V^tebster Family Library of Veterinary 
 
 Cummtngs School of Veterinary Medidneat 
 
 Tufts University 
 
 200 WesttDoro Road 
 
 North Grafton, MA 01596 
 
liliii 
 
 r^ 
 
THE 
 
 GENTLEMAN'S 
 
 STABLE GUIDE: 
 
 CONTAINING 
 
 A FAMILIAR. DESCRIPTION OF THE AMERICAN STABLE; 
 THE MOST APPROVED METHOD OF FEEDING, GROOM- 
 ING, AND GENERAL MANAGEMENT OF HORSES,- 
 
 TOGETHER WITH 
 
 DIRECTIONS FOR THE CARE OF CARRIAGES, HARNESS, ETO. 
 
 BY 
 
 ROBERT McCLURE, M.D., Y.S., 
 
 AUTHOR OF "diseases IN THE AMERICAN STABLE, FIELD, AND FARM YARD.* 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 PORTER & COATES, 
 
 822 CHESTNUT STREET. 
 
>-KfOr-nz> 
 
 
 Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870, by 
 
 PORTER & COATES, 
 
 In the Clerk's Ofl&ce of the District Court of the United States, in and for the 
 Eastern District of Pennsj-lvania. 
 
 MEARS & DUSENBERT, STEREOTTPERS. SHERMAN i CO., PBJNTERS. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 TiliS little book is founded on a reasoned experi 
 ence of many years as a veterinarian. It treats of 
 the construction of private stables for the gentleman, 
 the " Club," the farm, the livery, and the railroad ; 
 of the care of horses in health, — dietetics, regimen, 
 and hygiene; of carriages and harness, and how to 
 take care of them. All is elucidated in such a way, 
 that no one need plead ignorance as to the duties of 
 grooms and the requirements of the stable, — the 
 quantity and quality of food the horse requires, and 
 how to prepare it, together with the effects which may 
 be expected. 
 
 Knowing well the general want of economy in 
 most of our stables, a guide or preceptor will not be 
 
 (v) 
 
71 PREFACE. 
 
 thought unnecessary or out of place, and should it 
 be even partially instrumental in the removal of 
 error, prejudice, or short-sightedness from professed 
 horsemen, as " Diseases in the American Stable, 
 Field, and Farm-Yard" has been in regard to the 
 erroneous views of the treatment of the diseases of 
 all our domestic animals, and the substitution of a 
 humane, scientific, and successful system, the result 
 will sufficiently satisfy the 
 
 Author. 
 
 Philadelphia, 1869. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 INTRODUCTION Page 11 
 
 CHAPTEE I. 
 
 STABLES. 
 
 The Gentleman's Stable — Its Comfort — Completeness — "Walls 
 — Windows — Doors — Drainage — Stalls — Mongers and 
 Racks — Hall Posts — Loose-Boxes — Advantages and Dis- 
 advantages — Ventilation — Light — Temperature — Sleeping- 
 Room — Carriage-House and Harness Room or Closet . 17 
 
 CHAPTEE II. 
 
 STdBLES OF DIFFERENT KINDS. 
 
 The " Club," Livery, Sale, Racing, Railroad, and Farm 
 Stables 43 
 
 CHAPTEE III. 
 
 DIETETICS, HYGIENE, AND REGIMEN. 
 
 Chemistry — Quality and Quantity of Food — Water — Oats — 
 
 Corn 66 
 
 (vii) 
 
Vlll CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP TEE lY. 
 
 DIETETICS, HYGIENE, AND REGIMEN— Coufniuerf. 
 
 Barley — Rye — Carrots and Turnips — Grass — Pasture and 
 Soiling — Timothy and Clover Hay — Bran — Cooking of 
 Food for Horses — Prindle's Steamer — Weight of Stable 
 Feed Page 87 
 
 CHAPTEE V. 
 
 STABLE WORK. 
 
 Cleansing and Airing the Stable — Straightening the Blankets 
 — Waterbrushing the Quarters — Feeding and "Watering — 
 Dressing or Grooming — Shaking down the Beds and Tidy- 
 ing the Stable — Exercise — Blanketing — Bandages — Tying 
 — Care of the Feet — Treatment after Work — Bedding — 
 Rye Straw — Sawdust — Forest Leaves — Oat Straw — Salt, 
 Marsh, and Meadow or Natural Hay — Tan-bark — Stable 
 Vices — Kicking — Biting — Shying — Rolling — Cribbing — 
 Breaking Loose — Tearing the Blankets — Vicious to clean 108 
 
 CHAPTEE YI. 
 
 CARRIAGES, HARNESS, &c. 
 
 Carriages — Their beauty — Lightness, strength, and weak- 
 ness — Axles — Collings' Patent — Patent Mail and Half- 
 mail — Common Springs — The Elliptic and Shackle — Their 
 safety and strength — Care of Carriages, and how to wash 
 
CONTENTS. IX 
 
 them — The best Grease for Axles — Castor Oil— Crown 
 Soap, its make and value — Harness — Specialties in — 
 " Kemble Jackson" Bridle — Kicking Strap — Fqur-in- 
 hand — Tandem — Care of Harness — Saddles and Bridles — 
 Bits — Their variety and how to clean them . Page 138 
 
 CHAPTER YII. 
 
 VETERINARY SURGEONS. 
 
 Veterinary Nostrums of the Stableman — Fattening — Glossing 
 the Coat — Conditioning Horses ..... 157 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS. 
 
 Breeding and Training of Horses — Accidents — Sprains — 
 Diseases — Runaway Horses — Pasturing of Colts and 
 young Horses — Clipping — Good Feed overlooked, but an 
 important agent in improvement of Breeds of Horses . 171 
 
THE 
 
 AMERICAI STABLE GUIDE 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The number of Horses in the United States is 
 estimated by careful judges at nearly eight millioHS — em- 
 bracing all varieties, from the peerless Dexter, trotting 
 his mile in 2m. 171s., or the magnificent thorough-bred 
 stallion, the proud sire of hundreds of winners on the turf, 
 to the veriest drudge that drags his weary load along the 
 crowded streets of our large cities. The value of these 
 animals has been computed at from ^2,000,000,000 to 
 $3,000,000,000, a sum almost sufficient to pay off the 
 national debt, and perhaps greater than the entire gold 
 product of the world for the period in which they were 
 reared. 
 
 They may for convenience be divided into four classes, 
 though all such distinctions are of course arbitrary, as they 
 run into one another, so that it is difficult to say where 
 one class begins and the other ends. 
 
 2 (11) 
 
12 IXTPtODUCTION. 
 
 1st. Thorough-bred stallions of acknowledged repntation 
 as foal-getters. 
 
 2d. Horses, not stallions, distinguished for their perform- 
 ances on the turf, or giving promise of great speed. 
 
 3d. Horses of speed, but not quite so fast as those in 
 the 2d class. 
 
 4th. Horses of general utility. 
 
 5th. Horses of slow work. 
 
 Of these the first class has always commanded the high- 
 est prices, both in this country and in England. 
 
 Says a writer in a recent number of a prominent sport- 
 ing journal : — 
 
 " Horses of great reputation have always commanded great 
 prices.. At Newmarket, in 1805, a bay colt, by Pipato, sold 
 for $75,000. In the same year, a two-year old colt by 
 Beningborough, a two-year old by Volunteer, and a three- 
 year old filly by Sir Peter, were sold for $75,000 each. 
 For the celebrated horse vShark $50,000 were refused, and 
 O'Kelly declined to accept an offer of $100,000 for bis stal- 
 lion Eclipse. Tradition says that the Duke of Devonshire 
 refused for Flying Childers the weight of the horse in gold. 
 A few years ago, the great sire Stockwell could not be 
 bought for $100,000, and we presume that when Gladita- 
 teur was carrying everything before him on the English 
 turf, the Count de Lagrange would not have parted with 
 him for $150,000." 
 
 In this country stock-breeders and owners of costly 
 animals, not being so wealthy as a class as their brethren 
 
INTRODUCTION. 13 
 
 in the mother country, and the stakes contended for being 
 neither so numerous nor so valuable, the prices paid have 
 ranged considerably lower. Nevertheless, the celebrated 
 running stallion Lexington was purchased for S15,000, 
 for stock purposes, by the late Mr. Alexander soon after 
 his wonderful performance at New Orleans, from the 
 effects of which he became blind ; and when remonstrated 
 with by his friends for paying what was then considered an 
 enormous price, Mr. Alexander counted out upon the table 
 $15,001, the price he had just received for Norfolk, a son 
 of Lexington, since valued at $40,000, thus showing tlie 
 judiciousness of his purchase. Kentucky, another son of 
 Lexington, cost his owner, Mr. Leonard W. Jerome, 
 S10,000 ; and Mr. Alexander refused $50,000 for Asteroid, 
 Kentucky's half-brother. Glencoe (imported), Lexington's 
 old antagonist, changed hands at $35,500. Priam, Jr., a 
 descendant of Old Priam, purchased during the war by a 
 member of the Christian Commission when only 9 months 
 old, and sent to Pennsylvania, was sold a few days since for 
 $5000, without any knowledge of his speed and endurance, 
 but on account of his perfection of form and splendid 
 pedigree. His present owner will not take double that 
 amount for him. 
 
 Mr. Bonner has just purchased for $20,000 the trotting 
 stallion Major Winfield, the sire of Commodore Vander- 
 bilt's "Mountain Boy," and "Joe Elliot," who lately 
 trotted a m.ile in 2.19 J. 
 
14 IXTRODUCTION. 
 
 Mr. C. P. Relf has refused an offer of 850,000 for his 
 famous stallion Mambrino Pilot, and with reason — for a 
 moderate estimate of his earnings for a single year was cal- 
 culated at more than one-fifth that amount. Hanibleto- 
 nian, the prince of trotting stallions, is valued at $100,000, 
 notwithstanding his advanced age. 
 
 The second class is more numerous than the first, but 
 is still very small in comparison with the whole number of 
 horses in the United States, and may be set down at about 
 70,000, commanding prices ranging from S3000 to $10,000, 
 with many instances where two and three times the latter 
 figure has been paid. Mr. Bonner gave $33,000 for Dexter, 
 and, had it not been for his notoriously bad temper, and 
 the bad condition of his feet, defects which, thanks to his 
 owner's careful treatment and judicious shoeing, have been 
 effectually overcome, the price would doubtless have been 
 much higher, as he might easily have made more than that 
 amount in a single year by exhibiting at fairs and on the 
 track. "George Palmer" cost his owner 828,000; the 
 bay horse " Henry," raised in Kansas, has been sold during 
 the past year for 815,000, and 836,000 has since been 
 offered for him and refused by his present owner. 820,000 
 was paid for "Goldsmith Maid," and 817,500 for Lady 
 Thorn. The horses Fearnought, George Wilkes, and Draco 
 Prince, trotting in 2.25, are valued at 820,000 each. 
 
 It must be remembered that all the " Fancy" horses do 
 not appear on the turf or race-course, as the greater num- 
 
INTRODUCTION. 15 
 
 ber are in the hands of private and wealthy gentlemen, 
 and only used for road or driving purposes or for the stud. 
 
 The individual value of horses of the third class is much 
 less than those of the two previously mentioned ; but as a 
 class being much more numerous, their aggregate value is 
 much larger. 
 
 A horse that can trot in 2.45 will readily bring from 
 $1500 to $2000. A Bashaw or Messenger that can trot in 
 2.35 will command $5000, while one that can beat 2.30 
 is considered cheap at $10,000, and for every second less 
 in the twenties $1000 additional can be obtained. 
 
 The fourth class comprises about three-eighths of the 
 whole number, and includes all such animals as are stylish 
 in action and well adapted for general wagon and road 
 purposes. The prices paid vary from $300 to $2000. 
 
 Lastly, we have that most useful and most frequently 
 much-abused and badly-kept animal, the horse of slow 
 work, numbering about 5,000,000, or five-eighths of the 
 whole, commanding prices from $50 to $200, 
 
 The prices and figures above given will show at a glance 
 what a valuable animal the horse is, and what a sum of 
 money is invested in horseflesh in America alone. 
 
 And yet, notwithstanding the enormous interests in- 
 volved, it is surprising that so little intelligent thought 
 has been given this subject. Proverbially wasteful and 
 reckless as we Americans are, in nothing are we more so 
 than in our care of the noblest and most useful animal 
 2* 
 
16 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 wliicli God lias bestowed on man. Especially is this true 
 of his treatment when in the stable, where the groom 
 is allowed to mismanage the poor brutes committed to his 
 tender care, as his whim or ignorance may dictate. To 
 show how a stable ought to be constructed and managed, 
 is the object of this little work ; whether it has been suc- 
 cessful or not it is for the reader to judge. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 STABLES. 
 
 The Gentleman's Stable — Its Comfort — Completeness — "Walls — 
 Windows — Doors — Drainage — Stalls — Mangers and Racks — 
 Hall Posts — Loose-Boxes — Advantages and Disadvantages — 
 Ventilation — Light — Temperature — Sleeping-Room — Carriage- 
 House and Harness Room or Closet. 
 
 At no day since the domestication of the horse, has he 
 been so comfortably provided for as in the stable of the 
 American gentleman. The splendor and pomp of the wise 
 king of Israel, the gaudy trapping, tinselled show and orna- 
 mental fixtures of the oriental prince, cannot be compared 
 with the more substantial arrangements provided for the 
 care and comfort of American carriage and pleasure horses. 
 Whatever lack of comfort there may be found to exist can- 
 not be truthfully charged to any imperfection or want of 
 provision in the construction of our fine stables in all their 
 details. This may without fear of contradiction be called 
 the heyday of stable comfort for the horse of the gentleman 
 of the United States. High ceilings, airy stalls, ample 
 loose-boxes, good drainage with free ventilation, will be 
 found to be the rule and not the exception. Compare the 
 
 (17) 
 
18 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 stables of to-day, both in tlieir number and perfection, with 
 those of a quarter of a century ago, and no difficulty will be 
 found in arriving at the^deductions here announced con- 
 cerning them. Therefore, in the pride of our spirit we 
 say, that the experience obtained in a series of years in the 
 second city of this republic, where duty and love of the 
 horse impelled us to erect such establishments, leads to the 
 conclusion that there is little to be desired in addition to 
 what already exists for the arrangements of the stable and 
 comfort of the horse. 
 
 It must be remembered by all who are interested in such 
 matters that the plans for our private city stables and their 
 perfection have been executed almost in opposition to cir- 
 cumstances, and in many instances beyond the comprehen- 
 sion of the owners. A small lot of ground behind or back 
 of the dwelling, or at least within reasonable distance of it, 
 is usually selected as the stable site, and it is upon this that 
 we find the finished stable and carriage-house of the gentle- 
 man. The ingenuity of the architect and the craft of the 
 builder has erected a house for the horse and family equi- 
 page of which no age nor country can claim a better, and 
 apparently under adverse circumstances. This, then, is 
 the stable of the present, which is acceptable to us for all 
 purposes intended, and from which we prefer to take as a 
 text the description of the gentleman's city stable. 
 
 The walls of city stables and carriage-houses are almost 
 invariably built of brick of the ordinary kind, but on the 
 front aspect or wall it is usually faced with pressed brick 
 
WALLS — WINDOWS. 1^ 
 
 of extra quality &nd laid with skill and care. The lintels 
 of windows and doors are not the same in all stables, some 
 being arched with brick, others with granite, brownstone, 
 marble, or iron. On the inside of the walls some are plas- 
 tered, others boarded with pine and sometimes even with 
 foreign and more expensive wood, in many instances giving 
 the appearance of a huge polished box. This high finish 
 is usually given to the walls of the stable and carriage- 
 house only. The hay-loft, except where there are rooms 
 for the groom or coachman to sleep in, are not so highly 
 finished in this respect; nor is this necessary, either for the 
 keeping of the hay or feed. In some instances, however, 
 the game of billiards and other amusements are carried on 
 over the stable, and where sufiicient ventilation is secured 
 no injury to carriage, harness, or horse can result from such 
 a contrivance ; in fact, it may sometimes be a decided 
 advantage, for horses like company and even excitement 
 about them. 
 
 The dooes are usually of two sizes, one for the stable 
 proper and the other for the carriage-house ; the latter 
 opening in the middle and sliding on rollers back against 
 the wall, thus occupying little or no room when open, and 
 obviating any risk of horses or carriages coming in contact 
 with it. This plan of opening large carriage-house doors 
 cannot be always adopted, from w^ant of space or width 
 of wall to allow the door to run back its whole length. 
 When this is the case, they should be hung on hinges and 
 open out on the street; always, however, taking the precau- 
 
20 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 tion of having prongs of iron to fasten tliem when open, to 
 prevent the wind or other agency from throwing them 
 against whatever may be passing through. Neglect of 
 this precaution results in injury to the panels of the car- 
 riage, and more than once has contact with the open doors 
 been the cause of horses running away. The doors of the 
 stable are in some cases placed on hinges, and in others 
 on rollers, sliding back against the wall like the carriage- 
 house doors. The hinged door when opening into the 
 stable is objectionable, chiefly on account of its being 
 sometimes left partly open and the horse being loose at the 
 time or thoughtlessly led out, jamming himself between the 
 door and the wall; whereas if the door opened outwardly 
 or was placed on rollers, it would open to its fullest 
 extent, or slide back to its proper place by the simple pres- 
 sure made against it. The key of the stable door at the 
 time it is unlocked should be taken out of the door and 
 put in its proper place ; that is, if it is a long-handled one 
 and apt to catch upon some of the harness when horses are 
 passing. For this reason, also, stable-door keys should 
 have a ring to turn them by, instead of the usual shank or 
 long handle, and a place sunk in the door or wood for this 
 ring to fall and lie in while it is in the door. 
 
 The windows of city stables are chiefly confined to the 
 front of the building, showing into the carriage-house ; but 
 if there are back windows, they are generally placed above 
 the horses, so as to throw the light into the stable-loft, and 
 not into the stable or horse apartment at all. In many 
 
WINDOWS. 
 
 21 
 
 instances this is done because in large cities owners and 
 occupants of houses have an aversion to horse-stable win- 
 dows facing them. Many suits at law have been brought 
 against the owners of stables by persons living opposite to 
 these windows, and we are sorry to say the result is gener- 
 ally in favor of the plaintiffs, thereby compelling the build- 
 ing up of the windows and darkening the stable, to the 
 inconvenience of the stable men, and also to the injury of 
 the horses, particularly of their eyes, as dark stables are 
 one great cause of weak eyes and blindness. To obviate 
 this difficulty, and as we know of no law preventing a fix- 
 ture to the stable of whatever device or pattern one may 
 choose, we would select the plan here illustrated, where 
 neither glass nor horse can be seen from the outside. 
 
 iiiiim.iiiiii ^ 
 l,ri,ji!.^=^ 
 
 (a) represents the window closed; (6) the window opened; (c) the ratchet to 
 regulate and hold the window open. The arrow in figure (6) shows the direc- 
 tion of the air. 
 
22 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 Windows of tliis descrq^tion, as far as we know, have 
 not been much used in our stables, but can be seen on the 
 Bouthern exposure of the Philadelphia County Prison 
 (Moyamensing) ; answering, we believe, the objection to 
 exposed windows on buildings usually considered not the 
 most respectable to some neighborhoods. The windows 
 should be above the level of the head, so that when open 
 no cold draught of air will force itself against the horse in 
 a direct line. This we will more fully explain when con- 
 sidering ventilation. 
 
 The floors of city.suibles are of various kinds of mate- 
 rial. The stable proper, its stalls, loose-boxes, &c., are usu- 
 ally covered with wood laid in various ways. This material 
 is perhaps less objectionable for such purposes than any 
 other in use, since floors laid with wood last longer and 
 need less repairing than do those laid with stone ; how- 
 ever, some persons object to wood on account of its becom- 
 ing saturated with urine and other animal fluids in a short 
 time. Concrete is another substance now used in some rare 
 instances for floors of stables, but from what we have seen 
 of it we cannot truthfully recommend it for such a purpose, 
 as it is very apt during the hot season to become full of 
 holes and very uneven on its surface ; its chief composition 
 being, we believe, gas tar mixed with sand or gravel. Cob- 
 ble and Belgian pavements are also in use for stable-floors, 
 but more frequently for the floor of the carriage-house or on 
 that part of it upon which carriages stand while being 
 washed. The floor of the carriage-house is in many estab- 
 
FLOORS — DRAINAGE. 23 
 
 Jisliments the same as is used in the stable, but more 
 usually a portion of it is paved with bricks put down flat, 
 and in some instances, to insure durability, on their edges, 
 especially iu that part where the carriage washing is done. 
 In the finer stables, large flagstones are used, and generally 
 in such cases the whole of the floor is thus laid as far as 
 the adjoining one of the stable. This diversity only shows 
 the views and tastes of the architects and builders, and 
 nothing more. 
 
 The drainage of stables is a matter of much import- 
 ance, not only in regard to health, but also to cleanliness. In 
 fact, so much is thought of this in relation to stables, that 
 great ingenuity has been displayed in the furtherance and 
 accomplishment of this design. Many plans are in use, but 
 not one of them will serve the purpose, short of a tho- 
 rough discharge of the fluid from the stable without a 
 return of the ammonia and gas up the drains and through 
 the openings into them from the floor of the stable. We 
 do not refer to drains on the surface, as their gases are 
 diluted with the air of the stable, but to the deep gutters 
 conveying the urine, &c., to the common sewers of the city. 
 To thoroughly drain the stable of its fluids and carry them 
 to the sewers of the city, at the same time preventing a 
 return of gas, is perhaps all that is wanted ; and for this 
 purpose a contrivance made of cast iron is now used and is 
 called a trap, which closely fits to the opening in the drain 
 under the floor of the stable. A catch-pit is the most efi'ect- 
 ual way of stopping the foul gas from entering the place ; 
 and we think that without it no stench-trap can be complete. 
 
24 
 
 AMEKICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 Section of Catch-Pit. 
 
 The plan of this pit is that the fluid from the stable at 
 a falls into the division h partitioned in the centre c, 
 all of which is firmly fixed in by a stone or iron lid c7, 
 and fitted in a frame at its top, Avhere it remains till taken 
 ofi" for the removal of the solid portions contained within 
 it at 1). 
 
 The sides of the iron partition run in grooves fitted well 
 in the plaster or mastic lining of the pit — at all events fit- 
 ting sufficiently close to prevent the solid portions from 
 passing into the division e. As will be seen the parti- 
 tion c does not reach to the bottom of the floor, but within 
 
 Irun iurfuL-e Gutter. 
 
 one to four inches of it, and it is through this space the 
 fluid is to pass, filling it to the top on the other half e, 
 
DRAINAGE — STALLS. 25 
 
 till running over into and through the pipe f as fast as 
 it runs in at c?, presuming of course the pit to be level. 
 By adopting this construction, all stench-traps may be dis- 
 pensed with, substituting in their place a simple iron sur- 
 face-drain, as seen in the preceding engraving, with its 
 checkered cover also of iron, and movable to allow of its 
 being cleaned with the stable-broom and cold water. 
 
 The STALLS are from 5| to 6 feet in width, and are gen- 
 erally separated by solid wooden partitions. However, in 
 some stables, boards of from 4 to 6 inches in width are used, 
 with a space of 2 or 4 inches between them ; to this plan 
 we object, particularly when such spaces are left in the 
 lower portion of the partition, allowing the foot of the 
 horse to find its way through into the other stall, to be 
 injured by another horse, or, as is sometimes the case, a leg 
 to be broken when he has been lying down, and suddenly 
 springs to his feet with great force while his foot is in such 
 a place. To prevent the horses from biting each other 
 over the tops of the stall divisions, an ornamental iron rail- 
 ing is used, which we think is very appropriate, since it 
 not only allows a free current of air to pass, but also gives 
 the stable a finer appearance, which is by no means to be 
 ignored, though appearances in a stable are not, or at least 
 should not be made at the sacrifice of health and comfort 
 of the horse. Incompatibility of health, comfort, and har- 
 mony of design should never be allowed, when at the same 
 expense it can be made perfectly admissible without doing 
 violence to either. 
 
