, which is also
rounded.
Since the author, many years ago, first thought of an open trevise,
he is happy to see the idea has been generally adopted. Too many of
the parties who embrace the notion, however, make it secondary to
ornamentation, and compel the simple intention to assume the shape of
scroll work or of an elaborated pattern. The object is to permit the
prisoners to see and to communicate one with another. Both of these
purposes are better attained by a straight iron bar than by a fanciful
decoration, which last, moreover, must be further objectionable on the
score of expense.
All needful security would be well assured by an inclosure which,
unlike the common trevise, would allow the quadruped to see its
companions, and to exchange those recognitions which must lighten the
tedium of captivity. Nor can the writer comprehend why such simple
pleasures should be denied to these gentle creatures, which most
men imprison more closely than carnivorous ferocities are commonly
confined. The prevention of certain deadly diseases might apply to the
stables of an inn; but such occurrences have no right to be regarded as
probabilities when a gentleman’s establishment has to be considered.
The bars forming the upper portion of the divisions are not so close
nor so bulky but the interspaces will allow the horses, after the
Australian mode of cementing friendships, “to rub noses,” or to
exchange large draughts of fragrant breath with their fellow captives.
Such innocent familiarities will often lead to lasting friendships,
from the establishment of which the proprietor will reap an advantage.
Quadrupeds perform much more gayly when harnessed with a companion that
they love; and should the owner be, at any time, pressed for room,
one or two additional spare boxes can always be commanded by allowing
equine friends to enjoy the same compartment.
[Illustration: SECTION OF THE LOOSE BOXES.
Supposed to be taken where the dotted line =A B= is situated upon the
ground plan.]
There is, however, running throughout society, a strange prejudice
against permitting any communication between the inhabitants of the
stable. Such a dislike cannot be justified by appealing to nature, as
horses, when free to exercise a choice, always congregate in herds.
Neither is it warranted by universal custom. In cavalry stables, the
quadrupeds are merely separated by bales, or by poles suspended at
either extremity by chains, and hanging between the animals. The habit
also does not gain any support from consistency of conduct; since the
gentleman who shall shudder at the possibility of any communion in his
stable, will, nevertheless, allow numerous equine creatures to assemble
together, and leave them without check, when he turns his stud into the
field to be “freshened up” by a “run at grass.”
The boxes have each a distinct entrance. The doors are fixed in the
wall, and open upon the ambulatory. Each entrance is nine feet high and
six feet six inches wide, all sharp edges and projecting iron-work,
as hinges, latches, locks, etc., being strictly forbidden. Such
things often injure animals while in the act of passing through these
openings, and should never be permitted to project in any well-managed
establishment.
The folding doors are divided into two parts, though not absolutely
in the center, since the lower portion extends only four feet from
the ground. The upper part can be thrown wide, without releasing the
quadruped. The ventilation is thereby rendered far purer, while the
captive is indulged with a more animated view than the walls of the
interior can afford. The quadrupeds will protrude their heads through
such spaces, and remain in that position for successive hours, looking
the pictures of mild contentment, and contemplating liberty, which a
generous nature appears to have relinquished almost without regret. A
simple creature may here in shade enjoy the summer breeze, as it blows
aside the forelock; for if man is, by his position, forced to confine
the steed, he is not compelled to aggravate the sufferings which
necessarily attend the condition of captivity.
[Illustration: A HORSE LOOKING THROUGH THE HALF-OPENED STABLE DOOR.]
The doorway, being of those dimensions which have been already
described, should afford all necessary security, especially when the
groom adopts the proper method of conducting an animal through the
ample space.
No possible accident should impress the memory of the captive with the
notion that doors and anguish are associated one with the other. The
habit of the animal, being accustomed to advance the head through the
upper space, would, moreover, be of some service in dispelling all
idea of pain, should the impression have been received prior to the
horse coming into the possession of its present owner. The sight also
of the man, to whom the affectionate creature may be attached, would,
moreover, attract the notice and inspire the confidence of timidity.
[Illustration: CONDUCTING THE HORSE THROUGH AN ORDINARY STABLE DOOR.]
The lower division of the door should, on fine nights, after dusk, be
opened, that the prisoner may stretch its limbs and bathe its hoof in
the evening dew. So the grass is kept sufficiently short, not to afford
more than a nibble, no harm, but much good, will arise from sanctioning
so innocent a luxury as a stroll in the free air. The eye of the horse
fits the creature to roam by night; and man should, by this time, have
suffered enough to cause a doubt as to the wisdom of crossing nature in
her many wonderful provisions for the welfare of her children.