26 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 The MANGERS AND RACKS of stables in cities are now 
 in a majority of cases made of iron, with tliree divisions or 
 a cavity for hay-feed, mashes, soft feed or gruel. The 
 high hay-rack elevated above the horse's head is now 
 almost a fixture of the past, and to be seen only in the 
 stable of the farmer or other old-fashioned establishment. 
 The manger and rack are to meet certain objections to 
 the low or present position and form, and are made and 
 placed high enough from the floor to prevent the horse 
 from getting his fore feet into them, as would be the 
 case if placed low and without sufficient slope being 
 given toward the horse. This angle or slope inclining 
 towards the horse, in a great measure prevents him 
 from attempting to get into the manger. Nor is this all, for 
 the slope widens the manger and rack, at the same time 
 allowing ample stall-room for the horse to lie and stretch 
 himself at full length without the head getting under the 
 manger, a matter of the greatest importance in the preven- 
 tion of accident to the horse during his struggles to free 
 himself, an illustration of which can often be seen in the 
 old high manger and rack. Again, if the horse should get 
 Ms fore feet into the manger, being made of iron, it can 
 bear the weight of the fore part of the horse without 
 injury; but as the rack is usually placed in the corner of 
 the stall and not in the centre, it is very seldom that he 
 will make the attempt. There is a great economy of hay 
 in racks placed below the horse's head, compared with 
 those placed above, since the horse does not waste it by 
 
MANGERS AND RACKS. 27 
 
 pulling it down and tramping it among his feet, but it 
 remains in the rack before him. Stonehenge tells us, that 
 the low rack saves the waste of 10 pounds of hay per horse 
 in one week. Where the troughs or mangers are made of 
 wood, to prevent the feet of the horse from breaking 
 through the bottom of them, let a post of thick strong wood 
 be the resting-place for the bottom boards, and have them 
 firmly and solidly fixed upon this ; for if this precaution be 
 overlooked, a bottomless manger and an injured horse will 
 occasionally be the result. The top rail or cap of the man- 
 ger and rack should be either of iron, or hard wood covered 
 with sheet-iron, tin, or zinc, so as to prevent the horse 
 from gnawing it with his teeth when he is idle or restless. 
 This cap rail, to which the halter-ring is to be fastened, is 
 firmly fixed at each end into the travis or wall, thus pre- 
 venting the possibility of the horse in his endeavors to get 
 loose from pulHng the ring and rail with him, thereby 
 injuring the stable as well as teaching him a bad lesson, 
 especially if he be a young horse. 
 
 The stall-posts or bale-posts, as they were formerly 
 called, now rarely reach from the ground to the ceiling, 
 but are from five to seven feet high, and are made of wood 
 (usually cedar) or of cast-iron, round in front, with a 
 groove in the back of them, so as to admit the ends of the 
 boards forming the stall divisions. These posts, whether 
 of iron or wood, are sometimes very attractive in their 
 appearance, from the ingenuity displayed on them by the 
 iron moulder or wood turner. 
 3* 
 
28 
 
 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 Cast-iron posts are frequently shattered by a kick of a 
 horse, while with cedar posts this rarely or never occurs. 
 From our experience in this matter, in an economical 
 point of view, we find the wooden posts much preferable, 
 because they less frequently require renewing, and are 
 more easily replaced ; for the pattern of the iron post may 
 be lost, requiring the making of a new pattern, or the sub- 
 stitution of a different form, thus destroying uniformity. 
 
 The Loose-Boxes are in some stables the substitutes 
 for stalls, and may be fitly described as two stalls made into 
 one, with the addition only of a partition extending along 
 the edge of the gangway behind the horse as he stands in 
 the stall : in a word, it is two stalls in one, fenced or closed 
 in on all sides, with a door to each box, hung on hinges, or, 
 as in some stables, to slide or run on rollers, and of the form 
 represented in the annexed engraving. 
 
 Door for Loose-Box. 
 
 As will be seen, the upper portion is made of sparred 
 work, which admits the air, yet prevents the horse or its 
 
LOOSE-BOXES. 29 
 
 neighbor from interfering with each other, and allows the 
 groom to see into the box without opening the door. 
 Where circumstances will allow, the door should be placed 
 on the gangway side, and not in another box or stall. 
 The other portions of the fence around the box should, like 
 its door, be of solid boards, extending up to about two- 
 thirds of its height, the other third to be sparred either 
 with wood, iron rods, or strong wire-work, screwed or nailed 
 to the top of the wooden portion. The upper portion of 
 spars or netting is inserted in a flat iron or wooden bar, 
 firmly secured to the front travis or wall, and attached to 
 the back post at the edge of the gangway, giving strength 
 to the whole fixture. To give strength to loose-boxes, as 
 is now done in our finer stables, the posts or travises are 
 made of sufficient length to reach up, and are secured to 
 a joist in the ceiling of the stable. 
 
 The advantages of loose-boxes may be stated to con- 
 sist in giving to the horse more liberty of action, and con- 
 sequently a more natural position in a state of domestica- 
 tion than could be accorded to him when tied by the head. 
 Hence the excuse of the Arab, when refusing to sell or 
 part with his favorite horse for gold, that the European 
 would " tie Tiwi close.'' How abhorrent to the mind of the 
 sons of the desert that the winged steed should be tied by 
 the head after a life spent in unrestrained freedom at the 
 side of its dam — whether on the oasis of the desert or the 
 pastures of Pennsylvania. The old, stifi", hard-worked horse 
 and the lymphatic mare are alike benefited by the freedom 
 
30 
 
 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 given to tliem in the roomy loose-box. The swelled or 
 filled legs of sickly and debilitated aninfals are greatly sus- 
 ceptible of improvement under the genial influence of the 
 gentle exercise in the box. The young, the old, the sick, 
 and the well are benefited by the freedom and movement 
 thus allowed, that cannot be gained by confinement, tied 
 by the head in a five or six feet stall. Many a valuable 
 and useful horse, under sickness or sufi"ering from an 
 
 Iron Fittings for Stalls and Loosb-Box. 
 
 accident, has been lost for the want of sufficient space, 
 which is found in the modern loose-box. The sick horse 
 requires more room than when in health. As an agency 
 for the prevention and cure of a crib-biting horse, no other 
 contrivance can compare with it, unless it be the pasture- 
 field. Especially is this the case when there are folding 
 shutters like closet doors, covered over and made flush with 
 the manger and hay-rack, at all times except when the 
 
LOOSE-BOXES. 31 
 
 horse is feeding. By this plan no projection offers for him 
 to take hold of by his mouth in order to suck air into the 
 stomach. Thus, with regular food and regular work, 
 together with his home in a loose-box, the horse often 
 entirely forgets his former very injurious habits. Again, 
 the foot cannot get over the halter during the night, nor 
 is the horse ever found cast, and unable to rise when the 
 stableman enters in the morning; yet this is often seen 
 when tied to the manger in the usual way. 
 
 The loose-box is certainly a remedy for many of the faults 
 and ills to which horses are liable, particularly some of the 
 vices in the stable and those affections of the joints arising 
 from narrow stalls and hard work. 
 
 The disadvantages of loose-boxes, if disadvantages 
 we may call them, when compared with the advantages 
 just detailed, are not many, when properly considered. 
 To the minds of some persons, however, they will be con- 
 siderable, when taking into account the extra quantity of 
 straw for litter or bedding that is required, and the fact 
 that the space for one box will make two stalls. These 
 perhaps are sufficient to condemn them, if economy be 
 the rule for estimation in such matters. 
 
 The " quarters" (hips) of horses during the night will 
 frequently be found to be badly stained from lying in every 
 position on their excretions evacuated over the bedding in 
 all parts of the box. This, however, is not always the 
 case, for many horses are very cleanly in their habits, as is 
 
82 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 often observed by tlie manure being deposited in a corner 
 or given place. 
 
 The liability of horses soiling themselves is one of the 
 chief objections of the stableman to the use of loose-boxes, 
 while those of the owner are, the extra space occupied by 
 the box, and the greater amount of bedding required to 
 cover it. 
 
 Where the stableman is allowed the manure-money, 
 little fault will be found with the boxes, because of the 
 greater conversion of straw into manure to be tossed into 
 the dung-pit to his special advantage. 
 
 The VENTILATION of stables should in all cases be so 
 managed that draughts of cold air will be prevented from 
 blowing against any of the horses. All stables, however, 
 are not sufficiently and properly ventilated, nor is there a 
 fixed form of ventilation adoj^ted in our stables, although 
 it does not necessarily follow that all our fine horses are 
 suffering from contaminated air and foul gases. 
 
 Where the superficial area and height are great, and 
 with few horses in the stable to generate foul air, little 
 ventilation will be required. But it is in the crowded and 
 small stables that we find imperfect ventilation. It is now 
 admitted that no stable should have less than from 800 to 
 1000 cubit feet for each horse, when confined in stalls, and 
 from 1300 to 1500 for each loose-box. 
 
 A very airy stable is generally so high that it is difficult 
 in winter to keep it comfortable for either man or horse. 
 To obviate this difficulty, we introduce a drawing of a ven- 
 
VENTILATION. 
 
 83 
 
 tilating shaft, which is admissible to all or every variety 
 of stable, without occupying much space or costing a great 
 deal of money for the material and construction ; and, 
 moreover, its utility rests upon true principles of ventila- 
 tion by its situation and capacity to carry off the foul air, 
 
 Ventilating Shaft. 
 
 presuming always that sufficient air is admitted into the 
 stable nearer the ground by the doors and windows, and 
 registers placed in the walls. These registers or louvres are 
 made on the same principle as those in dwellings where fur- 
 naces are used. Instead of a multiplicity of tubes in a stable 
 corresponding to the number of horses, one will answer, if 
 of sufficient capacity and properly placed, with its mouth 
 
34 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 entering into the stall through the ceiling. Thus it will 
 be seen that when one of these ventilating shafts is in 
 place, a constant current is. kept up between it and the 
 registers below. This ventilator is of wood, made like a 
 square funnel, carried up through the hay-loft or upper 
 portion of the stable and the roof to the outside, and to pre- 
 vent a down draught of air, snow, or rain, a " cowl,'^ some- 
 times called an " archimedian ventilator," turning with the 
 wind, is placed on top of the end of the shaft. For this 
 purpose, one made of wood, and covered with sheet tin or 
 zinc, like the pattern here represented, will answer all pur- 
 
 Head of Shaft. 
 
 poses. It will be readily recognised from its shape, so 
 often seen in many parts of the country upon the roofs of 
 buildings. 
 
 In a badly-ventilated stable, in the fall or spring of the 
 year, its inmates will be fevered and sick. Coughs, colds, 
 lung fever, scratches, grease, influenza, farcy, glanders, 
 and other zymotic afi'ections, are some of the concomi- 
 tants of impure air in ill-ventilated places. Pure air is so 
 indispensable to animal life, that a high condition of health 
 
VENTILATION. 35 
 
 cannot long be maintained without its agency. The Black 
 Hole, at Calcutta is an admonition in favor of proper or 
 sufficient ventilation. 
 
 The horses which were confined only for a few hours on 
 board of ships in the military expeditions, sent out by the 
 British government to Quiberon and Varna, when the 
 storm compelled the hatches tc be put down, were almost 
 invariably affected with glanders. We mention these 
 occurrences, because Mr. A. B. Allen, editor of Stewart's 
 book, affects to doubt that bad ventilation could produce 
 those affections amongst the horses on board, by stating as 
 his opinion, that the animals were diseased when put on the 
 ships. Mr. Stewart was right in his remarks on the cause 
 of the sickness ; and Mr. Allen has simply shown, that he 
 is incapable of tracing effect to its cause when he penned 
 his assertion, doubting the opinion of a man who, in his 
 day, had but few equals as a veterinary surgeon and 
 writer. 
 
 Moreover, the views expressed by Mr. Stewart thirty 
 years ago, are substantiated by science and experience at 
 the present day. The analyses of impure and pure air have 
 shown us a difference, that few persons, even in our time 
 have anticipated. The fact is, that the condensed air of a 
 crowded place where animals are kept, gives a deposit, 
 which, if allowed to remain on the walls and fixtures for a 
 few days, forms a solid, thick, glutinous mass, having a 
 strong odor of animal matter, which, if examined by the 
 microscope, is seen to undergo a remarkable change, by its 
 4 
 
36 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 being converted into a vegetable growth, wliicb is followed 
 by the production of innumerable animalcules ; a clear 
 proof that it contains organic matter, otherwise it could not 
 nourish organic beings. This is the result of the beautiful 
 experiments of Dr. Angus Smith, where he showed how 
 the lungs and skin gave out organic matter, which is in 
 itself a deadly poison, producing zymotic and epidemic dis- 
 ease according to its strength. So potent is it for iujury, 
 that if a drop of the liquid matter obtained by the conden- 
 sation of the air of a foul place be introduced into the vein 
 of a dog, it will produce death with the usual phenomena 
 of typhus fever. Ventilation and cleanliness are the only 
 remedies for this evil, acting not as miracles, but in accord- 
 ance with natural laws, the disobedience of which is sick- 
 ness, and perhaps premature death. 
 
 The lighting of stables is a matter of much moment 
 for the maintenance of health, and the prevention of dis- 
 ease among men and horses. We are told that institutions 
 of the old world can show by statistics, the immunity from 
 disease of the inmates on the light side of the building, 
 while those confined on the dark side are more frequently 
 affected, and more liable to sickness. The lighting of sta- 
 bles, like other buildings in large cities, is at all times or 
 situations no easy matter, as was mentioned when speak- 
 ing of windows. There seems to be an inherent prejudice 
 existing against stables with lights facing, and the horses 
 looking towards the dwellings or property of others not 
 interested in the stable or its stock. To obviate this diffi- 
 
LIGHTING — TEMPERATURE. 37 
 
 culty, let the windows already shown be adopted, or borrow 
 from the heavens by means of skylights, either fixed or 
 movable. Where ventilation is good, immovable skylights 
 will answer, but when this is not the case, the lights may 
 be made movable by hinges, with cords by which to open 
 and shut them at will, or durin"; storms. A dark stable 
 is usually a dirty and ill-ventihited one, prone to produce 
 diseases of a typhoid or low condition of the vis vitse. The 
 light of the sun admitted into a stable, is as potent in pre- 
 serving animals in health, as darkness is in the cause of 
 decay and disease. The dose of sunshine is as regularly 
 prescribed, and with as much benefit by the physician in 
 certain afi"ections, as any article in the pharmacopoeia. 
 
 The temperature is an important matter in the man- 
 agement of places where animals are kept, yet the ther- 
 mometer is an instrument seldom consulted, even if it finds 
 a place. This should not be, especially in a climate such 
 as ours, where we have the mercury at zero at one hour of 
 the day, and at another 20° to 30° above it. The difficulty 
 in regulating the temperature, or rather in keeping the 
 degree of heat in winter up to the summer standard, is 
 more apparent than real, even if it were necessary. 
 
 The stable temperature of summer being from 70° to 
 90°, would obviously not only be unnecessary, but highly 
 injurious to the horses in winter, with the thermometer 
 indicating zero in the open air. Coughs, colds, staring 
 coats and chills, swelled legs, and a train of other ills, 
 would be of constant occurrence, and some of the horses 
 
38 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 perhaps, like the exotic or hot-house plant, would succumb 
 to the inexorable law of nature, when by accident or other- 
 wise they were exposed to the frosts and chilling blasts of 
 December. In winter, the temperature of the stable for 
 safety and comfort to the horses when out-doors, should 
 not exceed 40° to 50° of Fahrenheit's thermometer. 
 
 But the groom will say the coats on the horses will not 
 lie well. "What of that, when it is a provision of nature 
 to give them a coat for protection ? and moreover, in win- 
 ter horses are even more able to do their work with the 
 long coat of hair on, than they are with the short and 
 glossy one in summer. The greater the heat of the stable 
 in winter, the more tender will the horses be, and conse- 
 quently the greater the liability to disease. But in our 
 desire to avoid unnecessary exposure of the horse, care 
 should be taken not to have the temperature too low ; 
 for then the horses will lose condition, and consume more 
 food to keep them in flesh or working order and to supply 
 the caloric of the body required in a greater degree when 
 exposed or stabled in too low a temperature. 
 
 The risk of disease being produced in horses by sudden 
 transition from heat to cold, is by no means so great in 
 summer as the sudden exposure to the cold from the heated 
 stable in winter; bearing in mind, however, that from cold 
 to heat is as prolific in the production of disease as the 
 reverse. But as we have said, the risk is not so great in 
 summer, from the difficulty or almost impossibility of find- 
 ing a situation in mid-summer, except it be in a draught 
 
TEMPERATURE SLEEPING-ROOM. 39 
 
 between two doors, where the cold would be such as to give 
 rise to disease. This, then, is the chief reason of the more 
 perfect immunity from chills, leading to thoracic diseases 
 in summer, amongst horses, and at the same time illustrates 
 why it is that from the heated stable in winter, horses are 
 more subject to influenza, pleurisy, pneumonia, &c. How 
 necessary, then, is it, that a thermometer, properly protected 
 from injury, should be placed in every stable where valu- 
 able horses are kept, and the keeper instructed in its use — 
 charging him that the mercury be kept at a given place in 
 the tube during the day, and at something higher during 
 the night ? The standard or relation of the heat of the 
 stable to the open air at all seasons of the year, night and 
 day, is so difficult to attain and control, that we could only 
 approximate to it were an attempt made to give figures ; 
 but we would say that the stable should be 10° to 20° 
 warmer in winter than the open air, and in summer per- 
 haps as much cooler, which can only be done by door or 
 window currents of air, or placing horses underground in 
 cellar stables, with a northern exposure of the building, or 
 where the rays of the sun do not strike its walls. 
 
 The sleeping-room over the stable is of so much 
 importance in stable management, when properly conducted 
 in its various details, that few persons will run the risk of 
 their horses getting loose from their stalls during the night, 
 without some one in the building to secure them before any 
 injury is done to horse or stable by kicking and biting, as 
 is often the case, when no one is on the premises to inter- 
 4* 
 
40 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 fere. How often is it that the horse is attacked with windy 
 colic, unknown to any one during the night, and is found 
 dead in the stable in the morning — the halter broken — the 
 stable injured, and not unfrequently others of the horses' 
 legs bruised, broken and swollen, from kicks received from 
 the sick horse in his agonizing struggles ? To enumerate 
 the various accidents happening to horses during the night, 
 that could be avoided by a person sleeping over the stable, 
 would be unnecessary, and take up too much of our space. 
 Therefore, we would enjoin upon the owners of fine horses 
 to have a sleeping-room provided in the stable, where all 
 unusual sounds could be heard by its occupant, and acci- 
 dents thereby be prevented. This is the only security for 
 the night, where horses are kept. The stranger on the 
 street or the patrolman on his beat, will very seldom pay 
 much attention to the sounds of the plunging and kicking 
 of the horses in a stable, though the animals may be valu- 
 able ; and perhaps the struggle for life itself will in the 
 morning find one or more of them dead or disabled. We 
 have known several instances, where during the night, 
 neighbors have gone in search of the owner or his stable- 
 man, to inform them of unusual sounds coming from the 
 stable, and were thus instrumental in preventing accident 
 and saving life. 
 
 The CARRIAGE-HOUSE OR ROOM is mostly under the 
 same roof with the stable, and divided from it by a parti- 
 tion of boards, bricks, or lime and plaster ; a door for com- 
 munication being made in the manner or place as exhibited 
 in the ground plan of a stable here presented, capable of 
 
THE CARRIAGE-HOUSE. 
 
 41 
 
 holding five horses, three ordinary sized carriages, harness, 
 and saddles sufficient for the establishment. 
 
 Ground Plan of Phillips's Stable. — A, Stalls ; B, Hay-rack; C, Carriage-house; 
 D, Doors ; E, Closet for harness, with glass doors ; F, Stairs to the hay-loft, &c. ; 
 G, Manger; H, Stench-trap; W, Windows. 
 
 There is nothing suggestive about the coach-house re- 
 quiring notice, except that it be kept dry and clean, and 
 that the communicating door be always kept closed, as the 
 ammonia and gas from the horses in the stable are very 
 injurious to the paint and varnish on the carriages. For 
 the purpose of heating and keeping this apartment dry, we 
 will, when speaking of an apparatus for the steaming of 
 feed for the horses, refer to a plan that can be adopted 
 
42 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 i 
 
 without the use of the ordinary stove now in common use. 
 As elsewhere stated, a portion of this section of the stable 
 requires to be flagged or paved with stone or brick, upon 
 which the carriage stands when it is being washed. This 
 portion of the floor also should be sloped inward froni 
 its margins to the centre, where is placed an iron rack or 
 perforated plate, through which the waste water falls into 
 the proper channel leading to the sewer or tank. 
 
 The harness-room or closet is the third division or 
 apartment on the ground-floor of the stable, and requires 
 no special remark, further than that all such places should 
 be kept clean, dry, and with an ample supply of wooden 
 pins or iron hooks upon which to hang the harness. The 
 harness-closets should, for dryness and cleanliness, be a 
 portion of the carriage-house where the influences of the 
 stable cannot reach its contents ; for the gai^es of stables are 
 extremely ifijurious to carriage-robes, mats, and leather of 
 all kinds. Indeed, the harness-room may, in some instances 
 at least, be properly called the "smoking-room;" and for 
 which purpose, when it has a place for everything and 
 everything in its place, no valid argument or objection can 
 be raised against such use, but something may be urged in 
 its favor, by insuring for it and all that is in it a more tidy 
 appearance than perhaps would otherwise be accorded to 
 it at all times were it exclusively used for harness and 
 saddles. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 STABLES OF DIFFERENT KINDS. 
 The Club, Livery, Sale, Racing, Railroad, and Farm Stables. 
 
 The variety of stables that we now propose to lay under 
 contribution cannot, from their diversity, be described as 
 one, or as a sample of its class, even in one city or town, 
 not to speak of a much greater disparity when embracing 
 the whole of the country. To attempt to describe a livery 
 or sale stable, as it appears or is managed in one part of 
 the city, would be a work of supererogation, as it would or 
 could not apply to others diiferently situated and managed. 
 To the groom more than to any other agency may be 
 ascribed the uniformity of management in the stable of the 
 gentleman throughout the country, and to the architect 
 and builder, together with other circumstances, such as 
 the means or taste of the owner, do we ascribe the uni- 
 formity and style of stables in one city and the difference 
 which may exist in the stables of another. 
 
 The stable and its management claiming the most per- 
 fection in our view of what a stable and proper care of a 
 
 (43) 
 
44 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 horse should be, and next to that of the gentleman, is 
 the 
 
 Club Stable 
 
 which is so called, because a number of gentlemen, each 
 having but one or two horses, unite together in keeping 
 it, because of the difficulty of procuring a proper place 
 where the best of care can be given outside of a private 
 stable; or it may be with a desire for privacy, which is 
 not accorded to them at a livery stable. In some instances 
 it is the greater protection of the purse that has led to the 
 establishment of the club stable. This last, of itself, is no 
 inconsiderable matter, remembering as we do, the extrava- 
 gant charges at livery for the keep of horses, and the kind 
 of care and protection which in some livery stables is given 
 to them — which is not commensurate with the present 
 charges of from thirty to thirty-five dollars a month per 
 horse, while oats are selling at from sixty-five to seventy 
 cents per bushel. It would be an easy matter to estimate 
 to a cent the difi"erence of profit and loss resulting from 
 club and livery stabling — if we could but know the rental 
 or interest on the money invested in the purchase of the 
 club stable, as well as on how many persons the pro rata 
 would have to be assessed. We are inclined, however, on 
 the side of profit, not to speak of other matters pertaining 
 to the club, to give preference to this kind of stabling. 
 A horse can be fed on any particular kind of feed, and in 
 any quantity the owner may desire, which can only be 
 
THE CLUB STABLE. 45 
 
 done in the private and club stable. Indeed, we can urge 
 no good reason against this syestm of stabling, as it is pre- 
 ferable under all circumstances to any other plan now in 
 use. 
 
 For the guidance of those who may contemplate an asso- 
 ciation of this kind, we refer to the following series of 
 rules and regulations, well adapted for the government 
 of a club stable. So good are they that they have stood 
 the test of time, and given satisfaction to horsemen for 
 many years. Though (by provision) any article may be 
 changed when found necessary, yet to this date they 
 remain intact. 
 
 PREAMBLE. 
 
 We, the subscribers, have formed ourselves into an associa- 
 tion for the purpose of keeping a stable, and for the govern- 
 ment thereof, have agreed upon the following rules and regu- 
 lations, to wit : — 
 
 ARTICLE I. 
 
 The style and title of our association shall be known as the 
 Club Stable. 
 
 ARTICLE II. 
 
 A regular stated meeting of the members shall be held at 
 
 the stable, on the of every month. Notice shall be 
 
 posted in the stable days previous to meeting, and each 
 
 member failing to attend shall be fined $ — , if not present 
 minutes after the time of meeting. 
 
 ARTICLE III. 
 
 members shall constitute a quorum for the trans- 
 action of business, and a chairman and secretary shall be 
 chosen at each meeting. 
 
46 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 ARTICLE IV. 
 
 The number of members and stalls, and the number of vehi- 
 cles to each stall. The purpose of the association being 
 entirely for the keeping of horses, and vehicles for pleasure, 
 no person keeping cars, carts, or wagons for hire, nor shall 
 any doctor, be entitled to become a member of this association. 
 
 ARTICLE V. 
 
 No person shall be admitted a member of this association, 
 unless he shall receive two-thirds of the votes of the members 
 present, nor shall any member be expelled unless two-thirds 
 of the members present shall vote for expulsion. The vote 
 upon election or expulsi9n shall be by ballot. Upon the elec- 
 tion of a member, he shall pay $ — initiation fee. 
 
 ARTICLE VI. 
 
 A caterer shall be elected from among the number, who 
 shall continue in office till his resignation or dismissal for non- 
 attendance to his duties. 
 
 ARTICLE VII. 
 
 It shall be the caterer's duty to procure provender, to hire 
 and superintend the hostlers, to receive the monthly assess- 
 ments and fines, to give notice of the monthly meetings, to keep 
 accounts of all receipts and expenditures, and to present said 
 account at each regular meeting. 
 
 ARTICLE vni. 
 
 At the regular meeting, the assessments for the keep of each 
 horse for the ensuing month shall be fixed. It shall be the 
 duty of each member to pay his proportion to the caterer 
 within one week from the time of said meeting, and on failing 
 to do so shall be subject to a fine of $ — for each horse, which 
 shall be doubled each week until paid. 
 
THE CLUB STABLE. 47 
 
 ARTICLE IX. 
 
 Each horse shall receive an equal quantity of food, and in 
 case an}'^ member shall desire a larger quantity given his horse, 
 he shall be charged with the same ; but no allowance shall be 
 made for feeding less than the regular quantity. If any mem- 
 ber shall remove his horse for any time exceeding one week, 
 an allowance for feed shall be made on his assessment, pro- 
 vided he gives the caterer notice at the time the horse leaves 
 and returns. 
 
 ARTICLE X. 
 
 No horse having a contagious disease will be allowed in the 
 stable, and it shall be the duty of the owner of said horse to 
 remove him as soon as the same is known, and should he 
 refuse, a meeting of the members shall be called by the caterer, 
 when steps shall be taken for his immediate removal, and at 
 the next regular meeting the said member shall be expelled. 
 
 ARTICLE XI. 
 
 In order to settle misunderstandings between two members 
 in matters appertaining to the stable, each shall choose a 
 member of the association, by whom a third shall be chosen, 
 who shall act as arbitrators, and after an impartial hearing 
 of the matter in dispute, their decision shall be binding. 
 
 ARTICLE XII. 
 
 Any person wishing to resign from the association shall 
 give written notice to the caterer at least one week prior to 
 the regular meeting, and then, if his proportion of expenses be 
 fully paid, his resignation shall be accepted, and the stall dis- 
 posed of by the association to such party as may after 
 
 weeks previous to the regular meeting receive two-thirds of the 
 votes of the members present, thereby becoming a member. 
 
 5 
 
48 AMERICAN STABLE CxTJIDE. 
 
 ARTICLE XIII. 
 
 In case a member shall sell his stall and propose the party 
 
 purchasing it in his place for membership, weeks' notice 
 
 must be given. In case said party shall not be elected, then 
 the association reserves the right of taking said stall at a valu- 
 ation by referees appointed, as in article eleven. The referee 
 of the association shall be selected at the regular meeting. 
 In case of expulsion, the stall shall be taken by the association, 
 at a valuation by the referees selected as above. 
 
 ARTICLE XIV. 
 
 No member is allowed to give a fee or perquisite to the 
 hostlers, their wages being a full equivalent for their services. 
 
 ARTICLE XV. 
 
 No member shall give or sell the use of his stall to a person 
 not a member of this association, unless he obtains the consent 
 
 of members, and then at the regular meeting, if such 
 
 assent is not confirmed by two-thirds of the votes of the mem- 
 bers present, such horse must be removed. In case of refusal 
 to remove by said member, proceedings must be taken as in 
 Article X. 
 
 ARTICLE XVI. 
 
 Should any member refuse to comply with these articles he 
 may be expelled. 
 
 ARTICLE XVII. 
 
 Any of the foregoing articles may be altered or amended 
 and new articles introduced, with the consent of two-thirds of 
 the members present. 
 
 Any person who does not object to an agreement such 
 as is embraced in the articles just quoted, and possessed 
 with a reasonable amount of sociability and judgment of 
 
THE CLUB STABLE. 49 
 
 human nature, cannot fail to find everything well suited 
 to the care of his horses and carriage, in a stable conducted 
 by gentlemen willing to be guided by such provisions of 
 stable management, having the control of feeding, groom- 
 ing, &c., with power of dismissing .an incompetent person 
 employed, and the substitution of a more accomplished one. 
 
 An establishment so conducted is as comfortable for the 
 owner and his horse, and as exclusive as though in a private 
 stable, and at a cost much less than in any other stable or 
 by any other plan. A better class of grooms is always to 
 be found than is seen in the livery stable, which, to speak 
 the truth, are the lowest kind of persons, with no responsi- 
 bility, and usually never to be relied upon. Even the 
 hand in the purse-pocket fails to produce service in a satis- 
 factory manner : either horse, harness, or carriage will be 
 neglected. The partiality of the livery-stable groom for the 
 liberal person to the injury of others, finds no place in the 
 stables of the club or private gentleman. There is no 
 safety for a first-class horse, carriage, &c., outside of the 
 club and private establishment of the owner, managed and 
 superintended by direction of a superior mind. 
 
 The club stable, as conducted in Philadelphia, possesses 
 all the advantages of livery stables, with few of their draw- 
 backs, and with all the advantages of the stable of the 
 gentleman, and at a much less expense or trouble to him- 
 self in the daily duty of a personal visit, and in some 
 instances of an examination of the affairs of the stable. 
 The pay of the hostlers or grooms, the rent of the stable, 
 
50 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 and all matters coonected therewith, except it be the feed, 
 is assessed in equal proportions among the members, and no 
 more is paid for the haj, oats, &c., than is consumed or 
 fed to the horse. Thus it will be seen that for a small 
 expense, a gentleman can keep his horse with the advan- 
 tages of a private stable, escape the extortions and dis- 
 comforts of a livery stable, and insure proper attention and 
 comfort to his horse and care for his carriage and 
 harness. 
 
 The livery stable is an institution of our country 
 that we cannot boast of either in buildings, accommodations 
 for horses, or their safety. If, as is already shown, 
 the superiority of horse management exists with us in the 
 stable of the private gentleman, or the association of the 
 club is above that of the cities of the Old World, the same 
 claim cannot be advanced in favor of the livery stables of the 
 New World. The livery stable is a place where horses are 
 kept at a certain rate per horse, by the day, week, or month. 
 If the accommodations for the horse and the care of har- 
 ness and carriage were as well defined as the charge for 
 them, perhaps not much could be truthfully said against 
 them. But, not unlike the horse cars on a stormy night, 
 *' more room inside" when not a foot of standing-place can 
 be had, crowding and jostling in one confused mass together, 
 true to the principles of the avaricious, and of some 
 corporations, like unto the " Old Sexton," their song 
 always is 
 
 (I i^Q gather them in, we gather thera in,'* 
 
THE LIVERY STABLE. 51 
 
 until at last there is room for none, and discomfort for all. 
 It may be asked why the livery system of keeping horses 
 is so distasteful to us ? This can only be answered by per- 
 sonal experience and observation, and comparison of other 
 establishments of a more private character. It is an 
 always understood principle of trade, that a person gets 
 what he pays for, whether it be a peck of oats or a bale of 
 goods; but in the feed of a horse at livery, the promise 
 must be taken for the performance — the shadow for the 
 substance. 
 
 There are, however, some good livery stables amongst 
 us, but they are an exception ; and if it were not con- 
 sidered invidious, we would with pleasure give the 
 names and locations of them in the principal cities of the 
 seaboard. This only can be the excuse for our silence in 
 the exceptions just alluded to. To have a horse at livery 
 is to subject him to sickness brought to the stable by 
 horses from all parts of the country, and suffering from 
 infectious and contagious diseases. This is one explana- 
 tion of the prevalence of epizootic disease in the livery 
 stable, when found or seen nowhere else at the same time. 
 The livery stable, like the tenement house, is the nursery 
 for the production of disease. The horse for sale or 
 exchange is here brought to be disposed of, not unusually 
 diseased, and no one daring to say a word against it or to 
 inform the patrons of the stable, till other horses in the 
 livery have the same disease ; then the veterinary surgeon 
 is sent for, and is perhaps the first to detect the source 
 5* 
 
62 AMERICAX STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 from whence the sickness came. When the mischief is 
 done, all sorts of excuses are made ; •' no one to blame;" the 
 head man declares himself entirely ignorant of the bring- 
 ing of such a horse to the stable, and by way of sympathy 
 for the loss, a new horse is at once offered that would just 
 suit instead of the one lost. The law of supply and 
 demand in the livery stable is well understood. We 
 may be wrong, but have often said that it is not the desire 
 of the keeper of a livery, sale, or exchange stable, that the 
 horse of a gentleman of means (having use and a taste for 
 horses) should live and get over whatever disease the 
 animal may have had, as an opening is thus made for a 
 sale which could not be effected had it lived and got 
 entirely well again. There are more horses destroyed 
 from want of care and good management in the livery, sale, 
 or exchange stables of Philadelphia, than from all other 
 places and stables combined, but from what cause, we 
 would have others inquire. The great expense of horse 
 feed ; the over-crowded condition of the place ; bad ventila- 
 tion, light and drainage ; lazy, indolent, drunken, low-priced 
 men kept for grooms, in some of these stables, are sufficient 
 to create disease among horses. At livery, almost all the 
 pleasure-horses leave the stable at one or near the same 
 time and return about the same — thus throwing too many 
 warm and exhausted horses upon the too few and inex- 
 perienced hands. Some are left to cool in the open air, or 
 perhaps in a draught — a chill is produced, lung fever sets 
 in, and death or a thick-winded horse is the consequence. 
 
THE LIVERY STABLE. 53 
 
 We have said nothing as to the care the harness and car- 
 riages receive in such places, the jarring them together, 
 scratching the paint and varnish, trampling of the shafts 
 by the feet of horses, and men totally indifferent to all 
 surroundings — suggestive of an understanding with the 
 harness-maker and carriage-builder. 
 
 The subject of livery stables is not an interesting one, 
 and we feel sorry that we can see nothing in their manage- 
 ment to be recommended and adopted in the care of horses 
 and carriages, while there is much to avoid and condemn. 
 A remedy for this state of things in the livery stable can 
 only be brought about by a stricter observance of those 
 laws of nature, the violation of which entails their just and 
 sure punishment, but unfortunately not always upon the 
 cause of their violation. 
 
 The keeper must be a man of temperate, business habits, 
 conducting his stable affairs honestly and impartially 
 toward his patrons. .A set of wise and good rules should be 
 framed and enforced, under pain of dismissal for disobedi- 
 ence of them J employ and pay good and capable stable- 
 men ; allow the full measure of feed to the horses, and if 
 this cannot be profitably done at the prices charged, make 
 this known in an intelligible manner to the owners, and if 
 assured of good treatment (which is true economy) each 
 will pay better prices, and thus insure the comfort of his 
 favorite horse. Rather reach the pocket of a gentleman 
 by a plain statement than by the stomach of a hungry 
 horse ; make the patrons feel by word and deed that their 
 
54 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 horses are as well cared for in his stable, so fiir as feed and 
 comfort are concerned, as in the stable of the owner. The 
 advantages alluded to in our review of the club stable, are 
 not for the owners of several horses, but to such as own 
 but one horse — as the physician, the baker, the grocer, or 
 the butcher — as it saves the expense of a separate stable 
 and groom to take care of the animal. The putting a horse 
 in a livery stable for such, may be the best and cheapest 
 way, as the club stable excludes physicians and others lia- 
 ble to be called upon at almost any time during the day 
 or night. There is no remedy for this but to put up with 
 the livery system, or to form clubs for themselves, and be 
 guided by such rules as the peculiar nature of the work 
 for their horses requires. 
 
 The RACING STABLE may also be called the training 
 stable, where horses are not only kept for racing, but also 
 training for the race, road, &c. The racing stable in all 
 particulars is not unlike other large stables, only being situ- 
 ated out of the city, and alongside or convenient to a racing 
 course or track. The Point Breeze stables and course, 
 situated outside of Philadelphia; the course and stables 
 on Long Island ; the more private one of Mr. Jerome of 
 New York, are good examples of what is meant by a rac- 
 ing stable. The latter we believe is used for running-horses, 
 the others for the trotting-horse. There is no uniformity 
 in the style of buildings, nor the management of horses in 
 such establishments. We have seen none of these stables, 
 but an improvement in them could be made, and with this 
 
THE RACING STABLE. 
 
 55 
 
 purpose in view, we present a ground plan possessing some 
 advantages over most of those in use for such purpose. 
 The race-horse should always be allowed a loose-box, to 
 insure absolute and entire rest after severe exertion, 
 
 FEET. 
 
 Racing Stable. 
 
 to enable him to recover in the shortest time from his 
 fatigue. The plan, as will be seen, is divided into four 
 separate stables, thirty-six feet long and eighteea wide. 
 The proportions of a loose-box, for the tired racer or horse 
 
56 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 that may at any moment be called upon for the exercise 
 of all its powers, should be from sixteen to eighteen feet 
 long, by about twelve feet wide. Horses of slower and 
 more regular work will not require so large a box. 
 
 Sometimes there are two men in charge of a single horse, 
 feeding, grooming, exercising, or training it, in a way each 
 individual thinks best. For our part, we have seldom seen 
 a horse sent to such places, and managed according to the 
 whim of the trainer, return improved in health, vigor, or 
 speed ; but can recall many instances where good horses 
 have been ruined in wind and limb by the injudicious and 
 often cruel manner of the trainer, in the endeavor to 
 exact a rate of speed that by nature the animal was never 
 designed to perform. Yet the man of the sulky and jockey- 
 cap could not see how this could be so. All horses are 
 not Flora Temples or Dexters, and to credit the man who 
 through force of circumstances became the trainer of such 
 fast animals with their great speed is absurd, as he would be 
 performing an impossibility, and laying claim to a power 
 that can never be attained but by the hand of Nature, pro- 
 per selection and judicious breeding. We do not, how- 
 ever, say that good and careful training has nothing to do 
 with the development of speed ; the training of the pugilist 
 and the acrobat for their subsequent performances would 
 dispel such a delusion. But at the same time, all men are 
 not fitted by nature to become experts at such callings, nor 
 are all horses that find their way to the racing or training 
 stable adapted to perform their mile in 2.40, even with the 
 
THE RACING STABLE. 57 
 
 aid of excellent and well adapted training for the formation 
 and physical powers of the horse. 
 
 The breed, formation, condition, and physical powers of 
 all horses should be well studied and understood before 
 undue exertion is exacted of, or cruelty inflicted on any 
 horse sent to be trained to a certain rate of speed for the 
 race or road. To prepare horses for severe exertion, it is 
 a practice to' cause the horse to sweat profusely in order to 
 make wind and limb fine. To this, when properly carried 
 out, we cannot object, but we do object to the severe exer- 
 tion exacted from the horse at the expense of nervous 
 energy, which should be possessed by every horse in order 
 to make a trotter of him. The hoods and heavy 
 blankets may all be necessary to cause sweating, but not 
 without exertion and injury to both feet and legs. All 
 this may be avoided by a judicious use of the Turkish 
 bath, thus saving the strength and scarcely disturbing or 
 causing an increased action of the heart. Indeed, the 
 sweating process is produced by the bath to any extent or 
 degree, without in the least affectiog the powers of the 
 horse. This is the proper way to prepare horses for severe 
 exertion without injury. Kepeated doses of aloes were, and 
 we believe are still used, for the preparation of the hunter 
 and racer in some establishments in Europe ; but this is 
 fast giving place to a heated box or Turkish bath, which 
 process will be treated of in another place, and to which 
 attention should be given. The extreme exertion demanded 
 from some horses while under training is not only unneces- 
 
68 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 Bary, but even cruel, when we consider that it is exacted 
 at and during a time, when by the nature of animal life, 
 fatigue and exhaustion produces diaphoresis and conse- 
 quent weakness. 
 
 The RAILROAD STABLES here treated of are those in use 
 by horse or city street car companies. They are of large 
 dimensions and well adapted for such purposes, being pro- 
 vided with almost every contrivance to save labor and pro- 
 mote the health of the horse. The steam grist or corn- 
 mill, chaff or hay-cutter, are among some of the fixtures 
 to be found in such establishments. Although fitted up 
 expressly for the comfort of the horse, we are not aware 
 that any of them have been provided with a feed-steaming 
 apparatus, by which feed would be made palatable to the 
 animal, and profitable to the stockholders. We think this 
 is an important omission, where so many hard-working 
 horses are kept, as a large percentage can be saved by 
 cooking, and the animals thus fed show an improved con- 
 dition. Some persons may say that feed thus prepared is 
 too soft for horses used for the city car or railroad work ; 
 this is an error, especially when the feed is prepared by 
 steam, and not softened by diluting with water. 
 
 But to return to the city car stables. From their extent, 
 construction, conveniences, and fine appearance, we are 
 led to think of the great improvement over the old stage 
 and omnibus stables of the past. The stables alone may 
 not be the sole agency in keeping the horses in so excellent 
 a condition, but they have a great deal to do with it. The 
 
THE RAILROAD STABLES. 59 
 
 superior ventilation, light, and cleanliness of these places 
 have almost banished glanders and farcy from our midst. 
 Some of the poorer companies, however, are still unpro- 
 vided with sufficient accommodations for their horses; and 
 it is noticeable that the horses of such companies do not 
 look so well, and are not as able to perform their work, 
 although they are of precisely the same character. 
 
 We merely mention this to show that the cause of the 
 debility of horses was not the work of drawing a lumber- 
 ing omnibus along the cobble-paved streets, but was due 
 to inferior stabling, as evinced by the superiority of the 
 horses of well regulated roads over those badly regulated, 
 and with inefficient and improper stabling. 
 
 It is the general remark of horsemen, that the stock of 
 horses on certain lines of road look well, while those on 
 others are poor and bad, although the average number of 
 miles travelled by each car horse is about twenty-four 
 each day of the week ; and moreover those that look best 
 are on roads where the cars are filled nearly all the time, 
 and are consequently more burthensome to the horses. 
 
 This difi"erence in the condition of horses similarly 
 employed cannot be set down to the extra work performed, 
 but to the better adaptation of the stable to its inmates. 
 The care bestowed would make a difference, but we believe 
 the feed and care to be about the same, as from 12 to 15 
 horses in car stables are intrusted to the care of one man. 
 The only difi'erence between them in this particular is, that 
 in some stables the feed is measured and served out by one 
 6 
 
60 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 person to all the horses in the stable ; and in others, each 
 man mixes and feeds the horses of which he has the care. 
 Thus it will be seen that it is at least as much for the good 
 of horses so employed that they should be provided with 
 good stabling, as that they should be lightly worked to 
 keep up a certain condition and fitness for work, or good 
 appearance. To keep a horse and give him light work 
 will not insure a high standard of good health if he be 
 kept in a dark, damp, ill-ventilated and badly constructed 
 place called a stable. 
 
 We feel that it is not necessary to say much about the 
 management of city car stables, and perhaps would not 
 have alluded to them at all. but for the good condition of 
 the horses which are stabled in some of them, and to which 
 we often refer when illustrating the effects of good stabling 
 and mixed feed, that form the food of most of them. The 
 feed, as already hinted at, is what some persons call mixed, 
 chopped, or soft feed, and which some stablemen, par- 
 ticularly draymen and carters have an aversion to, upon 
 the ground that it is too soft ; but if their true thoughts 
 were known, their objections would be found in the trouble 
 of cutting the hay or straw, and mixing it with water and 
 corn-meal during the dinner hour, or when they come to 
 the stable after the day's work is over. This can be the 
 only true reason, because chopped feed, when properly pre- 
 pared, and of proper, sound materials, is the safest, 
 strongest and most economical feed that can be given to a 
 hard-worked horse, not of too fast work. The mixture 
 
THE FARM STABLE. 61 
 
 given to the horses of one of the principal lines in Phila- 
 delphia is corn meal fifteen pounds, cut hay sufiicient to 
 give bulk to the mess, a little salt, and water enough to 
 merely moisten the mixture. This quantity is divided into 
 three feeds, one given in the morning, the others at noon 
 and night. Some horses do not eat so much ; but this is 
 the average quantity that a horse will eat during the 
 twenty-four hours, when travelling twenty-four miles daily 
 and attached to street cars. The mode of feeding car 
 horses, is referred to by us as being the best adapted to 
 horses travelling at the rate of from six to eight miles in 
 the hour. For horses of faster work, one such feed should 
 be allowed; and that in the evening after all work is done, 
 for the day and night. Some horses of poor appetite are 
 in addition allowed a sprinkling of bran over the mixture, 
 to whet their appetite and induce them to eat their feed. We 
 do not think that any class of horses for any kind of work 
 can be fed more cheaply than on the feed of car horses-, and 
 with the same condition and flesh maintained. Chemists 
 may tell us that maize or Indian corn produces caloric or 
 heat in the body, and that oats are wanted to produce mus- 
 cle, which we have here without the aid of oats, wheat, or 
 barley. 
 
 The farm stable must be accepted as a building of 
 many devices, shapes and appearances, situated often iu 
 places badly adapted for it, and often not at all suited for 
 the safe keeping of horses. The means of the farmer have 
 in most instances been the only consideration, when it 
 
62 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 was devised and built ; for if this were not the case, it 
 would not to day almost throughout the whole extent of 
 the country be a house holding almost every product, 
 utensil, and species of animal on the farm. The stable of 
 the farm is a series of houses or apartments within a house, 
 and used for as many purposes, however diverse from one 
 another; thus, in one building are the hay and straw 
 apartments, the granary, carriages, harness, and all the 
 farm implements in the upper portion of the stable, called 
 the barn, while in the lower will be found the horses, oxen, 
 sheep, cows and calves. The stables of most farmers are 
 not only unworthy of the name, but are not at all suited 
 for the purpose of keeping horses in safety or health ; and 
 were it not for the nature of the farm horse's work (on 
 account of the poor accommodations given him in the so- 
 called stable), he would be the victim of malignant dis- 
 eases. On a common level, without a partition, stand the 
 oxen, cows and horses, breathing the same contamioated 
 air, in a place often without ventilation and light, and 
 generally reeking with the gases arising from damp and 
 decaying manure. 
 
 The horse while within doors is compelled to stand or 
 lie down upon the accumulations of months. This is a 
 poor arrangement, and could be easily abolished by merely 
 systematizing the labor of the day, and without extra 
 ex])ense. The manure has at some time or other to be 
 removed ; then why occupy a day or two every fQ\N months, 
 when ten minutes each day before the morning meal would 
 
THE FARM STABLE. 63 
 
 do it ? This evil of allowing the duug to lie for weeks 
 and months among the horses' feet is but the force of a 
 habit which the farmer and his hired man have acquired, 
 to the injury of his horses' health, and the destruction of 
 his harness-leather and carriage-paint. 
 
 The ventilation of farm stables can scarcely be called by 
 that name, as the upper portion, filled with hay, straw, &c., 
 efi"ectually cuts off all communication with the roof of the 
 barn, and thus natural ventilation is prevented. The air 
 that is admitted by crevices in the lower walls is perhaps 
 enough ; but when inhaled by and expelled from the lungs, 
 there is no upper opening through which it may ascend j 
 hence all its impurities must settle, some on the walls and 
 fixtures, to be again and again inhaled, until, from its 
 weight of impurity, it is prevented floating in the air of 
 the place. We have in Chcipter I. already referred to 
 the poison in this deposit, not as a curiosity in nature, but 
 as something to be dreaded and avoided, through the instru- 
 mentality of ventilation or pure air and cleanliness in all 
 places where animals are confined. 
 