Such a suggestion may startle the prejudices which are inherent in
the proprietors of most training stables. These places are, however,
chiefly situated on the open downs, where ground is cheap, and the
herbage scarcely affords a bite for the close-feeding sheep. Half an
acre of such land could, without much expense, be attached to each box.
On to this the flock might be turned by day; but so much liberty could
be afforded the equine captive during the night. The racer being reared
for speed, it is surely wrong to cramp its limbs by too stringent a
confinement!
Something also is attained, beneficial to other parties than the
quadrupeds, by having the doors of the boxes to open on the ambulatory.
The necessity for mounting many animals within the stables would
thereby be avoided; while the groom, upon rainy days, need not exert a
dangerous haste, for fear of wetting his best livery. Hurry is never
a safe emotion, when exhibited within the stable. The inhabitants,
when they behold their attendant looking vexed, see him move quickly,
and hear him speak loudly, from such signs infer danger; or timidity
flushes with a certainty of his displeasure. It is the fault of the
present race of stable-men, that they regard the horse as a senseless
thing; whereas the dumb are always the observant, and, generally, are
very sympathetic. They draw conclusions from scenes and acts which it
may be beyond their stretch of reason to accurately comprehend. Being
liable to misconstrue, the less they see of exciting spectacles the
better.
Within the loose box there is no rack for hay, to strain the horses’
necks, and shake seeds into their eyes, which must be open to direct
the teeth. The ordinary manger is also absent. The horse does not sit
to eat, nor can it lift the food to the mouth; but naturally it lowers
the head to its gratification, and thus has no need to be accommodated
with exalted fixtures. As it can with ease feed off the ground, why
should man, in the nineteenth century, persist in forcing the animal,
which he domesticates, to forego the habits which nature has engrafted
on existence?
No rope fastens an animal directly under the opening to a dirty
hay-loft. No puffs of cold wind, therefore, can blow upon the quadruped
through such an aperture, which is not a loss, for horses are very
susceptible to colds, which modern stables are ingeniously arranged to
encourage. Like all life, when hotly and impurely inclosed, the steeds
become morbidly delicate: the pampered daughters of the wealthy cannot,
possibly, be more vulnerable to evil influences than are those equine
slaves, whose service demands a body vigorous with health, strong and
able to encounter all the seasons in their vicissitudes.
There are, within the building, three small compartments, placed
against the outer wall of each box, and resting upon the ground. Two
are situated on one side of the entrance, the third stands by itself
in the opposite corner. All project eighteen inches from the wall, and
two are eighteen inches high. One compartment is used for water, and is
raised two feet, being, as regards length, of the same dimensions. One
is intended to hold prepared food--this is three feet long; while that
meant to receive the occasional allowance of grass extends one foot
beyond the last dimension. The bottoms of the food receptacles are both
raised six inches from the level of the stable; an arrangement which
hopes to anticipate any strain upon the muscles of the neck, should the
animal be more than usually compact in its developments.
Certain horse proprietors are loud in their commendations of cut food,
which they assert can be eaten quickly, and, therefore, allows so
much longer a period for resting the body. Stable condiments also are
advertised as fattening and appetizing adjuncts. To both propositions
the author must object. The body’s rest depends not upon the quickness
with which the contents of the manger can be swallowed, but upon the
ease with which they can be digested, after sustenance has entered the
stomach. The last function is not facilitated by the provender being
bolted; nor does it at all depend on the shortness of the period in
which a certain quantity of victuals can be put out of sight. As to
those stimulants which are supposed to increase the appetite and to
favor the accumulation of fat, carters having, for ages, been condemned
because they resorted to such nostrums, it is difficult to understand
the reason why these things are patronized, when openly compounded,
puffed, and sold by advertising tradesmen.
[Illustration: SECTIONS OF THE SHOOT LEADING TO THE FEEDING TROUGH.
_a._ The movable or sliding shutter, which, by a slanting surface
made within the substance of the wall, leads to the corn trough
that is situated on the ground.
_b._ The sliding shutter let into the wall, the lower compartment
of which alone admits of an upward motion.
_c._ The corn trough and slanting surface, guarded by the
shutter, as seen from above.
]
The capacity for rest, moreover, depends upon the constitutional
necessities of the body which is to enjoy it. The horse is a creature
of activity. It sleeps lightly, and is fitted to eat its food as it
walks. The quadruped requires little rest. To force those conditions,
necessary for the repose of weary existence, upon wakeful life, such as
silence, solitude, and darkness, is merely to increase the severity of
that imprisonment which every English animal is born to undergo. It is
torture, and betrays only the ignorance of those by whom such cruelty
is practiced.