 The folly of " carrying too many eggs in one basket" is 
 no greater than that of the farmer in converting his stable 
 into a tool-house, a barn, and a byre. Let the vivid light- 
 ning or the incendiary's torch strike this place, and what 
 can be saved ? In the confusion of the moment, you 
 know not what to get out first — the horses, oxen, cows, 
 grain, carriages, farm tools, or machinery. There is too 
 much to do in the few moments that may be allowed on 
 6* 
 
64 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 sucli unfortunate occasions — " there are too many eggs in 
 that basket." 
 
 Farmers may console themselves on the conij)arative 
 immunity from fire in the country. This is no excuse for 
 the present arrangements of the agriculturists' stables. In 
 our experience and lifetime, many farm stables in Penn- 
 sylvania and New York have been consumed by fire from 
 natural causes, the incendiary, or by accident, and nothing 
 left of their contents but a charred and blackened mass, as 
 an emphatic rebuke to such imperfect arrangements. 
 
 This condition of country stables should long ago have 
 been remedied; but "'better late than never." The 
 excuse of poverty can no longer be the plea, in the face of 
 the high prices for the products of the farm, which has 
 enabled so many of them to pay off their mortgages. 
 
COOLEY'S PATENT LOCK HASP. 
 
 The above cut represents a combination of lock and hasp 
 for stable doors and other out-buildings. " It is made of 
 malleable iron, very strong, and can be used as a hasp and as 
 a lock. It contains four tumblers, and can only be opened 
 with a thin key, as represented by figure 1. It is pecu- 
 liarly adapted to stable doors, as there is no long-handled 
 key to be caught by the harness when horses are going in 
 or out of the stable. 
 
 (65) 
 
CHAPTEE III. 
 
 DIETETICS, HYGIENE, AND REGIMEN. 
 Chemistry — Quality and Quantity of Food — Water— Oats — Corn. 
 
 Baron Liebig compares fhe bodies of animals to a loco- 
 motive engine, in which air, water, and fuel, working, 
 together, generate heat and power. The food is the fuel, 
 without which the machinery would be useless. The food 
 and water supply the material necessary to repair what is 
 lost by wear and tear of the machine. He says there are 
 three conditions necessary to constitute food of perfect 
 quality : a certain quantity of albumen (a familiar illustra- 
 tion of which is the white of egg), furnishing an imjDortant 
 constituent to the blood, and is also the material of all the 
 plastic portions of the body — a proportion of heat-giving 
 substances, chiefly appropriated in the vital process, and 
 nutritive salts, without which the- other two cannot give 
 nourishment. Any one of these substances alone could 
 not support life, and only in that food where they are 
 
 (G6} 
 
FEEDING. 67 
 
 united is found perfect nourishment. The health of ani- 
 mal life depends on the proportion of the different kinds 
 of food, .both in quantity and quality. These proportions 
 differing greatly in each animal, must be determined by 
 the general state of health, and the nature and amount of 
 daily work to be done. 
 
 It is a practicable problem for every one to solve, by 
 careful observation, what quality and quantity is especially 
 wanted or suited to each animal, in proportion to its condi 
 tion and daily labor, for lengthening its life and promoting 
 its powers. The daily work of each animal bears a rela- 
 tion to its muscular power, and this again depends on the 
 nutrition it receives from the quality and quantity of food 
 allowed, consumed, and assimilated. 
 
 The feed given to animals or beasts of burden should be 
 in accordance with the labor performed. In order that the 
 working power shall be kept up, the food must contain 
 sufficient albumen to supply what is lost in the body. In 
 some horses the amount of food required to be given at a 
 time must be in proportion to the rapidity with which it 
 can be assimilated. It therefore follows, that for hard 
 work, horses should not be fed with bran-mashes and soft 
 grass, which are too easily and rapidly assimilated, but 
 with corn, oats, &c., which require a longer time to digest. 
 But when horses are not hard worked or their strength 
 not severely taxed, less corn or oats will be required. 
 
 Horses during a season of idleness can maintain perfect 
 health with far less concentrated food, as corn, &c., than is 
 
68 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 necessary in times of hard work. This seems to be well 
 understood among horsemen of all grades; or, if it be not, 
 how are we to account for the great diversity of the feed- 
 ing of horses everywhere ? The horse for pleasure, or for 
 the family carriage of the gentleman, does not require the 
 amount of food that is demanded by the horses attached to 
 the scrapers of the contractors of the Pacific Railroad, 
 which are fed five pounds of barley three times daily, with 
 as much bunch or bufi"alo grass as they can eat at night. 
 Horses consuming a less quantity of feed would not stand 
 the work exacted from them, because of their faulty diges- 
 tion and slow assimilation. A good measure of the value 
 of the working properties of a horse is, the less feed eaten 
 the less is he able to stand severe work. Thus we are 
 often told by the owner of a horse, that if it could but eat 
 twelve quarts of oats in the day, the animal could go 
 faster, stand the exertion, and would be greutly increased 
 in value ; but as it is, the exertion of to-day destroys his 
 speed and appetite on the morrow. This is one of the 
 reasons why but about nine per cent, of the horses bought 
 by a certain city railroad company in this city stand the 
 work for any length of time. Thus the boiler cannot gen- 
 erate steam to keep the machinery long enough in motion. 
 The carriage-horse used by ladies for carrying them to the 
 shop, the opera, or the ball, requires but little feed, when 
 we compare its work with that of the animal in the dray, 
 railroad car, or business wagon. 
 
 The keeper of the livery stable is well aware of the 
 
FEEDING. by 
 
 relation existing between the feed and the work of a horse, 
 and charges an extra price for the keep of one that works 
 ten to twelve hours in the twenty-four over the other 
 that is at work about three to four, and many days are 
 not worked at all. 
 
 In our climate, a difference in the kind of food should 
 be made, not that the horse is just as susceptible to a 
 change in his food at all times as man is, but in winter, 
 feed capable of developing a greater degree of caloric or 
 heat in the body is required. Corn produces heat, gives 
 roundness to the body, and in cold weather should form a 
 portion at least of the feed of horses. Chemists tell us 
 that in winter oats make more muscle or flesh than corn, 
 and therefore should form part of the feed of working- 
 horses — the harder the work the greater the demand for 
 oats. What are we to do or say in such matters, when 
 science and experience do not agree as it seems they 
 apparently and sometimes really do ? Thus, hundreds of 
 hard-working horses in Philadelphia are fed exclusively on 
 corn-meal and cut hay, yet the body is fat and round, the 
 muscles well developed and capable of great exertion, as 
 can be seen in the horses of some of the city railroads, 
 w^hich are fed only with fifteen pounds of corn-meal divided 
 into three meals, with cut hay, a little salt, and mixed with 
 water. This feed will when w^ell considered be not only 
 excellent as a strong and healthy, but as a very economical 
 one, costing for each horse daily not over thirty-five to 
 forty cents, including hay and salt. 
 
70 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 We can illustrate more fully the various plans of feed- 
 ing, and the demands made for such diversity, by introduc- 
 ing to our readers the character and quantity of feed given 
 the celebrated trotting-horse " Dexter," the property of 
 Kobert Bonner, Esq., New York, kept for his driving and 
 pleasure, used we believe in single harness, and attached 
 to a light trotting-wagon, and driven from twelve to fifteen 
 miles in the afternoon, but not every day. In the morn- 
 ning he is allowed all the water he will drink, after which 
 two quarts of oats are given, and when eaten, half an 
 hour's walking exercise is enforced ; when he is brought 
 home again (which is usually about 9 o'clock A. M.) he 
 gets two more quarts of oats ; but if no drive for the after- 
 noon, half to three-quarters of an hour more exercise of a 
 gentle nature is exacted, and at 1 o'clock p. m., two quarts 
 of oats are fed, and in the afternoon if he be driven, which 
 is about fifteen miles, on coming into the stable he is rubbed 
 dry, a swallow of water is given, and from five to six 
 pounds of hay is placed before him. If the work has been 
 a little extra, he is treated to two quarts of oat-meal gruel, 
 and when well cooled oiF, half a bucket of water and three 
 quarts of oats, with two quarts of bran moistened with hot 
 water. On days of great speed, the allowance of water is 
 reduced. 
 
 Thus it is seen, that this pleasure horse is fed upon nine 
 quarts of oats and two of bran, and from five to six pounds 
 of hay, in the twenty-four hours, costing for oats about 
 twenty cents per day; bran, say five cents; hay, seven 
 
FEEDING. 71 
 
 cents, making a total of thirty-two cents for feed. It will 
 be observed that it costs within a few cents as much to 
 feed a horse used for pleasure driving when oats are given, 
 as it does to feed a hard-working horse on corn-meal ; but 
 it does not follow that a hard-worked horse could be kept 
 in condition with nine quarts of oats per day, nor that the 
 pleasure horse would require fifteen quarts of corn-meal a 
 day to insure a good working condition. How. difficult as 
 well as unnecessary is it for us to fix a certain quantity 
 and quality of food to be given to all horses, when age, 
 condition, and work are not the same I This discrepancy, 
 however, is, for the intelligent stableman, easily overcome 
 by a little observation of the feeding capacity and condi- 
 tion of each individual horse under his care. It is safe to 
 allow some horses of weak constitution to eat all the feed 
 they can consume, and that will not be too much to main- 
 tain them in flesh and in working order ; their appetites 
 being the only measure required for daily use, at least dur- 
 ing the season of work. The work is the regulator of the 
 consumption of feed, as with such horses, the harder the 
 work the less will they eat, and vice versa, when a limit 
 to the quantity should be made. 
 
 The horses of railroad contractors and railroad compa- 
 nies, as a general average, get fifteen pounds of barley or 
 corn-meal each day. It is found, however, that many ani- 
 mals will not eat so much, but others will eat much more 
 than this allowance, and are much more able to perform 
 their work — another confirmation of the necessary propor- 
 7 
 
72 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 tion of the quantity of feed consumed to the amount of 
 work exacted. 
 
 The greater the steam capacity of a boiler, the greater 
 the power of the engine ; likewise, the more perfect diges- 
 tion and quicker the assimilation of the food, so will the 
 power of the horse be. Unfortunately, however, this rela- 
 tion of the amount and quality of food to the work de- 
 manded is not always properly understood or appreciated, 
 because some persons argue, " no work, little feed," for- 
 getting that the wear and tear of the system is always 
 going on, and has to be repaired, work or no work, if the 
 horse is to be kept in health and condition. All over this 
 amount of feed may be kejDt back, and replaced when work 
 is on hand. 
 
 The quantity and quality of food required for the keep- 
 ing of a horse in health and flesh during idleness is as 
 difficult to determine as fixing the amount of feed to be 
 given to all horses of every work. A horse well-ribbed 
 home, short-jointed, and of good disposition, will subsist 
 on much less food than one long-sided, loose-jointed, and 
 of irritable temper, whether in idleness or during work. 
 This can only be ascribed to a more perfect, although per- 
 haps not a more quickened assimilation in one class of 
 animal over that of the other. Some animals will fatten 
 on straw in the barn-yard, while others will starve, become 
 diseased, and perhaps die from its effects. 
 
 The poor man with his one horse, upon which he and his 
 family depend for their daily bread, should learn the im- 
 
FEEDING. 73 
 
 portaDt lesson, tliat to feed a certain formation of horse is 
 an easy matter, when compared to the demands of another, 
 and in nowise better adapted for work. To do a certain 
 amount of work, the former horse will require less food 
 than the latter, and, although he can do it with less food, 
 it does not follow that he is not a good feeder and worker, 
 or that it is requisite to feed him to the full amount of his 
 consuming capacity. The young horse should not Jbe fed 
 with the same quality and quantity of food that is given to 
 animals of eight, ten, or twelve years of age ; hence he is 
 not fit to work so hard. The feed of young animals should 
 principally be soft, nutritious, and in greater bulk than 
 that given to or required by older ones. This will prevent 
 many diseases to which they are subject if fed with stimu- 
 lating feed in small bulk or in high concentration. 
 
 To keep the old horse in condition and health, he must 
 be fed on feed capable, to a great degree, of generating 
 caloric in the body as well as of adding to the red corpus- 
 cles of the blood. 
 
 Horses suffering from spavin or disease of the joints of 
 the legs, require a more generous diet than those in perfect 
 condition. 
 
 The size of the pony and small sorts of horses should 
 also be considered when proportioning their allowance of 
 feed. 
 
 The brood-mare, when kept in the stable, demands some 
 consideration, inasmuch as soft, nutritious, and bulky feed 
 is best adapted to her condition, which requires fresh -cut 
 
74 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 grass, clover, boiled turnips, carrots, &c., insuring a strong, 
 healthy colt and a safe parturition. 
 
 The feed of the stallion, or entire horse, during the 
 season of service, or when used for mares, should be full, 
 nutritious, and somewhat stimulating, consisting of the 
 plumpest and heaviest oats, some corn, and sound timothy 
 hay occasionally, mixed with fresh-cut grass, to regulate 
 the secretions and neutralize the effects of the heating of 
 the body and blood by the stimulating feed. 
 
 The feeding of mules we notice only to say, that the full 
 feeding of corn or oats that is usually fed to horses of ordi- 
 nary work, will keep three working mules in excellent order 
 if plenty of rough feed or hay be allowed them. They are 
 good eaters of hay, not more so than horses, perhaps, but 
 eat much less solid and expensive food. 
 
 The general principle for feeding horses is about as 
 follows : — 
 
 Horses should be watered from a brook, pond, or river, 
 and not from wells or springs, as the well water is hard and 
 colder, while the running stream is soft and rather warm. 
 The preference of horses is for the soft, even though it be 
 muddy water, to that which is hard. Horses should be 
 allowed in summer time at least four waterings a day, and 
 half a bucketful at a time, and in winter a pailful may be 
 allowed morning and evening, which is sufficient to assuage 
 their thirst without causing them to bloat or puff up. 
 Care, however, should be taken that the horse is not put 
 to work immediately after drinking a full bucket of water, 
 
FEEDING. 75 
 
 especially if required to go fast, because digestion and 
 severe exertion can never go on together, and moreover 
 purging is apt to ensue. In some cases, broken wind or 
 heaves is thus produced. Avoid giving warm or tepid 
 water to horses that are often driven from home, because 
 cold or well water will then perhaps be given them, which 
 will be liable to produce a congestive chill, followed by 
 lung fever, and in some cases colic. When horses are thus 
 carefully watered, if one or more of them should refuse 
 their accustomed food, something is wrong, and they 
 should not be taken out of the stable to work, or driven 
 further that day ; but an examination should be made as 
 to the cause, with a view to its removal. 
 
 Oats as a feed for horses are considered, by common 
 consent, to be the best that can be used for such purpose, 
 which is confirmed by the good condition of horses so fed, 
 as well as by the chemical constituents produced from the 
 oat. Happily, however, it is not obligatory that oats 
 should be exclusively fed to horses, as their cost is fre- 
 quently much enhanced by the smallness of the crop. On 
 the contrary, the cold of winter generally demands a feed 
 of greater heating power than can be obtained from this 
 grain. 
 
 The standard weight of a bushel of oats is thirty-two 
 pounds by law, but very rarely is this reached, especially 
 for the last six or eight years, during which time the 
 weight has been about twenty-six to twenty-eight pounds. 
 In the purchase of oats, allowance can be claimed when 
 7^ 
 
76 
 
 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 they weigh less than thirty-two pounds, and an increase in 
 price is usually demanded by the seller for any excess. 
 
 Viewing oats as a feed in all their excellencies, we can- 
 not be convinced but that they are an extravagant and 
 very expensive feed, unless we could believe that light or 
 poor oats are as good for horse feed as those which are 
 heavy and plump. 
 
 European or Xova Scotian oats all seem to be fed alike — 
 light or heavy, eight, ten, or twelve quarts — no allowance 
 being made for their weight, and not unfrequently, also, 
 without regard to the age. constitution, or work required 
 of the animal. Horses thus treated cannot but be impro- 
 perly fed — either too much or too little — forming thus the 
 basis of disease of an exalted type when fed with heavy, 
 and of a depressed kind when fed with light and poor oats. 
 
 We are well aware that we are laying siege to the 
 citadel of constituted opinion, when the value of oats for 
 feeding horses is called in question; but what can be 
 said when we tell horsemen that no two samples of oats, 
 even when of equal weight per bushel, will give the same 
 analysis, nor contain the same amount of nutrition. In 
 addition to this, we have a great variety of oats, all diflfer- 
 ing in value as a feed. Thus we have the common oat, 
 the White, Poland, Early Angus, Hopetoun, Cumberland 
 early, Tartarian, Potato, Sandy, Georgian, and many other 
 kinds too numerous to mention. The weight and proper- 
 ties of each depend not so much on the variety as upon 
 the season, climate and soil on which they are grown. 
 
FEEDING. 77 
 
 Yet, with all these discreiDancies in the value of oats, they 
 are still fed, not by the pound, but by the quart. Thus 
 we see some horses kept in good working condition by 
 feeding oats to them, but the major part demand an addi- 
 tion of Indian corn to supply the wear and tear of the 
 system under ordinary work, and for this purpose some 
 horsemen add one bushel of corn to four of oats. 
 
 It is the. conviction of many who own a number of horses 
 kept for work, that oats are deceptive, and not sufficient as 
 a feed, with the usual allowance of hay combined. So 
 extensively is this opinion held, that scarcely a hard work- 
 ing horse can be found that is now fed exclusively on oats 
 and hay. The poverty of the oats in general is such that 
 few horses can consume enough of them to supply the sys- 
 tem with nourishment commensurate with the work per- 
 formed. We know of carriage horses not even in daily 
 use and which when in harness are not tak^ out of the 
 city, but merely used for shopping and visiting purposes, 
 which require, to keep them in something like respectable 
 condition in flesh, about twenty-four quarts in the day, 
 together with sixteen pounds of timothy hay, and occa- 
 sionally a mixture of bran in addition. Yet with all this, 
 they are not in better order than animals fed on corn-meal 
 and cut hay, and morever are not able to go faster or do 
 harder work than those horses fed on corn-meal and cut 
 hay. We are aware that these facts can never be recon- 
 ciled with the theory of the chemist and the prejudices of 
 the stablemen ; nevertheless where such conflict occurs, as 
 
78 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 it occasionally does, we are bound to decide in favor of 
 well-founded experience. 
 
 We are told by foreign authority, that for a carriage or 
 saddle horse, half a peck of sound oats, weighing forty-five 
 pounds to the bushel, and eighteen pounds of good hay are 
 sufficient, and with less hay an addition of a quarter of a 
 peck more of oats will be required. It is added, however, 
 that a horse required to work harder should have more 
 both of oats and hay. 
 
 We will not presume to doubt the all-sufficiency of the 
 above quantities, but can, without fear of contradiction 
 assert that the same amount fed in bulk, will not keep a 
 sixteen-hand carriage horse in good condition and working 
 order in Philadelphia. With us, even a small fourteen- 
 and-one-half-haud horse is not considered fit for good driv- 
 ing, unless he can consume twelve quarts of oats and from 
 ten to twel\«e pounds of hay. In Great Britain, the oats 
 are better, and the streets and roads are good, which may 
 account for some of the difference. The climate and per- 
 haps the constitution of the horses are better than with us, 
 and if such be the case, it will also help to account for so 
 small an allowance of oats to carriage horses. To keep 
 carriage horses in good working condition, the chafi" or hay- 
 cutter and corn-meal are found to be as indispensable in 
 the private stable of the gentleman as they are in the sta- 
 ble of the drayman, or of the railroad company with their 
 hard-worked horses. 
 
 The following will illustrate still further the unreliability 
 
FEEDING. 79 
 
 of Pennsylvania oats as feed for our horses, both in regard 
 to their efficacy and their economy. The report from the 
 Honorable Commissioner of Agriculture for 1868, on the 
 average production of the cereal crops of the country says, 
 that 27.8 bushels to the acre is the amount, while in Great 
 Britain the yield is 60 bushels. These figures of them- 
 selves clearly show how costly it is to feed horses with 
 oats gathered from so many acres of land that could pro- 
 duce a larger and more substantial crop of corn, costing 
 for horse feed less money, because of its sufficiency in keep- 
 ing horses of hard work in excellent condition. We do 
 not mean to advise the total exclusion of oats as a food from 
 the stable, but to show that they can be readily substituted 
 by a less costly and more nutritious feed. Oats when fed 
 to old horses, should be ground or bruised to render them 
 suitable for defective teeth, which cannot chew them when 
 whole, and properly mix them with the saliva. To save 
 the expense of a hay or straw-cutter as well as time and 
 labor for cutting hay or straw into chaff, many stablemen 
 mix oats with corn-meal, making the feed into sufficient 
 bulk, thus supplying the place of cut hay. This may 
 answer a good purpose, but is too costly a mixture. 
 
 Corn when cracked, or in the form of meal and mixed 
 with material to give proper bulk, which in some degree 
 is capable of neutralizing or destroying its heating proper- 
 ties when fed to horses, is not only a valuable and substan- 
 tial, but also an economical feed, and ca?n be with safety 
 fed to all kinds of horses of all manner of work. This has 
 
80 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 been clearly demonstrated eight to ten years ago, on the 
 almost complete failure of the oat crop, and ever since it 
 continues the princijDal feed of those horses that are kept 
 for hard-work, the feed of which has been made matter of 
 commercial calculation. 
 
 The experience of feeders of stock of all kinds has 
 shown that the fattening properties of Indian corn are 
 surprisingly great, and to be preferred for this purpose to 
 everything else ; moreover, it is preferred by most animals 
 to almost every other kind of feed. It is rich in oil of a 
 very pleasant kind, which is obtained in the distillation 
 for making whiskey and alcohol. The following analysis 
 of Indian corn according to Dana, made for the purpose 
 of comparing its nutritive and fat-forming qualities with 
 those of some other articles used for feeding, shows the 
 great diflference of what Dr. Dana calls the fat-forming 
 principles in favor of corn, and does not surprise us, from 
 what we have seen of its effects when fed to animals 
 
 ANALYSIS OF CORN. 
 
 Corn, 100 lbs. 
 Containing of flesh-forming principles — gluten, 
 
 albumen, &c. ... . . 1.26 
 
 Fat-forming principles — gum, starch, sugar, 
 
 woody fibre, oil, &c 88.43 
 
 Water 9. 
 
 Salts L31 
 
 100. 
 The above table of analysis goes far in establishing the 
 
FEEDING. 
 
 81 
 
 soundness of the views entertained by Baussingalt and 
 Pagen that plants are valuable for giving fat to animals 
 only in proportion to the vegetable oils, ready formed, 
 which such plants contain. 
 
 To make a comparison of the feeding qualities of oats 
 with corn, we give the following table by M. Saussure : 
 
 ANALYSIS OF OATS. 
 
 
 Ashes of Oats, 100 parts. 
 
 Soluble salts . 
 
 1. 
 
 Earthy phosphates . 
 
 24. 
 
 Silicid .... 
 
 60. 
 
 Metallic oxide 
 
 25 
 
 Loss .... 
 
 14.75 
 
 100. 
 
 Other analyses of oats could be given, although differing 
 somewhat from the above, but not essentially, and all going 
 to prove, however, that the oat is not so valuable for feed- 
 ing animals as maize. Indeed, if there be any fault found 
 with corn as a feed for horses, it is its great fattening 
 qualities and stimulating effects. 
 
 What would the poor of Great Britain have done some 
 years ago, had it not been for the nutritive quality of 
 maize and the happy repeal of the English Corn Law ? 
 No other sort of feed is able to fatten animals so surely 
 and so quickly as Indian corn. Ask the beef and pork 
 packers of the West as to the value of corn, and they will 
 tell you there is no such feed as a flesh and fat producer, 
 
82 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 or a more economical one. In the face of this array of 
 favorable testimony, are we to deny to our horses what we 
 feed to the swine ? We would ask, then, why is it that 
 stablemen, in their selection of the feed of the horse, really 
 reject the good and accept the indifferent? This would 
 not be so universally the case were they to foot the feed- 
 bill every month, Unfortunately, coachmen and grooms 
 as a class have very indifferent notions on stable economy, 
 the effects of which the owner may not feel ; nevertheless 
 it has to be paid for. 
 
 The strength of a horse is not developed so much by the 
 quantity and quality of solid feed he is fed upon as on the 
 judicious training accorded him. Animals that remain 
 long without work, as in the sale stable, are very apt to 
 sicken and die within a short time, if placed immediately 
 at hard work, without preliminary light exercise to gradu- 
 ally develope the power that has departed during the 
 period of inactivity. Therefore we do not comprehend the 
 chemist, when he says the harder the work the more oats 
 are to be fed, and can only excuse him when he takes the 
 analogy from Northern Europe, where corn cannot be 
 grown, and where the oat crop is found in its native ele- 
 ment. But in this country no excuse can be given, where 
 the luxuriance of the Indian corn crop cannot be equalled, 
 and the oat crops are comparative failures. To pay one 
 dollar a quart for Norway oats would not be considered 
 economical to feed horses; neither is it good judgment to 
 pay an extravagant price for light chaffy oats, scarcely 
 
FEEDING. 83 
 
 weighing as heavy as the refuse of European oat-clearings, 
 and feed them to horses, and then expect a full day's work 
 from an insufficient feed. 
 
 For horse feed, Indian corn possesses all the elements of 
 warmth and nutrition, and is well calculated to supply the 
 wear and tear of the system of the hardest worked horse, 
 and keep him in a healthy condition, without any assistance 
 from oats ; but the usual addition of hay should be allowed 
 to horses, whatever be the feed that is in use. We have 
 thus shown, not only by chemical analysis, but by the 
 teachings of experience, that corn* contains nearly all the 
 elements of animal nutrition, and it therefore only remains 
 for us to suggest a plan whereby corn can be fed, not only 
 profitably to the owner, but with the best results to the 
 horse. Before we attempt this, it may be necessary, how- 
 ever, to state that ten pounds of sound timothy hay are 
 equal, in point of nutrition as food for horses, to five 
 pounds of oats, and ten pounds of clover hay are equal to 
 about four of oats. Thus it will be seen, that to adopt the 
 corn as a feed, and reject the oat, no injury can arise from 
 the change as long as sufficient hay is allowed. Hay being 
 the great auxiliary to oats, we do not see why its good 
 offices should not be exercised with the same potential 
 
 * Since the MS. was placed in the hands of the publishers, the 
 half-yearly report for July, 1869, of the "London General Omni- 
 bus Company," shows a saving of $70,000 as the result of feeding 
 Indian corn instead of oats to their horses. 
 8 
 
84 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 effects when corn is the feed, for we are almost certain 
 that oats without the hay would be a much poorer feed 
 than corn, under similar circumstances. 
 
 By a reference to the analysis of corn, it will be observed 
 that there is little loss from woody fibre or other inert sub- 
 stance, but that it is wholly composed of flesh and fat- 
 forming substances. It is this principle contained in corn 
 that is to be modified and corrected as a feed, and not to 
 be added to by a greater concentration of nutritive matter ; 
 or, in other words, add to the corn materials that do not 
 contain, or at least but in a small degree, those powerful 
 constituents that characterize Indian corn; and for this 
 purpose we will recommend that the corn be in minute 
 division, or ground into meal, to insure a greater diffusion 
 in the stomach, and less concentration than would result 
 by feeding it whole, and not mixed with extraneous matter, 
 as cut hay, or chaff and a little bran. The bran is to pre- 
 vent, or at least modify, the costive or binding and heating 
 effects of the corn ; the chaff or cut hay is to give sufficient 
 bulk to the feed, thereby keeping the bowels moist, and 
 the meal from contraction. At the same time, the horse 
 has a feed before him of which he can eat his fill without 
 producing cramp or colic, which often results from feeding 
 corn whole or in meal, without a sufficient mixture or 
 bulk being given to it. It is the want of this knowledge, 
 together with the extra trouble in cutting hay and mixing 
 such a feed, that forms the chief argument of some stable- 
 men against feedino- with corn and in favor of oats. A 
 
FEEDING. 85 
 
 carriage or saddle-liorse used for shopping or afternoon 
 rides or drives can be kept in excellent condition with six 
 pounds of corn meal, three pounds of cut hay, two quarts 
 of wheat bran, and a teaspoonful of salt, mixed with warm 
 water in winter and cold in summer, the water to be just 
 enough barely to moisten the mess and not make soft feed 
 or slop to disturb the bowels of the horse and unfit him 
 for exertion. 
 
 The above-named mess is to be divided into three feeds, 
 for morning, noon, and evening. An addition of six to 
 eight pounds of hay must also be given in the rack. 
 These quantities, however, are merely proximate, for the 
 old horse and one of harder work will, to keep him in good 
 condition, require an addition, and young animals of less 
 work will not require so much. 
 
 Draught and hard-worked horses should be fed more 
 generously, say fifteen to sixteen pounds of meal, with six 
 to eight pounds of cut hay, half a peck of bran, and an 
 extra allowance of hay in the rack at night. 
 
 Some persons have the corn ground along with the cob. 
 To this there can be little objection — only it is a little difii- 
 cult to know exactly by weight what amount of meal the 
 horse is getting, except the full weight of the corn is 
 allowed, and the ground cob in addition, which may with 
 people of calculation obviate the necessity of an allowance 
 of bran to each mess. New corn should be fed to horses 
 with the greatest care, especially to young horses whose 
 stomachs are as yet not fit to digest a full feed even of old 
 
Ob AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 corn. Indeed Indian corn should always be ground for 
 horses, or at least fed on the cob, to prevent too rapid fill- 
 ing of the stomach, thereby arresting digestion. Ferraen- 
 tation is thus set up, and flatulent colic and death may 
 result. 
 
 The great desideratum in the feeding of corn should be : 
 1st. Have it ground, because it is more economical and 
 safe. 2d. Mix with material having a much less nutritive 
 principle to give bulk, at the same time having a cooling 
 tendency, thereby neutralizing the stimulating efi'ects of 
 the corn. 
 
CHAPTEE ly. 
 
 DIETETICS, HYGIENE, AND REGIMEN— CoH^mHcrf. 
 
 Barley — Rye — Carrots and Turnips — Grass — Pasture and Soiling 
 — Timothy and Clover Hay — Bran — Cooking of Food for Horses 
 — Prindle's Steamer — Weight of Stable Feed. 
 
 Barley as food for horses has gained some repute since 
 the failure of our oat crop, and is grown by farmers for the 
 express purpose of feeding horses upon. In so far as those 
 principles for fat-forming are concerned, it possesses a high 
 degree of value, abounding in albumen, gluten, sugar, gum, 
 and superphosphate of lime; or, in other words, barley 
 contains about sixty-five per cent, of nutritive matter, while 
 oats weighing forty pounds to the bushel contain only 
 about twenty-four pounds of nutritive material. 
 
 Inferior barley in some parts of this country is fed 
 instead of oats with the best effects. In forming a conclu- 
 sion, horsemen would do well to remember that two parts 
 of barley are more than equal to three of good oats. 
 
 In some parts of Germany, barley is ground into flour 
 8* (87) 
 
88 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 and iliade into cakes, which are fed to their horses. In 
 Great Britain it is usually boiled, and fed in the evening — 
 fattening the horse, giving a glossy coat, and having an 
 excellent effect in all respects. 
 
 For a sick horse, we know of nothing that assists the 
 effects of medicines and the efforts of nature in the cure 
 of disease like a feed of boiled barley. As already stated, 
 it forms the chief food of horses in the far West, where it 
 is sold for eight cents the pound, and fed to horses on the 
 Pacific Eailroad at the rate of five pounds three times 
 daily — because it is the most economical in every way. 
 We very much doubt whether the same amount of any 
 other variety of food could maintain the condition and 
 strength of those hard-worked horses like barley. In all 
 our large cities, barley is never thought of in connection 
 with the feeding of horses. The recuperating power of 
 boiled or malted barley is truly surprising, and we think 
 many a good and useful horse could have been saved to its 
 owner by a few messes of such material. Let the boiled 
 or malted barley take the place of the weak and deceptive 
 bran-mash, which every horseman will persist in giving to 
 the sick or tired horse ; little thinking of the non-strength- 
 ening quality of such slops when the poor animal wants 
 something more stimulating and strengthening. We do 
 not anticipate that barley will become a general feed for 
 the horse, at least, while corn is so plentiful and so cheap; 
 but we insist that barley shall have a place and its proper 
 one in every stable in the country, if for no other purpose 
 
FEEDING. 89 
 
 than that of an occasional change of food to the healthy, 
 and a beveras-e to the sick and tired horse. 
 
 Rye, although considered equal in point of nutrition to 
 wheat, yet is not recommended for the feeding of horses, 
 on account of its causing an acescent state of the stomach 
 and diarrhoea. As green food, it is not only valuable as a 
 soiling substance, but is a good fattening material to most 
 animals, and is usually fed in the early part of the sum- 
 mer, either by turning the horses into the field, or as is 
 most common, cut in quantities and carried into the stable, 
 which is the most economical mode. Rye, however, is 
 scarcely known in the stable in any form, except as straw 
 for litter or bedding, and for this purpose it is extensively 
 and even extravagantly employed, costing more money than 
 almost any one article of stable consumption. 
 
 Carrots are cultivated in the United States by many 
 persons as food for horses, as a substitute for oats. To 
 horses of draught, or slow work, carrots may be fed in 
 greater quantity than to those of the saddle or carriage 
 The chief value of carrots as food for horses lies in the 
 pectic acid contained in them, which so much assists diges- 
 tion and assimilation. Horses of slow work will thrive 
 and do well when fed on six pounds of carrots and eight 
 pounds of corn-meal in the day, with an allowance of hay. 
 
 Our experience, however, has been, that a better condi- 
 tion of horse has been attained with the same quantity of 
 Swedish or yellow turnips, cut in slices and sprinkled with 
 corn-meal — a feed we think that cannot be excelled either 
 
90 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 in the conditioning of horses or the economy of expendi- 
 ture, and a better substitute for green food than the carrot, 
 which we are sure is entirely overrated as food for horses. 
 This is easily demonstrated in a few weeks' trial ; the soft 
 and glossy coat — the healthy look — the elastic step and 
 good spirits of the animal so fed, will attest the superiority 
 of the Swedish turnip. A trial of the feeding qualities of 
 the yellow turnip will not only satisfy the experimenter of 
 the truth of the high character here given of it, but will 
 induce him to rely upon or at least give them a place 
 among other articles of the feed of his horses. We have 
 seen farm horses employed in hauling manure or plowing 
 every day except Sunday during the winter and early 
 spring, kept in excellent working condition, fed on turnij^s, 
 hay and oat straw, twice in the day, or morning and night, 
 and when the days grew longer and the work more severe, 
 a few quarts of oats were given in the middle of the day. 
 We have seen horses fed upon carrots, but never in one 
 instance have seen a generous or a more healthy response 
 on account of them. Now, if carrots be as good and 
 healthy for horses as is asserted, a corresponding effect 
 would be exhibited. Without this, no special advantage 
 can truthfully be claimed for them beyond other feeding 
 substances of less reputed value and of less cost. Medi- 
 cine, like some speciality of feed, has its value from» some 
 inherent property it contains, and is recommended for a 
 given purpose, but sometimes we are disappointed, v/hen 
 it has failed to accomplish the good expected. On the 
 
FEEDING. 91 
 
 whole, we think that the good name given to carrots as a 
 feed for the horse is in hooks only, and cannot be substan- 
 tiated by the most careful experiments. We have only 
 referred to this variety of feed for horses in view of its 
 utility, and not because of its economy, on which considera- 
 tion it will not compare favorably with many other articles 
 of less money value, which are more easily procured, and 
 as yet are not so well known to horsemen. 
 
 To speak of the uncertainty of the carrot crop would be 
 unnecessary, for this is already but too well known to 
 require comment. But of the turnip, viewed from the 
 same aspect, little need be said. When properly under- 
 stood, it rarely disappoints the cultivator, and moreover, 
 apart from all consideration as a feed for horses, it is the 
 basis of English agriculture, and at no distant day will 
 occupy the same position in the United States : — First, 
 because it is one of the very best articles that can be 
 fed to all (or nearly all) domestic animals ) and second, the 
 manure from animals so fed is of the highest order. Thus 
 we have a vegetable easy of cultivation and growth, which 
 contains several properties, possesses several distinct cha- 
 racteristics, and is used for many different purposes. A 
 trial of the Swedish turnip, for a season, as a part of the 
 horse's feed, will more than satisfy the inquiring mind of 
 the importance of our recommendation. We have spent 
 ahnost a lifetime in the study of some of the domestic 
 animals, in health as well as when diseased, and in our pre- 
 
92 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 vious writings'^ we claim tlie credit, at least in some mea- 
 sure, of produciDg a reform in many essentials relative to 
 the treatment of the horse. This is our only excuse for 
 laying a stricture upon constituted opinion and public 
 belief in the value of the carrot as food for the horse. 
 
 Grass, although the natural food of the horse in his 
 wild condition, leaves little more to be desired ; yet, it is 
 not sufficient to meet the demands of his nature in a state 
 of domestication, or when work is demanded from him, and 
 time is thus taken that is allowed in his natural state to 
 gather food. Some kinds of grass contain more nutriment 
 than others; but more, we think, depends upon the quality 
 of the soil upon which it is grown, and whether it is too 
 young or too old, or has ripened and its seed blown away. 
 If a horse is to be allowed grass merely for the good that 
 is expected from it, and not for any other consideration, 
 the better way will be to soil the horse, that is, by daily 
 cutting and bringing in the grass to the stable ; but if the 
 feet of the horse need repairing or growing down, then 
 select for the pasture, level and somewhat moist land. 
 We have spoken of diseased or bad feet being benefited by 
 soft pasture, because no disease of the legs or shoulders 
 will be benefited by a run at pasture, as the liberty thus 
 given to the horse, in his frolics and search after food. 
 
 * " Diseases in the American Stable, Field and Farm-yard," 
 by the Editor of " The Horse in the Stable and the Field." Por- 
 ter & Coates, Philadelphia. 
 
FEEDING. 93 
 
 often renew old sprains of the legs and slioulders, thus 
 rendering them incurable — the horse coming home to the 
 stable worse than when put in the pasture. 
 
 In our experience of many years in the pasturing of horses, 
 we cannot recall to memory a single instance of the return 
 of a city or stall-fed horse, in anything like the good condi- 
 tion it had when taken from the stable. Some of the more 
 spirited were lame, more badly blemished about the body 
 or legs, others glandered from contagion. Some had 
 been used without authority in the work of an avaricious 
 farmer; the shoulders and back being galled by the use of 
 badly-fitting harness, giving evidence of a hard task-master 
 or a cruel owner. Some horses ^ere drowned in ditches, 
 others had legs broken and had to be destroyed, and many 
 good animals were stolen and never recovered. With all 
 these drawbacks against pasturage for horses in the spring 
 of each and every year, we cannot deny that the young 
 and early grass is the very best of both food and medicine 
 to the trained and domesticated horse of all our large cities. 
 But how is this to be allowed in the face of all risks to life, 
 limb, and the change of hands without permission or an 
 equivalent ? Seek out an honest farmer, with ample accom- 
 modations, fields well watered, good fences, ground not too 
 high and dry, and where no other horses are taken to pas- 
 ture, a good distance from a city or large town, and not 
 convenient to the public highway. These precautions are 
 necessary to safety from abuse, accidents from kicks from 
 other horses; and the distance from cities, &c., together 
 
94 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 with inconvenience to the highway, will, in a great degree, 
 lessen the dangers from the horse thief. 
 
 When good accommodations cannot be readily procured, 
 let the milkman be engaged to bring a bundle of fresh-cut 
 grass every morning in his wagon, for from two to three 
 weeks, which will be long enough to answer every good 
 purpose that grass can accomplish. When this is adopted, 
 it is but following in the wake of London and New York 
 in this particular, where fresh grass is sold by the bundle 
 every morning. By this procedure, all the grass that is- 
 wanted can be fed to the valuable horse, without running 
 any risk whatever, by a season out at pasture. By the 
 gradual and progressive change produced by a few weeks 
 soiling in this way, the horse will not only renew his spirits, 
 but like the eagle, it will renew his youth, and be the 
 means of prolonging his days of usefulness. 
 
 In giving grass to horses, v»'hen in the stable, feed spar- 
 ingly at first, or till the evidence is shown in the dung-pit, 
 by the green color. This precaution will prevent an attack 
 of colic, and perhaps the loss of life which sometimes occurs 
 after a belly-full of grass, particularly when wet. In turn- 
 ing a horse out to grass, let him be a little tired, so that he 
 will not be so much disposed to gallop and hurt himself, 
 and place him on a bare pasture for the first two days, to 
 prevent engorgement of the stomach and the production of 
 colic. These precautions being fully attended to, the horse 
 may be placed on pasture with a reasonable expectation of 
 seeing him again, and in as good condition as when he 
 
FEEDING. 95 
 
 went out of the stable. If the pasture be high, dry, and 
 hard, then plate-shoes will be required to protect the walls 
 of the fore feet; no heels nor toes should be allowed, as 
 they stick in the ground, tear off the shoes, and break the 
 hoof. 
 
 Our remarks in this connection have been entirely con- 
 fined to city horses of all works ; but for the horse of the 
 agriculturist, it will be found much more profitable to have 
 the horses soiled by cutting and carting the grass in to the 
 animals, either in stable or farm-yard. This plan will obvi- 
 ate the necessity of superior fencing. No grass is spoiled 
 by the animals treading upon it in the field, and covering 
 much of it with their excrement. The extra quantity and 
 quality of the manure thus saved, will balance the extra 
 labor of cutting the grass, &c. Old horses, and those stiff 
 from hard work, should not be put out to pasture, especi- 
 ally where the land is level, as it is very difiicult for such 
 animals to gather the food from the ground. Such animals 
 will not thrive well at pasture, but will do better when 
 grass is fed to them in the manger. 
 
 In pasturing city or stable-fed horses, the newly-found 
 liberty, together with the difference of the food, will for a 
 week or two improve their condition, and they will appear 
 perfectly satisfied; but subsequently they lose flesh, and 
 become dissatisfied, even though wading to the knees in 
 the finest of grass ; they long for the stable, to be tied by 
 the head and associate with man. In the summer season, 
 horses should be kept during the hottest parts of the day in 
 9 
 
96 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 the stable or a shed, to protect them from the sun and flies; 
 they can be turned out late in the afternoon or evening 
 for the night, and brought to the shelter by 9 or 10 o'clock 
 next morning. Horses on late or second crop-grass and 
 clover of the season will not thrive well, as the cool nights 
 acidulate the juices and cause slobbering (salivation) 
 from the mouth and salivary glands ; this is a loss to the 
 stomach in digestion and assimilation. 
 
 Timothy hay, we believe, for the last forty years has 
 been in extensive use for feeding city horses, and by com- 
 mon consent it is considered to be the best of all the dried 
 grasses. So firmly fixed is this opinion of horsemen on 
 the subject, that it would be a matter of supererogation, 
 were we to attempt to convince them otherwise. Cats-tail 
 or timothy grass — Phleum pratense, is the great American 
 grass, and is called' Timothy from a Mr. Timothy Hanson, 
 who was the first to introduce it, and no doubt it is one 
 of the most valuable grasses of the country. There are 
 several varieties of timothy which we will not describe, 
 but suffice to say, that the timothy of Pennsylvania is the 
 Herd^s grass of New England, and the Red-Top of the 
 Middle States, a variety which the farmers of Pennsylvania 
 will not grow ] they reject all seeds containing Herd's grass. 
 The value of timothy hay depends a great deal upon its 
 quality, not only in its being well and properly cured, but 
 upon the soil upon which it has been grown. Timothy 
 grass requires for its full and perfect growth a heavy clay 
 soil ; without this the product will be poor, both in quality 
 
FEEDING. 97 
 
 and quantity. It exhausts the land, and after a year or 
 two kills every other grass that may have been sown with 
 it. So exhausting to the soil and so selfish is it in its 
 growth, that were it not for the great demand for it in all 
 large cities for the exclusive use of horses, in a short time 
 not a blade of it would be grown. Farmers who are in 
 the habit of selling hay from their farms for spending 
 money, are not the persons to give up the growing of that 
 which is in demand at so good a price, even though the 
 land should suffer. 
 
 Timothy hay is, in our estimation, not only over-estimated 
 by stablemen, but more costly by twenty to thirty per cent, 
 than other varieties of hay equally nutritious and more 
 healthy for horses that do not work more than one day in 
 seven. 
 
 Timothy hay should be cut before the seeds are ripe, for 
 in them lies much of the value as hay. Timothy without 
 the seeds is the poorest of feed. The stalk should be of a 
 greenish hue (not dry, hard, brittle, brown), and of a good 
 sound sweet smell, free from dust, and all the better if 
 mixed with clover. This latter consideration is good evi- 
 dence that the land upon which it was grown was not so 
 far exhausted that the clover had died out from among the 
 timothy, and that the land had not been burdened by a 
 continued, or from-year-to-year crop of timothy. 
 
 The quantity of timothy fed to horses varies with the 
 size, age, work, and make of the animal. Horses of slow 
 work, and employed ten to twelve hours per day, will eat 
 
98 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 sixteen to twenty pounds, of which a portion should be cut 
 and mixed with the evening meal, thus allowing the tired 
 horse to lie down sooner than he would were he to prepare 
 so much hay for himself. Large carriage-horses may be 
 fed twelve to sixteen pounds ; smaller, driving, and saddle- 
 horses will require less, and the hay should be fed exclu- 
 sively to them at night. The quantity thus named is 
 merely proximate, for if the oats and other feed be of good 
 quality, perhaps a little less hay will be required, and vice 
 vet'sa. But when the hay is not good, do not give it in 
 greater quantity, but increase the cjuantity of oats and 
 corn. 
 
 In this connection it may be well to state that the size 
 of the belly is the index to some persons as to the quantity 
 of hay required. This indication, however, is not a good 
 criterion, because pony-built horses, or those that are w^ell 
 ribbed home, may become diseased from not having feed 
 in sufficient hulk, and yet present a full belly. And, fur- 
 thermore, a fleet and free horse, light-bellied, and not well- 
 ribbed home at the flanks, will not show a full belly, 
 though fed with all the hay that he will eat. The safe 
 criterion in such matters is to give to the horse of slow 
 work all that nature demands, and to those of faster work, 
 all feed of bulk at nights, or after the daily drive or ride 
 is over. (See how Dexter is fed, ante, p. 70). 
 
 The daily requirements of a horse weighing 938 pounds 
 is, 22 pounds of hay, 4J pounds of oats, and 66 pounds of 
 water ; and that of a milch cow amounts to one-thirtieth of 
 
FEEDING. 99 
 
 the corporeal weight ia hay, and two-fifteenths in water, or 
 one-sixth ia both together. 
 
 Clover Hay. — In Philadelphia, this variety of hay is 
 commonly known by the name of "■ Coio" hay, illustrating 
 the contempt the stablemen entertain for this excellent 
 variety of feed, in their judgment being only fit for the less 
 noble but nevertheless queenly cow, and as if utterly unfit 
 for the more noble and sagacious horse to feed or even look 
 upon. This is better illustrated by the craving of the dys- 
 peptic and the sick for the plain and not over-substantial 
 but healthy dinner of the poor. 
 
 It is at all times questionable policy to constantly persist 
 in feeding with material that costs more, but predisposes to 
 disease, especially of the liver. A healthy liver is rarely 
 found in a city-«tabled horse of a few years, which has been 
 fed upon the usual feed, consisting of oats, corn, corn-meal, 
 some bran, ship-stuff, and the common allowance of timothy 
 hay. 
 
 The city carriage-horse and saddle-cob, with an easy life, 
 are not unlike some of their owners — possessors of a for- 
 tune, together with a degree of hepatitis that, by a little 
 consideration, could have been avoided. In like manner, 
 the same diflficulty can be prevented in the horse by the 
 opening and cooling properties of a bundle of sound clover 
 (cow) hay, so seldom seen in the stable of the gentleman 
 of the city, and which is so unjustly despised as a feed for 
 the horse 
 
 The principal objections raised against clover hay are, 
 9^ 
 
100 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 the dust and the liability to give rise to heaves and broken 
 wind in the horse so fed. To this we say, from ample 
 experience, we do not deny but that horses fed upon 
 clover hay in the manner that hay is given, will occasionally 
 have thickening of the wind ; but it must be remembered 
 that many horses fed upon timothy become similarly dis- 
 eased. This being the case; it cannot be wholly ascribed 
 to the quality or kind of hay that is used. We may easily 
 account for this being more frequent in the horse fed with 
 clover hay than one fed with timothy, when we consider the 
 quantity of clover horses will consume in comparison with 
 that of any other variety of hay fed to animals of all work. 
 It is the quantity and not the quality that gives rise to this 
 complaint against clover hay. Are all the cases of thick 
 and broken wind encountered in the city, caused by a hay 
 that they never saw or fed upon ? The abuse of a feed 
 cannot stand as an argument against its usefulness, for if 
 this be the case, is there anything perfectly harmless when 
 overdone or misapplied ? We will not enter at length into 
 the inquiry as to the cause of broken wind, our object 
 being merely to show that anything, either food or water, 
 given in bulk at a time when the ride or the drive 
 may shortly after be exacted from a full-bellied horse, 
 will prove injurious. The question may be satisfactorily 
 settled by a glance at the ravenous-feeding and pot-bellied 
 horse as the victim of heaves. Who ever saw a thin, fleet, 
 free, light, and spare-feeding horse affected with broken 
 wind, feed him as you \^11 ? 
 