The receptacle for the prepared food can, by means of a sliding
aperture inserted into the wall, be filled from without: thus the
necessity for a groom entering the compartment of a restless or
ravenous quadruped, whenever the animal is fed, may be avoided.
Contention between the man and a voracious horse can be, by this
arrangement, rendered an impossibility; and it is a great point in the
conduct of a stable to keep the attendants in good humor. Ignorant
servants, when enraged, are too much disposed to vent their bad temper
upon any inferior over which they may be invested with authority.
[Illustration: ONE OF THE BOXES IN WHICH THE FOOD IS PLACED, THE BETTER
TO SHOOT IT INTO THE CORN TROUGH.]
[Illustration: A GROOM SHOOTING FOOD IN THE TROUGH, WHILE STANDING
OUTSIDE THE STABLE.]
Moreover, a great deal of the excitement generally displayed by
particular animals, where every prisoner can witness the distribution
of the food to the rest, is, by the above plan, entirely abolished;
and every observant stable attendant well knows how greatly quietude
favors a speedy attainment of, as well as tends to, the preservation of
condition. By means of the box and the sliding shutter, the food may
be served to all almost as rapidly as a man can walk. The provender is
first divided into portions, and these are put into open boxes, which
are placed upon a barrow. One of these boxes the man empties through
each shoot, and then, having washed out the utensil at the pump under
the covered way, returns it to the provender house. This last plan,
however, entails some trouble; therefore only in exceptional cases
should it be adopted.
As to the supply of liquid, some arrangement is also needed: the
bottom of the water trough is level with the surrounding pavement.
The supply pipe is commanded by a tap, and all the receptacles can
be simultaneously filled by means of the tube that rises above the
superior margin of the trough. Below the earth is a conduit, which
conveys away the superabundant liquid. Into this tube or drain two
smaller pipes empty, both of which arise from the interior of the
receptacle. The smallest pipe reaches almost to the topmost edge of
the compartment, and is simply intended to prevent the possibility of
an overflow. The other and the larger tube is inserted into the bottom
of the trough, and the removal of a plug, which commands the entrance,
permits the contents of the trough to flow through this pipe into the
larger conduit below, which empties its contents into the main tubular
drain. By turning on the supply, which is derived from a cistern to
be hereafter mentioned, and by also opening the waste pipes, all the
troughs can at any time be quickly cleansed.
[Illustration: LONGITUDINAL SECTION OF THE WATER SUPPLY.]
The cistern is situated in the boiler-house, and is elevated several
feet above the level of the stable. The boiler-house adjoins the
boxes, and from the raised cistern springs the supply pipe, which
is carried under ground through the stables. Water, however, will
always rise to its own level; this property convinces us that the
troughs will be speedily filled whenever the taps are turned. The
taps by which the flow is commanded are both placed in the first
box, and by this arrangement the animal can receive fresh water four
times daily, without fluid being carried to the horse. The contents
of the customary pails are too frequently spilt by careless grooms.
The horse naturally thrives best in a dry abode. Besides, the drink,
as in nature, is always before the creature; for if presented only
at stated periods, the draught may be offered when desire does not
require liquids; or it may be withheld when thirst is so powerful as to
engender a disinclination for solid nourishment. Moreover, servants
are not always attentive to their monotonous duties; and the animal, in
consequence, may be denied a necessary supply of fluid.
The water troughs are, moreover, recommended by further reasons.
Horses are blest with acute senses; and everybody must have observed
the animal blow upon, or rather smell, fluid before it partakes of the
refreshment which it needs. The stable pails generally stand about;
such things are exceedingly handy; and we need not be surprised if they
are occasionally used for other than for cleanly purposes. The troughs,
being fixed, are secured to one service; the pipes emptying into the
receptacles prevent the purity of the supply from being tampered with.
The above advantages are also associated with the ascertained fact that
the horse, with water constantly before it, drinks less than the animal
to which the pail is brought only after hours of enforced abstinence
have generated a raging thirst.
The roof of the proposed stable should be of the ordinary description,
or should slope from a central ridge toward the outer walls. The
central compartment is eighteen feet from the walls; it is twenty-two
feet from the level of the interior; and its margins rest upon walls
which are raised twelve feet high.
[Illustration: PLAN OF ROOF.