FEEDING. 101 
 
 Before the advent of steam as a means of reaching dis- 
 tant points, when horses were the engine, and at a time 
 when clover hay was fed to horses as it is at the present 
 time in the rural or country districts, and when timothy 
 hay was unknown and not cultivated, we have concurrent 
 testimony to show that broken wind in the horse was not 
 so frequent as it now is, nor were diseases among horses so 
 prevalent. 
 
 Those who are disposed to give this kind of hay a fair 
 trial as a feed to their horses, should measure or weigh 
 the hay as you would the oats or corn, and give it at stated 
 periods of time, chiefly at night, when the ride or drive 
 for the day is over; and as before stated, allow no hay of 
 any kind, especially to driving or saddle horses, during the 
 daytime. By this course little anxiety may be felt as to 
 causing broken wind. Clover hay is a medicine to the 
 sick or tired horse, and he will eat of it when he will touch 
 nothing else. It is equal to fresh-cut grass for changing 
 both the excretions and secretions of horses, thereby 
 removing bad smells from the stable and the body of the 
 animal. The straw-colored dung indicates an unhealthy 
 condition of horse, but it is at once made healthy and 
 darkened to a brown or good color by clover hay. Being 
 less in price and less quantity being required to be fed, it 
 also obviates the necessity for the bi-weekly or tri-weekly 
 bran-mash usually fed to the horse. 
 
 To those who may have doubts of the value of clover 
 hay, and regard it as liable to give rise to diseased wind, 
 
102 
 
 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 we would say, do not occasiontillj deny a bundle of good 
 clover hay, if it be but for a relish and a change to your 
 horses, even though other kinds of hay be used as regular 
 feed. To avoid the dust from clover hay, it is advisable 
 to feed it from the manger and not from the rack over the 
 head of the horse. 
 
 There are, like timothy and other grasses, several kinds 
 of clover, although the red clover ( Trifolliim pratense) is 
 
 "Telegraph" liny and Straw Cutter. 
 
 generally meant, and not the marl or cow-grass (TVt- 
 folium medmtii), which latter name, independent perhaps 
 of any other consideration, may be the origin of the 
 appellation of " cow-hay," as applied to clover by the sta- 
 blemen of Philadelphia. The second year's crop or cut of 
 clover is perhaps, when all circumstances are regarded, the 
 best hay for horses of all kinds and of all work, as at this 
 time about one-third will be composed of timothy, making 
 
FEEDING. 103 
 
 a valuable mixture, more healthy and not open to the 
 objection of the Ji^'st year's cut, which has little timothy 
 in it. The great value of clover, as well as other varieties 
 of hay depends upon the time of cutting, and the manner 
 in which it has been prepared for the barn or stack. 
 
 Bran is the skin or husk of grain, especially of wheat, 
 when ground and separated by the bolter or sieve. When 
 fed to animals, it is laxative, and for this purpose it is fed 
 to horses at stated times as a mash. This is a custom in- 
 troduced into the American stable from Europe, and which 
 we and our horses can do very well without, as the injury 
 we have seen done by feeding bran to horses that positively 
 required a more substantial feed is very great. The theory 
 that introduces bran into the horse stable, is as pernicious 
 in its effects as the indiscriminate use of bran itself at the 
 whim of the stablemen. This theory is, that every sick 
 or tired horse must be fed upon bran-mashes. 
 
 Horsemen have not yet learned that most diseases of the 
 horse are characterized by a weak or typhoid condition, 
 and not by inflammatory action. Hence, it is injurious to 
 the horse to have his bowels loosened or blood drawn, as 
 he requires tonics and stimulants, with sound and substan- 
 tial food. Unlock the bowels of a horse laboring under 
 inflammatory disease even, and they will not stop till death 
 puts an end to his sufferings. Feed a healthy grain-fed 
 horse for from two to four days upon hay and bran, and 
 the animal will swell either on the breast, along the belly, 
 sheath or all four legs ; and sometimes all can be seen swol- 
 
104: AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 len, from tlie debilitating and innutritions substance called 
 bran ; and yet it is expected and belie^-ed, though never 
 seen, that bran-mashes will prevent disease and cure the 
 sick, and that it is in every wav adapted to the horse, sick 
 or well. 
 
 The analysis and microscopical examinations of bran now 
 lies before me, made by men the world is pleased to call 
 scientific and competent; and yet we are, after twenty years' 
 \7el\-seas0ned experience in the feeding of horses, compelled 
 to say that if what is said by them of the nutritiousness of 
 bran be true, it is then in such combination as to render 
 it unfit for food to the horse, sick or well, idle or at work, 
 and he will soon sink from exhaustion if bran enters largely 
 into his daily allowance of food. A little bran, with other 
 and more substantial articles, may be occasionally given, 
 but not in suflacient quantity to loosen the bowels, nor be 
 counted to the horse as equal to so much other solid food, 
 for in doing so you deceive yourself and cheat the horse. 
 Other varieties of mill-feed might be mentioned in this 
 connection, but our space is limited. 
 
 The Egyptian and horse-bean, the pea or vetch, Alsike 
 clover, rye-grass, salt, flaxseed, &c., &c., in some parts of 
 the world enter largely into the feed of horses, and are 
 no doubt very good, but many of them have not yet 
 received that attention from our agriculturists that they 
 deserve. We will now close this already too long chapter on 
 the various articles of horse feed that are produced, sold 
 and used in our stables. In concluding, we will simply 
 
FEEDING. 
 
 105 
 
 state, that partially cooking the food will be found of great 
 advantage, especially to the draught and slow- worked horse ; 
 much will be thereby saved to the pocket of the owner, and 
 it is a practice highly to be commended. For this purpose, 
 no better apparatus can be found than one of Prindle's 
 steamers, which can be used not only with safety but 
 economy for every purpose about a stable for which a stove 
 is used. One of the smallest size will not only generate 
 steam which can be conveyed through pipes to any part of 
 the stable for heating purposes, but to the coach, harness 
 or sleeping rooms, and with a properly closed box-stall, a 
 Turkish bath can be heated perfectly by one of these 
 steamers. No stable should be without one. 
 
 WEIGHT PER BUSHEL OF ARTICLES OF HORSE FEED. 
 
 Barley . 
 
 
 . 
 
 . 47 
 
 Corn 
 
 
 
 . 58 
 
 Coarse salt 
 
 
 
 . 85 
 
 Ground salt 
 
 
 . 
 
 . 70 
 
 Fine salt 
 
 
 . 
 
 . 62 
 
 Oats 
 
 
 • 
 
 . 32 
 
 Rye 
 
 
 
 . 58 
 
 Flaxseed 
 
 
 , 
 
 . 51 
 
 47 pounds. 
 
106 
 
 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 The above cut represents one of Princlle's Agricultural 
 Steam Boilers. It can be used for cooking food for stock, 
 heating water for any purpose, and by connection with iron 
 pipe it will heat and dry the carriage-house, harness-room, 
 grapery, green-house or conservatory, even though a long 
 distance from it. Thus we have a heater, kettle, steam 
 boiler, portable furnace or stove, with safety valve, insuring 
 against explosion or collapse. 
 
FEEDING. 
 
 107 
 
 The above cut represents the Prindle Steamer as an 
 open cauldron and furnace, or portable stove. In this con- 
 dition it may be used for boiling purposes with water 
 without steam attachments. 
 
 10 
 
CHAPTEE V. 
 
 STABLE WORK. 
 
 Cleansing and Airing the Stable — Straightening the Blankets — 
 Waterbrushing the Quarters — Feeding and Watering — Di'essing 
 or Grooming — Shaking doAvn the Beds and Tidying the Stable — 
 Exercise — Blanketing — Bandages — Tying — Care of the Feet — 
 Treatment after Work — Bedding — Rye Straw — Sawdust — Forest 
 Leaves — Oat Straw — Salt, Marsh, and Meadow or Natural Hay 
 — Tan-bark — Stable Vices — Kicking — Biting — Shying — Rolling 
 — Cribbing — Breaking Loose — Tearing the Blankets — Vicious 
 to clean, 
 
 It is of the utmost importance wliere animals are con- 
 fined, tied by the head, and dependent upon man for what 
 they eat, drink, and, we had almost said, the air they 
 breathe, as well as for other matters upon which good 
 health and condition depend, that good ventilation be 
 insured, and the greatest regularity enforced as to the open- 
 ing of the stable in the morning and freeing it from the ac- 
 cumulation of carbonic and ammoniacal gases ; also in feed- 
 ing and watering the horses, cleaning the stable, squaring 
 the blankets, and brushing the dirty quarters or hips. 
 
 (108) 
 
CLEANING AND AIRING THE STABLE. 109 
 
 The free ventilation relieves the eyes and breathing 
 apparatus, and the blood from morphological change. The 
 regularity of feeding and watering at certain or stated 
 times favors and promotes the functions of digestion, and 
 in a great measure prevents windy or flatulent colic, which 
 can often be traced to irregularity of feeding and length of 
 time between the hours chosen for such purposes. In sup- 
 port of the latter distinction, as a cause of colic, we have 
 but to refer to the period before the advent of railroads, 
 and when it was but too common to feed horses twice daily, 
 morning and night. The hunger being excessive, the ani- 
 mal would eat too much and too fast, paralyzing the func- 
 tions of the stomach ; fermentation and the evolution of 
 carbonic acid gas took place, causing colic, often ending 
 fatally. The horse would be found dead in the morning in 
 his stall, without any assignable cause. This could have 
 been averted by giving a smaller feed, or better by allow- 
 ing the hungry horse to eat hay, straw, or some other 
 rough or bulky material, for one or two hours, so as 
 to partly fill the stomach, and in a slow manner, before 
 the more nutritious and concentrated corn or oats were 
 given. 
 
 For horses that through the force of circumstances, can- 
 not be fed at regular intervals, and at short periods, be 
 particular to allow hay for at least one hour before the 
 more solid feed is given. To insure regularity, as far 
 as possible at least, on the part of the groom, he must be 
 a sober person and not given to debauch during the night, 
 
110 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 that liis attendance at a regular hour in the morning at 
 the stable be not interfered with — •' no man can serve two 
 masters." On going into the stable in the morning, a per- 
 sonal inspection of each horse should be made to ascertain 
 if the foot is over the halter, or the eyes have suffered an 
 injury, or whether there be a shoe loose, &c. Next, see 
 that the means for ventilation are open and free from 
 obstruction, and thus the mercury will be reduced from 
 5° to 10°; and if possible keep it steady. The covers, 
 sheets or blankets should at this time be straightened on 
 the body of the horse, always taking care, especially in 
 cold weather, to throw them well toward the withers, so 
 that they can be pulled toward the hind quarters or the 
 way the hair or coat lies, so that it can be kept smooth and 
 unbroken. 
 
 The Water-brush should now be brought, with a little 
 tepid water and soap to brush and cleanse the quarters or 
 hips and thighs of each horse, that have been roughed and 
 stained during the night when lying. This is especially 
 required with white and gray horses to keep them clean, 
 always brushing and drying the parts downwards with the 
 hair. Dirty or roughened quarters on the carriage, saddle, 
 or driving horse are utterly inexcusable on the part of the 
 groom, and should never be allowed in summer time ; but 
 in cold weather and when the horse is out early, the parts 
 may not b-e yet dry — less can be said when the parts are not 
 altogether pleasing. The same rules may be exacted when 
 a fine horse has a white hind foot and part of the leg, with 
 
FEEDING AND WATERING. Ill 
 
 this difference, a soft woollen bandage can be wrapped 
 loosely around it, by which it will in a very short time be 
 completely dry by heat and evaporation. These few, but 
 necessary preparations need not consume many minutes of 
 time, but will add to the health of the horse, facilitate the 
 operation of grooming, and insure a smooth coat of hair on 
 all parts of the body. A portion of the food, water, or per- 
 haps the whole allowance of either, may now be given to 
 each horse. Some grooms prefer to give the water before 
 the oats or feed, others give the feed and follow with the 
 water, when the feed is eaten. Still, others feed and water 
 in half quantities at a time — two waterings and two feeds 
 in the morning, in the manner the celebrated horse Dexter 
 is fed (page 70). Whether water or corn be first fed to 
 the horse in the morning is like some other questions in 
 the care of horses, which can only be satisfactorily answered 
 by stating that when horses, their nature, health, and work 
 are all alike, then, and then only can treatment of them 
 be fairly fixed. 
 
 Horses of slow work that are not over-excited and warm 
 when they arrive at the stable in the evening, can have as 
 much wat-er given to them as is necessary without injury; 
 such animals can be fed or watered in the order the groom 
 may choose, but horses for light harness or the saddle, and 
 that perform their work in from two to four hours out of 
 the twenty-four, and arrive at the stable very warm, and 
 sometimes at a late hour in the night, cannot with safety 
 be allowed much cold water to drink, and tepid water will 
 10- 
 
112 AMERICx\N STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 not satisfactorily allay the cravings of a thirsty and tired 
 animal. Horses placed under such circumstances, very 
 often teach the groom that the bucket of cold water is 
 preferable to the measure of corn, by the refusal to eat 
 till water be first given. There are again some horses 
 of all work that are so healthy and hearty that they 
 will not drink till after the allowance of feed has been 
 eaten, and on this account are often unjustly dealt with 
 through indifference or ignorance of the groom in not 
 watering after the morning meal has been consumed. 
 
 While the horses are feeding, the bedding may be shaken 
 up, the good separated from the dirty, and the stalls as 
 well as the floor swept clean. The stable drains and stench- 
 trap, especially in warm weather, should be washed with a 
 broom and water; in winter by keeping the drains clear 
 of straw and dung, washing is not so often necessary nor 
 desirable. The stableman may now eat breakfast with as 
 little disturbance as the horse. This is important — for 
 Punch intimates that when a gentleman wants a thing 
 done, the best way is for him to do it himself; which is 
 illustrated by the gentleman exercising the horses whilst 
 the grooms are enjoying their beef and beer, for upon their 
 enjoyment depends their good nature for the rest of the 
 day. Without over-indulgence, however, the stableman 
 may at this time leave the stable, as the custom is not to 
 groom a horse in his stall, especially when feeding; and it 
 is not advisable ; besides it would be attended with danger 
 to the groom from a spirited horse. Moreover, time is 
 
DRESSING OR GROOMING. 113 
 
 allowed for the white leg and washed quarters to become 
 dry before an attempt is made to groom them. On the 
 return from breakfast, dressing or grooming may be com- 
 menced. 
 
 The thorough-bred groom or stableman may not be 
 taught much from us, as to the utility and manner of 
 grooming horses ; but unfortunately all persons employed 
 in our stables, public and private, are not proficient, nor 
 are they of the most intelligent of our citizens even in 
 regard to this their calling, which most have adopted not 
 from choice, but necessity. The owners of horses and 
 employers of stablemen with us are mostly business men, or 
 merchants, who have little or no time or thought to give 
 to the stable and its management, and moreover as a whole 
 are not well " posted" as to stable requirements or necessi- 
 ties, and are often imposed upon because of their want of 
 knowledge. These we now address, when discussing how 
 and when the affairs of their stables should be attended to, 
 together with the effects upon horses, harness, &c., of such 
 care as is bestowed upon them. 
 
 GrROOMiNG may be properly defined the cleaning and 
 dressing of the external form or outer skin of the horse, 
 but by lexicographers it includes feeding also. Of this, 
 however, we have already spoken, and therefore will only 
 allude to ^^ cleaning'' a horse, which is performed in as 
 many different ways as there are different degrees in its 
 perfection, and final effects or results upon the horse. The 
 full or grand result of a perfect system of grooming horses 
 
114 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 can only be seen in animals of a high standard of health, 
 and which cannot in all cases be gained by a perfect plan 
 of grooming alone, but by other considerations, as good 
 feeding, stabling, &c. In addition, nor will those latter in 
 their utmost perfection, attain so desirable an end without 
 the careful performance of the former. Although separate 
 and distinct in their application to the horse, they are 
 inseparable from a healthful development. 
 
 The implements or appliances that are necessary and 
 used in the private stable of the gentleman, are more in 
 number but not less in effect than those found in stables 
 of less pretensions. They consist of the curry-comb, 
 familiar to everybody, made of iron, with saw-teethed bars, 
 of much use on the hair of heavy draught horses in winter, 
 but of very doubtful applicability in summer on the fine 
 and thin hair of all horses, particularly of fine bred 
 animals. For the heavy horse, the curry-comb is the 
 first implement brought into use in the act of grooming, 
 and is used to ruffle and tease the hair to remove dust and 
 dandruff from the skin. This use of the curry-comb, we 
 have for many years opposed, because in cold and frosty 
 seasons, the more closely the hair lies to the skin, the 
 warmer and more comfortable will the animal be ; there- 
 fore, the curry-comb if used at all, should be drawn the 
 way the hair lies and not against it. The most important 
 use to which the curry-comb can be applied, is to remove 
 the dust from the broad bristle or body-brush, by drawing 
 the f\ice of the brush against the teeth of the comb. 
 
DRESSING OR GROOMING. 115 
 
 This brush is perhaps the most useful and indispensable 
 of grooming implements, but, like' the iron comb, is liable 
 to abuse, by using it against the lay of the hair on well- 
 bred animals in cold weather. It should be used as little 
 as possible in winter. For the body in cold weather, the 
 hay (meadow or natural) wisp, which is soft, should alone 
 be used, and is made as follows : make a thick but soft 
 hay rope, cast it into a knot, and flatten against a smooth 
 wall or post, after which the flattened face of it should be 
 slightly moistened with water to soften the wisp still more. 
 There is no cloth or other wisp equal to this for the fine- 
 skinned animal. It not only removes dust, but soothes the 
 skin, smooths the hair, and gives the coat a healthy 
 appearance. It is more satisfactory to the horse, and 
 should be almost exclusively used for summer grooming 
 of all horses, especially for the thorough -bred animal. 
 Where the curry-comb and brush are used, the wisp should 
 be employed to complete the task before putting on the 
 blanket. 
 
 In winter, horses of fine breed should be groomed in a 
 place not colder than the temperature of the stable, and if 
 no such place be convenient, do it in the stable, and after 
 the grooming clean with a brush or feather duster, all the 
 fixtures and furniture. 
 
 The dandruff"-brush (called " dandy-brush"), made of 
 stiff", yellow, woody fibre, can now be used to dress the 
 forelock, mane, and tail. This is considered not so liable 
 to tear the hair out, like the old bone comb, which many 
 
116 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 still use. The dandy-brush is an excellent and almost 
 indispensable article of the stable, and is used with advan- 
 tage and effect on the body and legs of horses that come 
 in warm, for straightening the hair, and removing dandruff 
 and other foreign matter. 
 
 The moist sponge should now be used to wipe the eyes, 
 nose, &c. The hoofs may also be attended to in like man- 
 ner, and, if time and taste will admit, some hoof ointment, 
 colored to match the hoofs, can be applied to them with 
 advantage. For this purpose, the " resin ointment" of 
 the drug-stores will do, or equal portions of the oil of tar, 
 whale or sweet oil, colored as above. 
 
 The beds should now be shaken, but thinly, over the 
 stalls, and a little out on the floor of th-e stable; the 
 " plate'^ laid down, or the " roll" be made, to give a tidy 
 and tasty appearance to the stable. To carry this taste a 
 little further, a four-inch fold of the blanket or sheet may 
 be turned upon itself on the quarter^ of the horse, and the 
 part thus made bare, or a portion of it, changed in shade 
 by four scores with a clean brush, leaving a square or dia- 
 mond in the centre, as the taste may be, of a different 
 shade or lay of hair, which is very pleasing in effect and 
 shows good grooming and taste. If the horses have been 
 on a journey the previous day and are fatigued, a good bed 
 should be allowed, so that the horse can lie down. We 
 have never seen horses injured by resting too much, but on 
 the contrary, by too much standing, thus wearing out both 
 feet and legs. That the legs may wear well vrith the body, 
 
TIDYING THE STABLE. 117 
 
 let the head down, darken the stable, and give good bedding 
 to the stall : thus the legs and feet of many an excellent 
 horse will be made comfortable, and wear many years 
 longer than by a diiferent and inconsiderate treatment. 
 The latter consideration is more applicable to the driving, 
 carriage, and saddle horses, but not at all inapplicable to 
 horses of all work, when a day is allowed them in the 
 stable. 
 
 The recommendations in this chapter are more particu- 
 larly designed for the benefit of city horses, but we do not 
 know of any class of horsemen or owners, if it be not, first, 
 the farmer, and second, some of the livery stablemen of 
 Philadelphia, and other large cities and towns, that can be 
 benefited so much by following our instructions, at least so 
 far as cleanline^5s and taste are concerned ; for it is not an 
 unusual habit for farmers to have their horses standing in 
 filth and dirt up to their knees months at a time — a stereo- 
 typed habit, which sliould be abandoned as not fit for the 
 healthful treatment even of the pig. This carelessness in 
 the stable of the farmer cannot be accounted for upon any 
 other hypothesis than the force of habit, a lazy disposition, 
 and complete ignorance of the laws that govern animal life 
 and the nature of the horse. Besides, it shows the want 
 of capacity to manage the ordinary afiairs which pertain to 
 the everyday duty of the farm and the stable. Farmers 
 and others who allow this state of affairs in the stable, must 
 be taught to expect in the spring epizootic disease of some 
 kind — lung fever, typhoid influenza, sore eyes, swelled 
 
118 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 legs, scratches, thrushy feet, ic, &c. — as the result of such 
 a pernicious system. 
 
 The cleansing of the stable should in every case be 
 among the first acts of each and every morning, and where 
 good arrangements are made, no loss of time or inconveni- 
 ence will be experienced by so necessary an arrangement. 
 Other little niceties that are tasteful and timely in the 
 private stable of the merchant-prince may not be enforced 
 in the stable of the agriculturist or in the ordinary livery 
 stable ; but cleanliness and good ventilation are necessary 
 in every stable, and in the country, where there is space 
 enough, the cleanings from the stable should be removed 
 some distance from the doors and windows, by means of a 
 wheelbarrow. Any person who values the life and good 
 health of his horse, should absolutely refuse to stable where 
 the manure is deposited in the building with horses, har- 
 ness, and carriages, as seen in many livery establishments. 
 The ammonia evolved in the closed stable during the night 
 is injurious enough to the health of horses and the paint of 
 carriages, without their being subjected night and day to 
 this noisome odor. • The injurious efi"ects of ammonia from 
 stable manure may be correctly judged of by a visit to 
 some lead-paint manufactory ; its action speaks louder to the 
 understanding of man than mere words. In closing this 
 not-over-nice subject, we hope the farmers and some others 
 will learn that cleanliness in the stable is of high consi- 
 deration, independently of its superior economy. 
 
 Exercise, in the phrase of the stable, is intended as a 
 
EXERCISE. 119 
 
 substitute for work to horses that are not regularly 
 employed, and is often a very convenient plan by which 
 the groom " shows off" to his brothers of like occupation, 
 the condition of his horses, the easy time and place he has, 
 as evinced by the apparent, if not, real necessity of exer- 
 cising the idle horses. To the sober and industrious groom 
 or coachman, who avoids associates at the tavern, the hour 
 of exercise is time spent with much pleasure and to many 
 with profit, by the comparison of the condition of other 
 horses with those of which he has the care. Further, it 
 is often a pleasure to the owners to know and see his horses 
 at exercise, looking as well if not better than others. 
 
 The increasing wealth and prosperity of many of our citi- 
 zens, entitle them to articles contributing to ease and 
 luxury, some of which cannot be always in use, but it is 
 necessary they should be kept in a condition that fits them 
 for service when required; hence the introduction into the 
 stable of the word exercise. There are several ways taken 
 to exercise horses, the most common being with the sad- 
 dle — horseback — and if there be a pair, one is led by the 
 side of the other. The " led" horse, for safety to himself, 
 should have a bridle on. and a surcingle or belly-band 
 around the body, to which is attached an ordinary bearing 
 rein, but not too tight, sufficient to employ the animal's 
 attention from other horses or objects, so that there will be 
 no rearing up, kicking or being kicked or sprained, as 
 would sometimes be the case if left without some other 
 restraint than the simple halter and " shank" by which 
 11 
 
120 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 he is being led, by a person on the back of another horse. 
 From want of sufficient work, with good feeding, feeling 
 spirited, he is full of fun or play, that sometimes ends 
 injuriouslj\ 
 
 Our experience has taught that with high-conditioned 
 horses, no plan for their exercise is so effectual and safe 
 as when performed in the manner of their usual work, 
 which can only be objected to on account of the wear and 
 tear of the harness and carriage, together with the extra 
 labor of the grooms in washing and cleaning. The former 
 objection can, in a measure be obviated by using an inferior 
 carriage with coarse, but strong harness, and the latter by 
 less labor being necessary to keep such articles in order 
 than those of greater value. In some parts of Europe the 
 ^' break" or van is used for such a purpose. For saddle 
 horses, the saddle and bridle should only be used, but may 
 be of less value than those required for regular work. 
 In England especially, it is the custom in frosty weather 
 and where there are slippery roads or streets, to give doses 
 of physic (a purge), as a substitute for work or exercise. 
 We mention this, not for its adoption, but that it should 
 be avoided under all circumstances. 
 
 Old horses require but little exercise, although capable, 
 without fatigue or injury to themselves, of doing a greater 
 amount of work than younger ones. The young animal 
 is not capable of enduring much work without fatigue and 
 injury, but requires to be nut of the stable daily, even 
 though not much exercised. Young horses are stabled too 
 
EXERCISE. 121 
 
 much for their health, yet are incapable of standing much 
 work or exercise without giving rise to splints, sprains, &c. 
 When exercise is necessary for the young horse it should 
 be confined to a walk, and in double the time that is allowed 
 to the older animal. It is the want of this physiological 
 knowledge on the part of those who profess to be adepts in 
 the art (I had almost said science) of training horses for 
 the race course and turf, that destroys so many excellent 
 and promising young horses, when placed under their 
 charge. Indeed, so much is this the case, that it is but 
 few that stand the unjust and cruel treatment in the daily 
 exercise that is exacted from them. While, if a year or 
 two older, or at least with a more judicious system in force, 
 many that are injured, would be more likely to show them- 
 selves animals of speed and value, instead of worn out, 
 crippled, broken in spirit, diseased in the bones of the 
 joints, with spavin, ringbone, and other osseous deposits, 
 before the animal had begun its career of usefulness and 
 profit. 
 
 The subject of training we will leave where it is, m the 
 hands of those, who through ignorance of the animal and 
 its power of endurance under adverse circumstances, have 
 done more to hinder and close the door to a more perfect 
 system of breeding horses, than even the present system 
 of racing. We hope a good and beneficent government 
 will speedily recognise the evil and apply the remedy. 
 
 Blanketing horses is a matter of much importance, for 
 upon a proper use of the blanket its principal value de- 
 
122 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 pends, though neither the value of the blanket nor the 
 principle upon which they act is fully understood by the 
 best of grooms or horsemen, outside of the fact that blan- 
 kets will keep the horse warm. 
 
 Blankets are a necessary article of stable appliance, at 
 least where a high condition of horse is necessary. With- 
 out a certain degree of heat in cold weather, horses could 
 not be easily kept in flesh and condition. This heat is in 
 part supplied by the application of blankets to the body 
 and in part from the feed. The colder the animal is kept 
 the greater the amount of feed required to supply caloric. 
 The blanket not only prevents the evaporation of heat from 
 the body of the horse, but at the same time forms a barrier 
 between the pores of the skin of the animal and the cold 
 air. Blanketing should be just sufficiently heavy or light 
 to insure comfort^ by allowing insensible transpiration ^ but 
 not so heavy as to produce sweating or sensible transpira- 
 tion. It should never interfere with a free exhalation from 
 "the surface of the skin, which is eminently necessary to 
 health. 
 
 Blankets of coarse wool should only be used, and not be 
 lined with anything other than woollen material, if lined at 
 all. To blanket with water proof or rubber cloth while the 
 horse is in the stable, without harness or saddle on his 
 back to elevate the covering from immediate contact with 
 the skin, would be injurious, because it would in great 
 measure prevent the natural transpiration. The same 
 objection may be applied to the buffalo and other robes 
 
HOW TO PREVENT HORSES FROM TEARING THEIR CLOTHING. 
 
 11 
 
 (123) 
 
BLANKETING. 125 
 
 being used as blankets in the stable ; though they are 
 admissible as coverings to throw over the back of a heated 
 horse on a cold day, whilst he is standing out of doors or in 
 an open shed, with the saddle or harness on, which allows 
 of sufficient, but not over, transpiration to take place. It 
 will be observed that it is not always the heaviest blanket 
 that is the warmest, but that which is fine and soft, made 
 of wool and not too porous, allowing some little for weight 
 also. The use of rubber coverings on carriage and some 
 other horses on wet days would be a positive injury to the 
 health were they worn close to the skin ; but this is obvi- 
 ated by their being fixed outside of the harness, insuring 
 much protection and good, with no bad result. The great 
 object of the blanket is to give warmth and comfort, and 
 its use should not be carried further, for it will then be 
 at the expense of the constitution, with a great liability 
 to disease. 
 
 The soft wool blanket should always be placed next to 
 the skin of a horse that comes to the stable wet, with rain 
 or sweat, as it readily absorbs the moisture, to the great 
 comfort of the horse. Thick felt and kersey or cloth 
 blankets are not fit for this purpose, besides the latter is 
 too costly, and should be used only as day blankets, and 
 when at slow exercise. The softer and less costly arc 
 for sweat and night blankets. Quarter-cords should be 
 fixed to the blanket when exercising, to prevent their 
 being turned up from behind by the wind, but blankets for 
 mares when in the stable should have none, as they 
 
126 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 interfere with uriuating, and cause the animal to wet her 
 legs. 
 
 Bandages are familiar to most stablemen, but. like the 
 blanket, are not so well understood, though applied for 
 different purposes and in different conditions and forms. 
 Thus we have the dry, wet woollen, linen, chamois leather, 
 straw, and hay-rope bandages, all of which at times are in 
 use, and, no doubt, are of considerable importance, when 
 intelligently used and applied to the legs of the horse. 
 But when inconsiderately used they are productive of 
 harm, as, for instance, the substitution of the wet when the 
 dry is required, and vice versa. 
 
 Dry bandages, when used for the purpose of absorbing 
 moisture from the legs, should be of soft woollen, which, 
 when applied to the legs that are w'et from washing or 
 from the roads, will dry them quicker than by almost any 
 other means ; at the same time, the limbs are kept warm 
 and comfortable, leaving them clean, smooth, and glossy. 
 By their application immediately after the legs are washed, 
 or when the horse returns to the stable on a wet and cold 
 day, no bad consequences need be apprehended. 
 
 For coarse or farm horses, or where economy is to be 
 considered, the hay or soft-straw rope, loosely wound round 
 the wet or cold legs, is of great benefit, preventing scalding 
 of the heels and consequent scratches. 
 
 When it is intended to support the tired limb, or make 
 pressure to promote absorption of effused fluids from the 
 legs, and consequent swelling, the bandage may be advan- 
 tageously made of linen and applied dry. 
 
BANDAGES. 127 
 
 Wet bandages are usually made of woollen, and are 
 used when the legs are hot, tender, or sore, and for the 
 purpose of applying lotions and constant fomentations. An 
 excellent method is the application of a bandage made of 
 chamois or wash leather, wet with a lotion made of one 
 drachm each of acetate and sulphate of zinc dissolved in a 
 pint of rain water. To gain the full advantage from wet 
 bandages, one of dry linen should be wound round and over 
 the wet one, to prevent evaporation ; and we may renew 
 the moisture by occasionally pouring water or other fluid 
 on the leg, between it and the bandage, taking care to wet 
 the outside bandage as little as possible. Wet bandages 
 should not be continued above twelve hours at a time, after 
 which they should be removed and the part exposed to the 
 air, to prevent scalding and falling off of the hair. If too 
 long continued, the hoofs will become so soft that they will 
 not be able to bear much weight wpon them, especially 
 when on stony roads or cobble-paved streets. 
 
 Bandages should be from two to three yards in length, 
 and the breadth about six to eight inches, tapering to the 
 other end to about three inches, and to this tape for tying 
 them should be affixed. In well furnished stables, each 
 horse should have his full set of bandages. As the appli- 
 cation of bandages is quite an art, the greatest care 
 should be exercised in applying them ; first, to prevent 
 wrinkling the hair, and second, to insure their staying in 
 place when put on the leg. This latter consideration is 
 important, as no horse of value should be placed in a rail- 
 
128 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 road car, or on a steamboat for conveyance to any place, 
 without warm bandages on every leg. Let the strings 
 always be tied either on the in or outside and middle of 
 the leg, or equi-distant between the knee and pastern joint, 
 where they will not interfere with the horse's movements. 
 Bandages are only applied on the fore legs from the knee 
 to the pastern, and on the hind legs from hock to pastern. 
 Tying horses in the stable with good judgment and 
 care, is perhaps the best preventive of accidents to them, 
 and its neglect is certainly one of the most prolific causes 
 of injuries during the night, when no person is near tc 
 render assistance in the struggles of entanglement with 
 the halter improperly fastened to the manger and fixed 
 upon the head of the horse. In an extensive veterinary 
 practice of long duration in Philadelphia, many, very many 
 cases of injury to valuable horses have we seen, which 
 were classed by the stableman, under the very convenient 
 covering called accident, and brought about by the indiffer- 
 ent, careless, and unsafe way in which the animals had been 
 tied in their stalls. Thus, we have cut heel of the hind 
 foot, resembling scratches, by the halter rubbing and cut- 
 ting into the flesh — wry-neck, from the animal being cast 
 in the stall, by the head being held during, perhaps the 
 most of the night, in a bent position — getting loose by slip- 
 ping the head halter or untying the halter's shank and 
 gorging from the corn-bin and finally dying of colic; or if 
 no feed be within reach, the other tied horses are at the 
 mercy of the loose one and defend themselves by kicking 
 
TYING . 129 
 
 and bitin^i; till mornliici; arrives, "when a broken les; or a 
 wounded and sick horse is seen — as usual, to be placed to 
 the account of accident. 
 
 The above-named results, are but a few that can be 
 classed amongst avoidable or preventable injuries, which, 
 by a judicious and careful system of tying would be almost 
 impossible, at least in the stable. The head stall or leather 
 portion should neither be too large nor too small for the 
 head to which it is to be fitted, and when it is on, the 
 crown strap should also be neither too long nor too short, 
 and the loose end should always be secured in its keeper; 
 this to many persons seems a small thing, and conse- 
 quently a very important matter is thus neglected. The 
 head portion of the halter or stall-collar being of a proper 
 fit and well secured, attention to the tying of the shank, 
 whether of leather, rope, or chain, is of the utmost import- 
 ance, because more injury is caused by improper tying of 
 this, than ever occurred from the mere getting loose, which 
 in itself is often of little account, as the horse may be a 
 quiet one, and will neither disturb his mates nor the corn- 
 bin. But if the leg gets over the shank of the halter, the 
 head is held to the fl.oor, the animal becomes almost frantic 
 in his efforts to free himself, dances about, and finally casts 
 himself in the stall — the leg is badly bruised, it may be 
 broken, and the Jin ale is a dead horse. The only safe plan 
 of fastening the shank of a halter from the head to the 
 manger, is to run the strap or shank through an iron ring, 
 secured to the centre of the manger or the top rail by a 
 
130 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 staple, thus allowing an equal distance to each side of the 
 stall. The ring should be large enough to admit a free 
 irovement of the shank through it. No hole cut through 
 the boards of the front of the manger -will be safe. After 
 the shank is put through this loose ring, it should be fas- 
 tened to a wooden ball or block, without square corners or 
 sharp points of larger size than will be admitted through 
 the ring, and weighing about half a pound, with a one inch 
 hole through its centre. Thus, this weight attached to the 
 end of the halter, acts as a sink to it, and allows no slack, 
 therefore the leg cannot get over it. The length of halter 
 shank to be allowed may be measured by the height of the 
 manger from the floor, or distance the ball will carry the 
 loose or slack halter, and let no accumulation of bedding, 
 litter or straw, lie immediately under the front of the man- 
 ger to prevent the ball sinking clearly to the floor. The 
 above plan for tying horses in the stable is the only way 
 to avoid accidents, and no other contrivance, short of the 
 loose-box, should ever be substituted for the sink-ball. 
 
 Care of the feet of the horse is suggested by our 
 large experience, coupled with the truism, " no foot no 
 horse," — and further, a good healthy-bodied horse will out- 
 wear two sets of legs, and something above that number in 
 hoofs and feet. We will therefore endeavor as best we 
 can, to indicate a plan, which when followed will give 
 such good results, by a freedom from disease short of acci- 
 dent, that will shake the faith of many who believe in the 
 above aphorism. To attain so desirable a condition, the 
 
CAKE OF THE FEET. 131 
 
 hoofs of a horse should be kept in as natural a condition 
 as possible, and this can only be accomplished in the 
 trained or domesticated horse by artificial means. 
 
 Deterioration of the foot of the horse, is inseparable from 
 his domestication and the purposes for which he is em- 
 ployed, unless artificial applications are used, and chief 
 amongst these are moiature and refrigerants — cooling appli- 
 anc-es. The want of moisture in the foot of a horse causes 
 hardness, which again produces want of elasticity, which 
 is soon followed by contraction or shrinking of the posterior 
 quarters of the hoof, which gives rise to absorption of the 
 sensitive structures within the hoof, ending in ulceration 
 of the bones, laming the horse for life. 
 
 The above is only one of the terminations of dry-hard 
 hoofs. Another is where hritthness follows dryness, giv- 
 ing rise to sand-cracks or quarter-cracks, chipping, or 
 spelking off of portions from the wall of the hoof, so that 
 in many such cases a nail-hold cannot be found to affix a 
 shoe, and for such condition the shoer is not unfrequently 
 made an unwilling sponsor. Any contrivance then capable 
 of counteracting and preventing dryness, hardness, and 
 brittleness, is to be sought for and applied, and every cause 
 that leads or gives rise to these conditions, should as far 
 as possible be avoided. The former conditions are avoided 
 by stuffing the soles with flax seed meal, made into a poul- 
 tice and laid in the space on the sole, not covered by the 
 web of the shoe. This should be applied at night, twice a 
 week in winter, when the roads and streets are wet, and 
 12 
 
132 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 three to four times in summer when the sun is hot and the 
 streets are dry. If the stuffing is not sufficient to supply 
 moisture, it should be assisted by fever pads, or crescent 
 shaped folds of woollen cloths, saturated with cold water, 
 and laid over the hoofs and tied behind the foot, with wor- 
 sted strings, to prevent marks or shaving off of the hair. 
 The pads or cloths, like the stuffing, may be applied as 
 often as may be necessary to keep the hoofs cool and moisf, 
 taking care, however, not to have the hoofs too soft, or the 
 horse will not step as firm upon his feet as he would natu- 
 rally do. 
 
 Those causes which give rise to dryness. &c., &c., of the 
 hoofs should be carefully avoided. Thus, the horse-shoer 
 should not be allowed to apply a shoe to the foot, either to 
 make its bearing, or fix a shoe even slightly warm, but it 
 must be positively cold to the foot. Another cause of dry- 
 ness, &c., may be avoided, in a great measure, by standing 
 and driving horses in the shade, and not allowing the sun's 
 rays to reflect upon them; and finally, by driving over 
 roads with the softest surface consistent with the weight 
 of the load to which the animal is attached. 
 
 To aid in this matter, a few words to the shoer seem to 
 be necessary. Treat the hoofs of horses by no fixed rule, 
 as all hoofs are not alike in size, solidity, firmness, and 
 depth, although they ail belong to horses of the same 
 work. Thus, some hoofs will require considerable portions 
 of horn to be taken from them at each monthly shoeing, 
 while others again cannot afford to be so treated ; and hence 
 
A FOOT PROPERLY PREPARED FOR THE SHOE. 
 Ms 
 
 A. The heel of the crust. E E. The angles hetween the heels and 
 
 B. The toe. liars, where corns appear. 
 C C. The qiiarters of the crust or wall. F F. The concave surface. 
 
 D D. The bars as they should be left G G. The bulbous heels, 
 
 with the fro2; between them. II. The cleft. 
 
 (133) 
 
TREATMENT AFTER AVORK. 135 
 
 the necessity for good judgment on tlie part of a horse- 
 shoer to treat each hoof as its conformation suggests. 
 
 Treatment after work forms one of the most im- 
 portant considerations of stable economy, and upon the 
 adoption of a good, bad, or inconsiderate usage depend the 
 heakh and appearance of the horse. This is the period 
 when coughs, colds, lung diseases, and many other ills to 
 which horses are subject, are contracted, and can only be 
 avoided by a system founded on natural laws. Thus, the 
 season of the year, the heat and fatigue of the horse, will 
 have to be considered, as well as the location of the stable, 
 and its ventilation, the amount of help that can at once be 
 made available when warm horses arrive at the stable, and 
 whether the animals be clipped or have long and thick 
 coats of hair. 
 
 For each variation from the above conditions, a cor- 
 responding change or adaptability in the treatment and 
 care will have to be provided. Thus a horse that is clipped 
 will perform a greater journey without sweating than one 
 with a winter and uncut coat of hair upon him. The 
 clipped horse, then, is not to be judged of by whether he 
 is sweating, but by the length of the journey and the time 
 allowed or consumed in it — and his treatment should be 
 accordingly; for he is as liable to cold, &c., as the animal 
 with a heavier coat, because the heart of all animals after 
 fatigue will beat very slow, and hence the necessity for care 
 in properly covering and giving small mouthfuls of water -, 
 for by the neglect of covering, to assist as a stimulus to the 
 12* 
 
136 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 heart and circulation, ^nd bj giving large draughts of cold 
 water the circulation will be impeded, and lung disease 
 may be the result. To prevent this, keep such horses, at 
 least in winter, out of a draught — though this may be 
 allowed in some very warm days in summer — and cover them 
 comfortably with woollen blankets (see Blanheting') till the 
 hair is dry ; for in winter in this climate no attempt should 
 be made to rub the coat drj^, as the time thus required 
 would chill the horse. Let the heated and tired horse, 
 whether he be clipped or not, be kept warm till the time 
 of starting further on the journey, or until the next morn- 
 ing. This is safe, and can do no harm. 
 
 It is true, many persons do not like to know of their 
 horse standing all night with a wet coat of hair; but how 
 is this to be got over, without exposing the animal to dis- 
 ease, in an attempt to have the hair rubbed dry ? The only 
 alternative is to have the hair straightened with a brush 
 after using the scraper, and if wet cover up till morning, 
 when the hair will be dry, and can then be cleansed. Do 
 not wash the feet or legs in winter, unless warm woollen ban- 
 dages are immediately applied to them. (See Bandages.') 
 
 In summer, cold water applied even to the whole body, 
 but not immediately after work, may occasionally be 
 allowed. A mouthful of cold water at all seasons of the 
 year should be given, even before the horse is cooled. 
 There is more danger in giving cold water to a cold horse 
 than to a icarm one. If too much cold water is given to 
 horses when warm, the caloric or heat of the body is sud- 
 
TREATMENT AFTER WORK BEDDING. 137 
 
 denly expended, aud then follows a congestive chill. 
 Hence the necessity of giving a warm horse a small quan- 
 tity at a time, till he wants no more. Horses after a 
 journey should not be allowed feed in small bulk, like oats 
 or corn, till the heart and lungs have been restored more 
 nearly to their quiet state ; a little hay may be given with 
 advantage, because it will prepare the empty stomach tc 
 receive more solid food without giving rise to colic or acute 
 indigestion. The whole art of treatment after work con- 
 sists in making the horse comfortable, without causing 
 injury. A considerate horseman, on returning, will drive 
 slowly as he nears home, thus allowing the horse gradually 
 to cool off, obviating all injury from cold water or draughts 
 of cold air about the stable. 
 
 Yf hat are we to say, however, to the inconsiderate driver, 
 who stables at "■ livery,'^ where all horses return about the 
 same time, and all cannot be waited upon at once ? (See 
 Livery Stahles.') 
 
 Bedding for the stable is a matter of considerable 
 importance, not only as to its usefulness, but its expense, 
 for of late years, straw sold for this purpose seems con- 
 stantly to increase in price, so much so that we consider 
 the straw account the most important item in the expenses 
 of the city stable, and think that a cheaper substitute is 
 imperiously called for. 
 
 Rye-straw, which forms the bedding of most of our 
 city or private stables, is perhaps not the best nor the 
 cheapest material that could be used, because its extreme 
 
138 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 leDgtli does not fit it for a good litter for horses, as but one- 
 half of its length is soiled, and the clean portion has also 
 to be thrown to the dung-pit, making a costly manure. Its 
 price almost forbids its use for such purposes. 
 
 Saw-dust makes a good bed for horses, and is in use in 
 many stables, and appears to give satisfaction. 
 
 Bar-sand makes a very good bed for horses, and is in 
 use in some parts of the world. 
 
 Forest Leaves are an excellent bed, when free from 
 wood and pieces of tree branches. 
 
 Oat-straw is perhaps, considering all things, the best 
 of beds, and is used in nearly all countries, but in our own 
 it is almost unknown. 
 
 Salt Marsh and Meadow or Natural Grass makes 
 a very good solid bed; but is so much sought after for 
 packing material that little is used in the stable. 
 
 Tan Bark is in use in some parts of the country, but 
 on account of its stringency, is injurious to the horses* feet. 
 
 Stable vices among well-trained horses are not many, 
 nor are they under all circumstances very aggravating-; 
 some horses w^ith a stranger or new groom, in the strife for 
 the mastery, will for a time evince a determination to do 
 mischief; but with the old, or on a better acquaintance 
 with the new man, will settle down to good behavior. 
 This peculiarity of horses, with destructive impulse, is con- 
 fined to biting, kicking, &c. ; but tearing the cloths off the 
 back, &c., cannot be classed as above. 
 
 Kicking in the stable at night is difficult to remedy, 
 
KICKING — BITING — SHYING. 139 
 
 because it is often acquired by habit. It can hardly be 
 classed as a vice, as it is generally in play, although asso- 
 ciated with danger and destruction to both the kicker and 
 the next stall neighbor, and often results in a broken or 
 bruised leg. The remedy consists in the removal of exciting 
 causes, such as other playful or idle horses, from the neigh- 
 borhood of the kicker. Allow a loose-box or plenty of room, 
 and- nothing to kick at, regular and plenty of day work, 
 but do not stint the feed as is often done in such cases. 
 
 Biting is much like kicking in its cause and effects 
 Apply a wire net muzzle, and enforce obedience by always 
 holding in the left hand a short stick, so that the animal 
 can see it. This is a necessary precaution, because the 
 horse is quick to discover its ab&ence and will act accord- 
 ingly ; it is not necessary to use it, however. We have 
 known instances where an extra glass of whisRey induced 
 boldness and indifference on the part of the groom, asso- 
 ciated perhaps with neglect of the usual stick in hand, has 
 caused severe injury. 
 
 Shying in the stable, as on the road, is the result of 
 incipient disease of the eyes — a distorted vision — seeing 
 things in a hideous form — and in the stable is manifested 
 very commonly at the sieve or vessel in which the feed is 
 carried to the manger or trough, causing the animal to shy, 
 not ahyays from the object, but towards it, as if to crush it 
 on the spot, and if the groom is not active in striking the 
 animal off from him, he may be crushed against the stall's 
 partition. Care and attention will be required on the part 
 
140 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 of the groom till disease of the eye destroys the eyesight 
 altogether; or the horse may be removed into a wide place, 
 where accidents of this character cannot occur. 
 
 Rolling in the stall would not be classed as a vice, if it 
 were not that the animal so addicted may get cast^ or fall on 
 his back, and not be able to rise till assisted in the morn- 
 ing. The results of casting in the stall, with the violent 
 and determined struggles to get up again, often results in 
 broken legs-, injuries, and death before assistance arrives. 
 To remedy this habit, or at least prevent its consequences, 
 provide a loose-box, a wide stall, or a very narrow one, and 
 tie the head just so that the shoulder can rest on the floor, 
 but not allow the head and neck to do so. 
 
 The horse that is addicted to rolling is generally a good 
 and healthy horse, and it is a pity to deprive him of the 
 luxury by Sny contrivance, if it be not to increase his 
 facilities without danger to himself by giving more space. 
 