H. A trap door in the roof of the ambulatory, which leads to the
entrance of the loft above the sheltered ground.]
A plan of the contemplated roof is presented to the notice of the
reader, who will perceive it consists of two parts. The larger portion
is gabled at each extremity, and has a span of thirty-six feet. The
smaller, or surrounding division, merely protects the covered ride
or ambulatory. Where the two inclines meet, are hollows, which are
technically spoken of as “valleys.” The water within these valleys is
conveyed away by means of four large pipes, two on either side, which
are let into the outer wall; while the rain, which flows down the outer
incline of the smaller division, drains into a metallic gutter, whence
it is carried away by fifteen smaller pipes.
Over the center of the larger division of the roof is placed a
ventilator. It commences twenty-one feet from the northern extremity of
the building, and it extends, on either side, six feet from the center.
It is thirty feet long, and its sides are four feet high. The sides
are composed of four-feet louvre boards, which, being set in working
frames, can, by means of lines which reach to the ground, be opened or
closed as the increased temperature calls for air or the cold demands
protection.
The ventilator is roofed with six-ounce glass, which is of more than a
sufficient stoutness to resist any tempest that occurs in this climate.
The central ridge of the ventilator rises twenty-eight feet from the
pavement; and it is laterally supported by the boarded sides which
have already been described. The roof of this part of the edifice also
serves the purposes of windows, admitting light to the interior.
Should any person feel disposed to complain of the probable cost likely
to attend this last provision, let such person remember that the first
outlay, in this particular, is likely to be the last. The material is,
moreover, cheaper than it formerly was; while its elevation removes it
from all reasonable chance of breakage. The rain will wash the outer
portion, while the position of the interior surface will prevent the
accumulation of much soil; consequently the glass will be spared all
those accidents which too frequently disturb the peace of housekeepers
during the cleansing of ordinary windows.
The glass is designedly placed upon the roof, as when stable windows
occupy the usual situations, they are generally suffered to be in
so foul a condition as almost to counteract the purpose of their
institution. Some of the panes are commonly broken; and where the glass
is absent, its place is rudely supplied by rags or by paper, while the
window-ledge is crowded with those articles which it is desired should
be ready to the hand, or which it is wished to store snugly away.
When a stable is without windows, the dark house encourages a lazy
servant. The architect’s neglect also teaches the man a want of regard
for that cleanliness which is essential to the well-being of the horse.
With such a place, the absence of care soon becomes an unavoidable
necessity, which the cunning of ignorance will not be slow to perceive,
and to act upon, as being a justification of idleness. Nothing either
in or about the stable should be sanctioned which would not accord
with the cleanliness of a home or with the sweetness of a dairy. No
dust should be suffered to accumulate in holes or on beams; while
the animals are taking their early exercise, the flooring ought to
be thoroughly washed down every morning, and the wood-work should be
scrubbed once every week.
A stable, to be the abode of health, cannot command too much air, nor
can it possibly admit too much light. The interior, however, should
not be whitewashed in accordance with the general fashion. This
glaring absence of color may, at first, look excessively clean, but it
also exposes the smallest neglect of purity, which cannot always be
present where animals are lodged. The cheapness of the wash may be its
recommendation with those who are very studious of economy; but, in
the end, it proves a dear substitute for a better covering, as a white
surface causes that strain upon the optic nerve which renders blindness
a common malady among the inhabitants of snowy regions.
Let the roof and walls be colored with a green which is made by mixing
blue and yellow together. The light will, by the green tint, be
partially absorbed, while the eye of the captive will be soothed by
gazing upon the hue which constitutes the livery of nature. The pigment
should not be purchased, for though the color which may be bought will
be probably brighter than any made at home, excessive brightness is,
in the present case, no advantage, and the more brilliant compound is
dangerous, because it may consist of arsenic combined with copper. Or
should a brighter color be very much desired, such can now be obtained,
which is uncontaminated with any preparation of arsenic: though,
probably, at a greater expense than that which is easily made by mixing
together damp blue and powdered yellow ocher with size and water.
The roof is slated; but as this species of covering is always very hot
in summer and equally cold in winter, the temperature of the interior
will, in some measure, be less liable to such variations if the spaces
between the joists are filled with solid plaster. Over the last
material laths are nailed; and the surface is then to be thinly ceiled.
The laths should, however, be of a stouter kind than those which are
generally employed; the reason of their introduction is to anticipate
the possibility of heavy lumps of plaster falling, and either injuring
or frightening the horses.
The reader will now accompany the author to the back of the imaginary
stable, which faces the north, and is divided from the last loose box
by a stout wall.
The northern extremity is of the same width as the other parts of
the building; it extends twelve feet beyond the last loose box. Its
interior is divided into three rooms, each twelve feet square, and
all separated by brick walls. Entrance to these apartments is gained
through three doors, the upper parts of which, being glazed, will also
serve the purposes of windows.
[Illustration: ELEVATION OF THE NORTHERN END, OR BACK OF THE STABLE.]
The center division is sacred to the harness: it is kept warm by means
which will be hereafter described. The trappings of the horse are too
perishable and too costly to be housed within the stable. Damp, dust,
and ammoniacal fumes are all injurious to this expensive article.
Damp cannot but be present in the abode of animal life; the breath,
insensible perspiration, evaporation from the water troughs, washing
of the pavement, hoofs, etc. are the common sources of the supply. The
dust is occasioned by the spreading of the litter, the movement of the
grooms and of the animals, as well as by many causes of motion, which
can never occur without sending the finer particles of decaying matter
flying from the various substances which are strewn about. Ammoniacal
fumes are also generated by the decomposition of the equine excretions;
however carefully the interior may be drained, or however pure the
atmosphere may seem to human sense, this gas must more or less exist
in every stable. Such taints, besides damaging the substances, also
necessitate extra cleansing; though moderate attention is preservative
in its nature, anything approaching to excessive labor not only
destroys the fresh aspect of the harness, but is provocative of its
speedy annihilation.
Within the harness-room all the clothes (after being dried and aired)
are to be placed, and in this apartment every piece of harness
(subsequent to being cleansed) should be stored; it is there hung upon
appropriate fixtures and kept ready for instant use, being protected by
thick curtains, which are made to fall over and to cover the several
pieces.
On the left of the spectator, looking toward the building, is another
room, which acts the part of a hay-loft. Within twelve feet square
is stored all the provender and the litter immediately required for
the horses. The space may appear somewhat limited for the supply
of six horses; but enough for present use can be housed, and grooms
are not rendered careful by the contemplation of anything like a
superabundance. It is the filthy custom, now prevalent, to keep the
food of a cleanly animal in a loft immediately above the stalls in
which the horses are confined. Thus the store-house is commonly located
in the situation which is the most directly exposed to the volatile or
the heated emanations of the stable. Nor is this the only source of
contamination. The groom’s living and sleeping apartment opens by a
door, which is not generally shut, and immediately leads to the equine
pantry.
The author dare not further pursue this topic. The fancy of the reader,
guided by the above facts, can readily picture everything that could
be written about the fitness of provender thus housed, for promoting
the health of a creature remarkable for the niceness of its habits,
the acuteness of its senses, and the delicacy of its tastes. It may be
forced to consume, and may, at length, morbidly “grow fond of that it
feeds upon;” but such food cannot otherwise than undermine the health
which sustenance should promote.
On the opposite side to the harness-room is another compartment, which
is used as a tool-house. There are various items employed about a
stable which commonly litter the space inhabited by the horses,--such
as brooms, mops, forks, pails, combs, brushes, leathers, bandages, etc.
Everything occasionally used, or daily employed, either on the animals
or for the vehicles, is deposited in the tool-house. For such articles
as come under the denomination of lumber, and are not of any present
or probable utility, another place is provided, which will be shortly
alluded to.
By thus allotting a store for everything, and encouraging habits of
regularity, a considerable sum is saved, while the comfort of the
grooms is provided for by every article being, at all times, to be
readily found. By ordering all appliances to be carried back when no
longer in use, nothing is left about the stable to litter the place, or
be damaged by the animals.
Stable implements, in the hands of an irate groom, have proved terrible
weapons of offense. A horse has been stabbed with a fork; a blow given
with the edge of a pail has inflicted a fearful gash. The formation
of the cranium in most existing stable attendants should suggest the
prudence of not allowing temptation to be too convenient to such
individuals when they become excited.
Having inspected the northern extremity, the reader will now be kind
enough to move, in imagination, to the front of the erection. Before
this can be seen, the sides and northern end of the ambulatory,
or covered ride, will have been observed; in the front view, the
intermediate posts and rails, which elsewhere define the path, are
absent. The floor of the ambulatory being raised on all sides two
feet above the surface, from the level of the front there extends,
for twenty feet, a sloping pavement, which gradually reaches the
surrounding ground. This arrangement is fully illustrated in the
frontispiece to the present volume.
[Illustration: ELEVATION OF THE SOUTHERN END, OR FRONT OF THE STABLE.]
The stable, notwithstanding the last provision, is not supposed to be
placed on a marsh, within a hollow, or even upon a decided level; but,
when a choice is possible, it should be located upon the brow of a
hill. It is there favorably situated for the dryness of the interior as
well as for the action of the drains.
Having defined the position of the building, the author will now
consider the last engraving, which was an imaginary front view of
the supposititious building. This portion of the erection stands
before the loose boxes, and, like the back, is also divided into
three compartments. It is separated from the stables by a stout wall,
consequently there is to the interior no entrance by this direction.
The corner space to the left of the spectator, who is supposed to stand
in front of the edifice, consists of one room, which is plastered,
ceiled, and boarded--the dimensions being by breadth twelve, by depth
eighteen feet. The entrance is guarded by a pair of well-made and
closely-fitting folding doors. The interior is meant to serve as a
double coach-house. The place is made as comfortable and is kept as
free from drafts as its uses will permit.
[Illustration:
PLAN OF THE COAL-CELLAR, WHICH IS IMMEDIATELY UNDER THE GIG-HOUSE.
]
At the opposite corner exists a similar but smaller apartment. It
possesses doors like the first; also, it is similarly provided with
such things as ceiling, plaster, and boards, which are not customarily
to be seen in these places. The room is as wide as the coach-house,
but reaches back only ten feet; it is meant to serve as a gig-house.
Beneath the flooring is the coal-cellar, and which is gained by a trap
door cut in the floor of the present apartment. Close to this trap an
entrance is pierced in the parting wall; and upon the last door being
opened, as well as the trap being raised, a direct descent is formed,
leading immediately to the cellar.
Between the gig and the coach-house there must exist a clear space,
eighteen feet deep, twelve feet wide, and of the last extent in height,
when measured from its roof to the pavement, which is level with the
ambulatory. The covering to this ground being flat and less lofty than
the slates of the building, is proof that a clear space must exist
above it. The place itself, however, contains nothing that can tempt
cupidity. It is evidently a sheltered ground, where the carriage may
be got ready, the harness may be cleaned, or any job be executed which
might soil other portions of the interior. Such a spot is handy for
many purposes, and serves as a loitering chamber for those idle gossips
who delight in hanging about large stables.
Against the wall of this last locality, and near to its right-hand
corner, is a projecting block of brick-work, which measures three feet
by two and a half feet. It is evidently neither useful nor ornamental;
therefore the reader rightly conjectures it merely indicates the
presence of a chimney. Close to the chimney, but nearer to the
entrance, is fixed a pump. From a plug, ready to be inserted into
the muzzle, and from a pipe running some feet up the wall, which it
ultimately pierces, evidently the pump is occasionally used to force
water into a hidden receptacle situated above the surrounding level. In
the left-hand corner of this clear space is built a convenience for the
stable servants, which should be kept as clean as any other part of the
edifice.
Looking once more at the front of the stable, we perceive there is a
clock above the sheltered ground, while immediately under the clock
something resembling the top of a door can be discerned. The roof of
the ambulatory has also a trap let into it, which must be situated
directly beneath this door. The trap being raised, and the door opened,
by means of a ladder, which should hang upon the outer side of the
ambulatory, admittance is gained into the clock-loft: by this means the
works of the time-piece can be regulated; while the remaining space
affords ample accommodation for storing, and also offers a spot where
are housed those articles which are of no immediate utility.
Between the gig-house and one of the first loose boxes there is a
space of eight feet by twelve feet. This forms a room which has two
entrances: one is by a door pierced through the wall of the gig-house;
the other is by a door, the upper part of which is glazed, and which
opens from the ambulatory. Leading to the floor of the apartment are
placed before each door two steps, the pavement of this room being two
feet lower than any other level in the building. The ceiling, however,
is ten feet removed from the floor.
In the farthest corner, raised against the northern wall of the
compartment, is situated a self-acting and slow-consuming boiler. The
fire faces toward the door, and the chimney has already been alluded
to as built out on to the covered ground. Commencing in the farther
corner, at the opposite extremity to that occupied by the door leading
to the gig-house, is a staircase, which obviously conducts to an upper
apartment.
[Illustration: GROUND PLAN.
The oblong space above the loose boxes, which is indicated by dotted
lines, denotes the size of the central ventilator.]
Above the boiler, and removed but one foot from the ceiling, is a
cistern, which occupies the entire length of the wall, or extends for
twelve feet: it is four feet high and three feet wide. The situation of
the cistern explains the use of the forcing pipe, which leads upward
from the pump and supplies the cistern as has been noticed. From this
reservoir the boiler is replenished, and the water troughs are kept
perpetually filled. The pipe leading to the stable quits the cistern
at eighteen inches from the bottom; consequently the horses will
want fluid, while the cistern holds a supply sufficient to last some
time when only used to fill the boiler. This arrangement involves a
necessary artifice. Pumping is hard work, and grooms are not famed for
a love of mechanical labor; but these men are always clamorous at any
stint within their dominions. They will grumble loudly if the horses
lack water, and persecute their fellow, whose turn it may be to pump,
until the defect is remedied; whereas the boiler might become red hot,
and an explosion threaten to demolish the building, without one of
these people being moved by the likelihood of such a catastrophe.
From the boiler proceed pipes which travel into the loose boxes, into
the harness-room, into the coach-house, and into the gig-house. Within
these tubes circulates warm water, the fluid being returned again to
the boiler when its caloric has been diffused through the interior. Few
persons imagine how important warmth is to the welfare of the horse.
Cold immediately roughens the coat, and if not speedily counteracted,
stiffens the limbs or depresses the spirit. Were gentlemen willing to
maintain the temperature of their stables, that lengthy coat, which
nature now sends as a needed protection, would not be produced: the
follies and the barbarities of clipping and singeing might then be
abolished. The animal which is properly lodged can alone attain the
limit of possible perfection.
[Illustration: PLAN OF THE HOT WATER SERVICE.]
Impure heat generates damp: the moisture derived from such a source,
being finely divided, is far more penetrating, far more destructive,
and altogether more noxious, than a similar amount of water could
prove. It destroys clothing, encourages moths, dims plated and painted
ornaments, rusts steel, soils varnish, rots wood and leather,--in
short, there is nothing within the stable but suffers more or less;
while in the animal, colds, coughs, and influenzas are but the
intimations of its presence, the full effects being shown by the
breaking forth of farcy and of glanders. Better be without horse and
stable, than to be possessed of both, and be forced to lodge the
quadruped where cold and damp prevail.
Few gentlemen care about, or probably no gentleman has ever seriously
thought about, the coach-house being aired. Yet persons tenderly
brought up, nursed in luxury, and frequently in delicate health, have
the carriage kept near to a close stable, or housed in a building sadly
exposed to the moist atmosphere of this northern climate. The vehicle
is pulled out of such a place, is hastily made to wear an outward
smartness, and is then whisked to the front door of the mansion.
Ladies, habited in the thinnest of evening dresses, leave their warm
apartments and subject their exposed beauties to the chilling effects
which must necessarily be present in vehicles so carelessly sheltered.
Here, after the bustle of preparation, they remain inactive for some
period. They are set down at a fashionable hotel, and return thence in
the same conveyance. The next day they naturally complain of a cold,
supposed to have been caught at the party of last night!
People when seated within a carriage, the windows being up, may esteem
themselves protected from the night air; but they would be safer
walking through frost or rain than traveling inactive within such a
receptacle. Consumption is far more prevalent among carriage folk
than it is common among races which are supposed to exist in spheres
liable to all the ills of life. Poverty has to encounter many perils,
and is obliged to endure many privations; but it is not exposed to
those snares which the ignorance of wealth has invented for its own
destruction.
Perhaps, in this country, of many classes, the richer are most troubled
with colds, with coughs, and with diseases of the air-passages. Good
living, no labor, and careful nursing may enable them to linger on to
a good old age; but comparatively few know the blessings of a vigorous
being after the fiftieth year has passed. Warm rooms, a study of the
weather, and ample envelopes prolong the life; but such things cannot
restore the health. Gout, paralysis, epilepsy, with numerous brain
disorders, are not common in agricultural districts, where carriages
are scarce. Bronchitis and laryngitis are almost the property of
the wealthy. Yet many men have paid pleasing compliments to the
aristocracy concerning their longevity; but no one has hitherto traced
the cause which bows the youthful scion to an early grave, and makes
a valetudinarian of the noble who should be still enjoying a vigorous
middle life. Invention has been racked to keep the feet warm when
within the vehicle; but it seems not to have occurred to those numerous
parties whose office it is to minister to the luxuries of the rich,
that the interior of a carriage might be benefited by a secure lodging,
or by its being thoroughly aired. Such conveyances, for hours, during
the most rainy nights, crowd about the doors of fashionable mansions,
the woolen lining or the cotton covering of the interior imbibing the
malaria which resides in the heavy midnight atmosphere of most large
towns. Women, in the tenderest dawn of approaching maturity, and
flushed with the pleasure of the dance, enter these seemingly-sheltered
receptacles, where, lulled by the motion, they soon fall asleep.
Activity is changed for instantaneous stagnation; the bustle of
amusement for the stillness of repose; the heated room for the cold
interior of a damp carriage; and, during the drive home, every pore
of the body being open, need we feel surprised should the seeds of any
lurking evil be kindled into activity?
It is better to be without a carriage than to command one of the
ordinary description; one that is seldom employed, or that is kept in
a moist shed. All which comfort requires might be attained, were damp
excluded from the coach-house, and were this portion of the building
warmed with the same means as keeps up the temperature of the stable.
To prove how readily and how cheaply this might be accomplished, the
warm water pipes which enter the boxes and the harness-room also
penetrate the coach-houses--all being supplied by a furnace which is
denominated “slow-consuming.”
These boilers are of modern invention, and do not require constant
attendance. They occupy comparatively little space; and as they burn
coke, of course they are maintained in operation at small expense. An
advertisement informs the author they can always be seen in operation
at No. 155 Cheapside, being denominated “Riddle’s Slow Combustion
Boilers.” They are merely proposed to the reader as the most recent
improvement of which the author is apprised.
[Illustration: PLAN OF THE WATCHER’S-ROOM.
T indicates the position of the trap, which allows of entrance to
the interior of the cistern.
]
[Illustration: SECTION OF THE INTERIOR.
Supposed to be drawn where the letters C D point to a line which runs
across the ground plan.]
Having enlarged upon the advantages to be secured by the existence of a
boiler, the reader must next accompany the author up the stairs which
lead from the boiler-house to the room above. Close to the northern
wall, near to the center of its space, is seen an ample trap door.
Recollection assures us it is situated immediately over the cistern;
its evident use is to permit the reservoir to be cleansed of the
deposit which most kinds of water will soon leave behind. Additional
room is secured for this small apartment by the insertion of a large
dormer, or garret window, which allows the ceiling to be even with the
highest rafter of the roof. There is also another and a smaller window,
that enables the person looking through it to command a perfect view of
the stable.
Connected with this apartment is a bell, which sounds in an adjacent
cottage, where the grooms reside. Should assistance be required, the
bell, being gently touched once, intimates that the help of one groom
is necessary. A violent ring indicates the need of all haste. Two
sounds announce that two grooms are wanted. Thus the number of men is
always told by the number of sounds; and the occasion for quickness
is suggested by the violence with which the wire is moved. A number
of loud sounds, rapidly succeeding one another, is a signal to come
immediately, and to bring such extra assistance as can be readily
procured.
Another advantage is secured by a man being awake, and upon the
premises. The present necessity for cramming the entire quantity of
food down the animal by a particular hour is thereby avoided. The
natural habits of the horse can be attended to, the animal not being
left twelve long hours alone and without employment. The five feeds
might be better distributed if given at six in the morning, twelve in
the day, five in the afternoon, ten at night, and two o’clock on the
following morning. If this plan of feeding were tried and the fodder
properly prepared before being placed in the manger, the animal would
enjoy its provision more, and fewer complaints would be heard about the
fastidious appetite of a creature whose natural propensities are, by
present customs, openly violated.
[Illustration: THE ELEVATION OF THE EASTERN SIDE OF THE CONTEMPLATED
STABLE.]
The night watcher of a stable has more serious duties to perform than
most people associate with a comfortable, although a humble room. The
groom, having finished the day’s work, ascends to the apartment, and
remains there until his fellows return on the following morning, or
unless some business occasions him to quit it. There are light, fire,
table, chair, couch, and rugs provided. The man is not forbidden to
sleep; but while he rests, the window which overlooks the stable
should remain open, so that any noise within the boxes may disturb his
repose. The watcher is expected to wear his clothes through the night,
so that should an accident, at any time, require his aid, he may always
be prepared to afford assistance; or should any horse be returned,
after the other grooms have left for the night, he may be ready to
receive, to dress, and to feed the animal.
The architectural designs which embellish this part were drawn by
the author’s brother, Mr. Julius Mayhew, who, under the inventor’s
direction, will be happy to employ his talent in erecting the supposed
stable for any gentleman intending to follow out the plans which have
been exhibited.