 Cribbing is familiar to all stablemen, and is a habit 
 confined mostly to the stable ; it is caused by indigestion 
 and idleness, giving time for one horse to teach it to 
 another. It consists in horses filling the stomach with air, 
 which in a manner satisfies the appetite to the almost 
 exclusion of solid food.* 
 
 Prevention of crib-biting is a difficult matter, so much 
 so that we have seen a horse, deprived of all fixtures to 
 
 * See Diseases in the "American Stable, Field, and Farm- 
 Yard." Philadelphia: Porter & Coates. 
 
TEARING THE BLANKETS. 141 
 
 which his mouth could touch, still perform the act, having 
 recourse to the thigh of his own fore leg upon which to 
 press the mouth. 
 
 Breaking loose is a vice easily cured, where space is 
 no object, by allowing no halter and confining the animal 
 in a loose-box. 
 
 Tearing the Blankets may be remedied by allowing 
 all such horses to stand in the stable with none on, or by 
 fixing a rod to the check-ring of the head-halter, and the 
 other end of it to the surcingle or roller round the body. 
 
 Yicious TO clean. — On such a horse put a wire muz- 
 zle, and tie the head tight between two posts, and as much 
 as possible dispense with the curry-comb or other hard 
 instruments, especially with sensitive-skinned horses. 
 
CHAPTEE YI. 
 
 CARRIAGES, HARNESS, &c. 
 
 Carriages — Their beauty — Lightness, strength, and weakness — 
 Axles — Collings' Patent — Patent Mail and Half-mail — Common 
 Springs — The Elliptic and Shackle — Their safety and strength 
 — Care of Carriages, and how to wash them — The best Grease 
 for Axles — Castor Oil— Crown Soap, its make and value — 
 Harness — Specialties in — " Kemblc Jackson" Bridle — Kicking 
 Strap — Four-in-hand — Tandem — Care of Harness — Saddles and 
 Bridles — Bits — Their variety and how to clean them. 
 
 Carriages. — Perhaps no nation or country in the world 
 displays such beautiful light wagons and carriages as are 
 seen in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, and the Central 
 Park, New York, on every fine day. To a foreigner, their 
 light airy construction is in remarkable contrast to the 
 heavy equipages of Europe. These light and elegant turn- 
 outs are peculiar to the United States. The material of 
 which they are built in a very great measure insures their 
 safety and strength, although our faith in their safety is 
 often shaken by the accidents that occur, and which, it 
 must be confessed, had a little more substance and strength 
 
 (142) 
 
CARRIAGES. 143 
 
 been allowed, would have been preTented, and valuable 
 lives occasionally have been saved. Are we not sustained 
 in this view by the cause which gave rise to the death of 
 the late Peter Cagger, of New York? The wheels of his 
 wagon broke down without apparent cause, as they did not 
 come in collision with any object, but, from their want of 
 strength, were unable to stand the smooth avenues of 
 Central Park, when attached to a good horse. Would not 
 the life of James Harper, of the same city, have been 
 saved, if his carriage had been somewhat stronger, to have 
 broken the force of the collision ? And why was the 
 rotten tree-box on Broad Street, Philadelphia, stronger 
 than the wagon that caused the death of Mr. Levering ? 
 
 Those who are fond of fast horses, should adopt the sad- 
 dle, and eschew the " toy" called a wagon, for in the event 
 of a slio-ht collision, down 2:oes the w\ao;on and all that is in 
 it, and away runs the horse, with the fragments of fashion- 
 able folly attached to him. However, we do not soon 
 expect any improvement in this particular, while trotting 
 takes the place of running at our race courses, and our 
 streets and roads remain in their present disgraceful state. 
 The relation of good or bad roads to horses, carriages, and 
 wagons, has not escaped the observation of Dr. J. Gr. Hol- 
 land (" Timothy Titcomb"), who writes to the Sj^ruigjield 
 Republican, that with the heavier carriages and wagons of 
 Europe, one horse does with more ease and less exertion, 
 work that requires two in this country ; and moreover, in 
 the city of London the horses go so fast without accident, 
 13 
 
144 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 that their pace would not be allowed by the police regula- 
 tions of Springfield, Massachusetts. He concludes his 
 views by propounding the question " whether it would not 
 be easier and less expensive for us to keep one mile of road 
 in good order, than to buy and feed an extra horse ?" We 
 are not of those who believe that by increasing the safety 
 of carriages and wagons, used for family and -pleasure pur- 
 poses, by the addition of a little extra weight to them, the 
 improvement of trotters would not be continued, and that 
 they would be allowed to deteriorate. The Scotch gentle- 
 man was about right, when after a little misunderstanding 
 whether he or his coachman should keep sober to drive 
 home one evening after a dinner party, and on the arrival 
 of the carriage it was found emiyty^ he concluded in the 
 morning to have a new vehicle, not only strong, but one 
 that would positively hold in. 
 
 We do not charge our carriage and wagon builders with 
 fraud upon their too unsuspecting patrons, but they are 
 not altogether blameless, inasmuch as we see the fine and 
 expensive carriage often provided with inferior axles and 
 springs, both in quality and make. This would not so 
 often be the case, were owners better informed as to the 
 '^essentials" that constitute a good and safe carriage. 
 Are the prices of carriages and wagons not sufficient to 
 afford a " Collings" axle, that are so safe and so highly 
 prized by every person, who has ever had them in use ? 
 Our firemen and their truck builders are ahead of builders 
 and buyers of fine carriages in this particular. 
 
CARRIAGES. 145 
 
 Among the many advantages of the " Collings" axle, we 
 may mention, that it does not need bolts to hold the wheel 
 in its place ; and it requires to be greased or oiled only 
 three to four times a year. These axles on our " drag" 
 have been greased once in six months, and then they 
 did not require it.* It is also impossible for a wheel run- 
 ning on these to be forced off, because of the reversable 
 brass burrs, three in number, and which are jSnally secured 
 by a tempered steel spring-keeper, the whole covered from 
 view by a silver or other metal ornamented cup, screwed 
 to and revolving with the wheel. In addition to the above- 
 named advantages, these axles are made by a peculiar pro- 
 cess, and so durable, that with ordinary care, they will last 
 the wear of several carriages or during the longest lifetime. 
 Yet, notwithstanding the advantages of the Collings, the 
 ordinary cart but diminutive axles are seen too often on our 
 expensive carriages. 
 
 This matter of axles is not the only exception we make 
 to the finish of a perfect carriage", for every day when our 
 attention is attracted to them, the springs of many are 
 also decidedly faulty, and even dangerous to life and 
 destructive to the other portions of the vehicle. Let us 
 illustrate, by simple reference to the fact, that the vipper 
 and lower half of the spring being joined firmly at each 
 end, allowing no elongation when weight is placed upon it, 
 the result that naturally follows this confinement is that 
 
 * The material for greasing was castor oil. 
 
146 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 the spring will either be broken, or as it were take offence 
 at its unreasonable restraint, and toss out the occupants 
 of the carriage. If, however, the weight be not sufficient 
 to do this, the vehicle will be a very miserable one to ride 
 in, will soon become worn in parts and discarded — if in the 
 meantime, the driver or coachman be not innocently 
 blamed for rough driving, discharged, and another a little 
 more intelligent employed, who will find out the cause of 
 the difficulty. We have known instances of this kind to 
 occur in Philadelphia. 
 
 While with a friend at Point Breeze Park one day, a 
 gentleman drove in with a fine horse and wagon. My 
 friend asked him if he had not lost the cushions ? " No ; 
 they are under the seat," was the reply j and on further 
 investigation we ascertained that the gentleman could not 
 keep his seat on the cushion, but from what cause he did 
 not know. My friend at once suggested that the springs 
 were not only too stiff and strong, but their principle of 
 make was wrong also. 
 
 The remedy for this condition of things lies not so much 
 with the buyer as with the builder, although the intelli- 
 gent are not innocent, inasmuch as they often do not 
 demand their rights. If they did, builders would neces- 
 sarily be more particular as to the safety, comfort, and 
 construction of their carriages, and give a ftur return for 
 the money invested. 
 
 The springs of family carriages and business and goods 
 wagons are, on the whole, made on better principles than 
 
SPRINGS — SHACKLES. 147 
 
 tliose placed on the road wagon, because the C, the cradle, 
 and shackle spring are still used, but on the road and 
 trotting wagon are not to be seen. Every road and trot- 
 ting wagon should be placed on elliptic springs as they now 
 are built, but with the addition of a sliacJde, at least on one 
 end, to allow of elongation and contraction^ according to the 
 weight placed upon them, and the condition of road or 
 street, and our word for it less breakdowns will occur.* 
 
 Until we have the introduction of shackles to allow 
 shuttle movement, broken springs and accidents with loss 
 of life will be of frequent occurrence. For road and trotting 
 wagons of two springs, one in front and one behind, and 
 placed along the axle, a shackle on one end of each will be 
 enough ; but this would give an odd appearance ; therefore 
 to prevent this, let one of the shortest shackles be placed at 
 both ends of each of the two springs, making them more 
 pleasing to the eye and even more serviceable. For wagons 
 of four springs, and placed across the axles, there will be 
 DO necessity for shackles on Loth ends of the spring, either 
 for appearance or safety ; but let the shackle be placed on 
 the end reaching under the body of the wagon. Carriages 
 with springs so constructed are easy to ride in, and will 
 wear many years longer. With shackled springs and Col- 
 lings axles, we can sail — don't say ride — over the rough- 
 
 * It is estimated that $56,000,000 is lost annually to the people 
 of the United States in wear and tear of horses, vehicles and har- 
 ness, by bad systems of road-making and street paving, 
 
 X3* 
 
148 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 est and most hilly roads of Delaware county, Pennsylvania, 
 with no jarring or jostling to the body, nor straining to 
 the vehicle. 
 
 We must, however, leave the general construction of 
 carriages to those to whom it more properly belongs. Our 
 best axles are the mail, and half-mail or half patent, and are 
 not in or up to the general improvements in most other 
 things made by our mechanics. 
 
 The care and cleansing of Carriages in a satisfac- 
 tory and proper manner is understood by but few persons. 
 Whether carriages be idle or in everyday use, they never- 
 theless require care and attention. Moths and rust, mil- 
 dew and decay are the result of idleness and improper 
 housing, and can only be prevented by good ventilation 
 and dryness. Carriages in daily use should be washed, 
 ind not dusted, after the journey is over, with cold 
 water. The articles in use for the washing of carriages 
 are : the sponge, one for the panels or body jDroper, 
 which should be kept free from dirt and sand, and 
 another for the under carriage and wheels; the spoke- 
 brush, for the tires of the wheels. The mop of cloth, 
 attached to a handle, is not in use in this country, as the 
 sponge is sufficient, and not very costly; but as a matter 
 of economy it is an excellent contrivance in the place of 
 tbe sponge. These articles are for the rough or outside 
 cleansing of carriages. The chamois leather, commonly 
 called the wash-leather, is also used in its dry and wet 
 state — the wet one to dry or absorb the moisture after 
 
CLEANING CAimiAGES. 149 
 
 "washing, the dry one for polishing the ghiss of the windows 
 and phited work of the wheels, doors, &c. A duster and 
 fine-haired brush will be required for the cushions and 
 lining, whether it be an open or covered carriage. The 
 first movement in the washing of a fine varnished carriage 
 is to move it where sand and dirt will not fly against it, by 
 the splashing of water on the ground or floor. Such a 
 place is provided in city or private stables ■ not so, however, 
 in all livery and country stables ; but where care is one of 
 the elements of a coachman's nature, he will have a round 
 or sparred rack, the full length and breadth of his carriage, 
 constructed out of any kind of spars laid on the ground, 
 upon which the carriage stands till washed. The next 
 movement is to close the windows, put down the curtains, 
 if it be an open carriage, remove the cushions to where 
 they will not get wet, and commence by throwing an abun- 
 dance of cold water all over the carriage, at first on the top, 
 which will also wet the lower parts in its descent. This is 
 important, especially if the vehicle be very muddy, so that 
 no force other than the water will be required to remove 
 it. This being accomplished, the top and panels may 
 then be slightly washed with clear water with the sponge 
 kept for this purpose. Allow the w^ater to drip ofi" whilst 
 the under carriage and wheels are being sponged, and when 
 all are cleanly washed, sponge with their respective 
 sponges, moist, but not wet; after which dry with the wet 
 or damp wash-leather. The carriage may now be opened 
 and the curtains rolled up, the mountings of silver, or 
 
150 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 whatever they may be, polished, the carriage removed to 
 its place, and before it is used again the inside and win- 
 dows should be put in order. 
 
 To keep carriages looking well and free from stains as 
 long as possible, wash them shortly after coming to the 
 stable, if the hour of the night be not too late. If the 
 axles be common, grease with " crown soap," so that the 
 spots or stains will wash off again ; but if the axles are 
 one of the patents, use castor oil, which does not " gum," 
 and can in great part b3 washed off, and moreover, lasts 
 much longer than almost anything else, " Crown" soap 
 is now much used by steam marine engineers, for certain 
 parts of the machinery. Crown soap is simply the Scotch 
 soft-soap, but differs very much both in appearance and 
 material from the American soft-soap. It is made with 
 whale or cod oil and lie of potassa, the oil giving a dark 
 brown color to it, and by the addition of a small proportion 
 of tallow, the solid white granulations of stearate of potassa 
 are formed, giving the appearance of the meat of figs. 
 Soft-soaps made from fats, give a dirty white color or shade. 
 
 The crown soap is largely imported into this country, 
 and is chiefly used in our private stables for harness, sad- 
 dles, bridles and leather, saving the necessity of greasing 
 or oiling, to keep them soft. In addition, we now recom- 
 mend it as a wheel-grease for common axles, which cannot 
 hold grease very long. The manufacturer of soap, who 
 will take hold of it, will no doubt reap a fair remuneration ; 
 for what is bought of it in England for three pence (6 
 
HARNESS. 151 
 
 cents), is sold by our harness-makers, saddlers and seeds- 
 men for one dollar.* 
 
 Harness, its make and material, requires little notice, 
 and our space can be more profitably and usefully occupied. 
 We may remark that it should be fit for the purpose for 
 which it is intended, plain and substantial, either with 
 black mounts, or those of silver plate. The present fashion 
 of Prince's metal mounts, or gold imitation, is not only 
 wanting in good taste, but difficult to keep clean, and if it 
 is not clean, looks like shabby gentility. Rather adopt the 
 old brass mounts, than the glitter which is not gold, and 
 which is a source of annoyance to the stableman in his 
 efforts to cleanse and polish ornaments, and please his 
 employer. 
 
 Specialities in Harness. — Although we hear much 
 of advice and remonstrance from the Societies for the Pre- 
 vention of Cruelty to Animals, and to horses, from the use 
 of the bearing-rein, nothing has been publicly said about 
 
 * Cresylic Soap. — A soap in the manufacture of which carbolic 
 acid is used, and which stablemen will find it to be of the greatest 
 oenefit, in the healing of sores of all kinds. Scratches, chafes from 
 the saddle, collar, or other parts of the harness, mange, ring-worm, 
 flies, fleas, lice and parasites, whether on the horse or dog, will 
 surely be cured by the use of this soap. Its disinfectant properties 
 are so great that its use is almost demanded in the cleansing of 
 stables, harness, brushes and combs, Avhen infectious and conta- 
 gious diseases have been in the stable. Those persons at all 
 acquainted with the properties of carbolic acid, will at once recog- 
 nise the great value of cresylic soap. 
 
152 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 tlie effects arising, whether injurious or otherwise, from 
 the use of the new-fledged contrivance of a bridoon bridle 
 for single or double carriage driving. It cannot be from 
 its harmless use that the silence from such a quarter is to 
 be attributed, but more perhaps from attention not being 
 directed to it. 
 
 This bridle, perhaps, would be of no more injury or 
 inconvenience to the driving or family carriage-horse than 
 the old English bridoon bridle and bit, were it used and 
 applied with the horse in the same way, for certainly it is 
 for the same purposes and with the same end in view. 
 Correctly speaking, it is only part of the harness of the 
 horse's head and mouth. In the mode of use or applica- 
 tion of this contrivance to the mouth, head, and neck of 
 the horse, lies its great objection in our view. Instead of 
 the application or attachments to the bridoon bit in the 
 mouth, being by two ends of a strap, and carried to the 
 middle turret on the harness-saddle, by the old style of 
 bearing-rein, and secured there, this rein is carried from 
 the mouth up the face, forehead, and along the crest of 
 the mane, and is secured as in the old style, to the middle 
 hook or turret of the saddle. 
 
 The objection is not so much to the bridle as to the 
 mode of bearing. Thus the bearing against the lower jaw, 
 as with the ordinary way of bearing-rein, is done away 
 with, and the bit is pulled up with persistent force by a 
 powerful leverage, against the soft muscles and skin of 
 each side of the mouth, to its injury, causing the head to 
 
HARNESS — KICKING-STRAP. 153 
 
 be carried very higli and in an unnatural position. Indeed 
 it is a severe gag in the mouth, possessing all the faults 
 and giving rise to all the evils of the bridoon and bit, with- 
 out any advantages, unless it be the extreme elevation of 
 the head by the fulcrum or crown of the head, over which 
 this contrivance plays. 
 
 To close this notice of a Kemble Jackson bridle without 
 protesting against its use, would be a dereliction of duty 
 to an animal that deserves better treatment at our hands. 
 Happily, however, its use is not general among our horse- 
 men, but is confined chiefly to some livery and sales stables, 
 to create the impression to the simple in such matters, of 
 the extra style and show of an animal designed to be parted 
 with, or sold whenever a price can be obtained — and is one 
 of the means adopted to attract attention of customers by 
 a display of his style and high carriage. 
 
 The Kicking-strap. — This is not the contrivance 
 exhibited to audiences by so called " horse-tamers,^' but 
 a plain strap passing over the loins of the horse when in 
 harness, and buckled to a strap passing round the shafts 
 of the wagon. By its use when so attached, the mere 
 effort to kick by raising the hind parts, elevates the shafts 
 and front part of the wagon, thus keeping the vehicle at 
 all times at good distance from ordinary kicking horses 
 heels. In Europe, the kicking-strap is used on all road 
 horses, instead of the ordinary breeching, looks better, and 
 is less cumbersome. 
 
 FouR-iN-HAND. — However much we admire this drive, 
 
154 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 which is occasionally seen, it does not, as a rule, find favor 
 among our wealthiest citizens, although some have adopted 
 it. There are many styles of these turnouts, and all are 
 more or less elegantly and expensively gotten up. 
 
 Tandem is a style of driving not often seen and not much 
 admired. It is difficult to manage, and our streets are no 
 place for its use. It requires a good macadamized road, very 
 little crowded. The harness for this drive, like the four- 
 in-hand, is a mere duplicate of that on the wheel-horses, the 
 traces and reins and whip being of suitable length, with the 
 addition of a person who knows how to use them. 
 
 Care of Harness. — The harness, like the carriage, 
 requires, when dirty, to be washed with water and dried 
 with wash-leather, and finally blackened with blacking and 
 polished with a brush. 
 
 The following is a valuable receipt for the making of 
 harness paste or blacking : — 
 
 Beeswax 
 Crown soap 
 Ivory black 
 Indigo . 
 Oil of turpentine 
 
 ^ pound. 
 Y pound. 
 
 2 ounces. 
 IJ ounces. 
 
 3 tablespoonfuls. 
 
 Dissolve in a vessel over a slow fire, and stir till the mixture is 
 perfectly cold. 
 
 The above should be all that new or soft harness should 
 get, not only as a polishing agent, but as a softening com- 
 pound. If the harness be very hard and stifi", soften it 
 with the following mixture : — 
 
CARE OF HARNESS. 155 
 
 Linseed oil . . . . . .1 pint. 
 
 Tallow ....... 1 pound. 
 
 Beeswax ...... 1 ounee. 
 
 Eosin ....... 1 ounce. 
 
 Dissolve over a slow fire, and apply warm. 
 
 For fine new and costly harness, at least for the first 
 year, the crown soap already spoken of is all that will be 
 found necessary. The crown soap is not used so much for 
 ivashing the harness as it is for softening and keeping the 
 leather j)liable, and may be applied as follows : The harness 
 being previously cleansed and dry, smear on a little with 
 the hand, as if going through the process of greasing or 
 oiling; after this, come lightly over it with a wet or damp 
 sponge, and dry with the wash-leather. A fine soft 
 appearance, not unlike a piece of dressed kid skin, will be 
 the result. If a polish be required shortly afterward, the 
 harness will have to be thoroughly polished previous to 
 soaping, softening, or greasing, and a polish can immedi- 
 ately be produced, with little labor, by the use of the 
 paste. The mountings of silver are less troublesome 
 to keep in good condition than any other kind, even 
 by soap and water ; but a slight rub with a dry chamois 
 blackened with lampblack and dipped in a little whiting, 
 will be all that can be desired. 
 
 Brass and Prince's or yellow metal mounts are difficult 
 
 to keep clean and free from stains or spots, which can 
 
 hardly be removed by rubbing, if not j)reviously moistened 
 
 by some of the mineral acids. To save labor and make a. 
 
 14 
 
156 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 perfect polish without stains in the metal, the following 
 receipt will be found a very effective and valuable polish- 
 ing liquid : — 
 
 Sulphuric acid , . . . . .1 ounce. 
 
 Cold Avater ...... J pint. 
 
 Tripoli ....... 1 ounce. 
 
 Pour the acid into the Avater in a bowl, till the heat that is gen- 
 erated passes off; then pour it into a bottle and add the tripoli. 
 This will prevent the breaking of the bottle and the loss of the 
 liquid. 
 
 The above mixture was given by us to a few persons, 
 and was used with great effect for the first time in the sum- 
 mer of 1868 at Long Branch. It is next to impossible 
 to keep brass and yellow metal in order at the sea side. 
 
 Saddles are, since the late war. made of various shapes 
 and of different materials, each of which, no doubt, pos- 
 sesses properties of value, peculiar to itself, and as we are 
 not as a people much in favor of scampering on horseback, 
 we will confine ourselves to the case of saddles made in 
 part of the skin of the pig and of other brown leather. 
 Saddles should, like harness and carriages, be washed when 
 dirty, and when not in use covered from the dust and pro- 
 tected from moths. To give a fine dark brown shade to 
 white or brown leather, nothing answers so good a purpose 
 as the watery portion of the blood of the ox, kept in a 
 corked bottle and protected from smelling and decay by a 
 few drops or grains of carbolic acid mixed with it. As a 
 substitute for this, no better is known than the crown soap, 
 
SADDLES — BRIDLES — BITS. 157 
 
 botV. for coloring and keeping the material in good order. 
 As a preventive of the moth in saddles, blankets, &c., a 
 strong solution of carbolic acid should be sprinkled over 
 and amongst them before they are covered up. 
 
 Bridles for riding purposes are made of brown leather^ 
 and are kept and cleaned like the saddle. 
 
 Bits for riding or driving 'are of many patterns and 
 devices, each of which has its distinct name; but as a 
 universal bit for riding and driving, the plain snaffle is the 
 one. Some horses with hard mouths require a curb, and 
 as a matter of safety and taste, when on horseback, a 
 double bit is used, a snaffle and curb, separate or combined. 
 When separate, the curb is called a Pelham bit ; but some 
 prefer a Hanovarian, a bit of greater power and purchase 
 on the mouth of the horse. Those who are familiar with 
 the writings of Baucher of France, will see that he insists 
 that one kind of bit is sufficient for all horses, and inas- 
 much as his choice falls upon a double bit or bit and bri- 
 doon, we cannot but agree with him that the horse that 
 cannot be managed by either snaffle or curb, is not worth 
 having or contending with. Bits are made of polished 
 steel ; but to encourage laziness they are often plated with 
 silver, which soon becomes rusty and shabby. The stable- 
 man that cannot keep a few bits from rusting, is not likely 
 to be a good groom. Bits cost too much money to let 
 them rust because they have been plated. No cover to 
 polished steel can improve its appearance. An old plated 
 steel bit is worthless, but one of clear steel will command 
 
158 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 its value. Bar-sand, soap and a piece of woollen cloth are 
 all that is necessary to clean steel bits and keep them in 
 order. Tasty persons burnish the bits every time they 
 are used. Before putting them aside, it will be necessary, 
 to prevent rust, to have them wiped over with a woollen 
 rag, previously oiled with salad or sweet oil. 
 
 Carriage or family horses, however gentle and kind in 
 temper, disposition, easy of mouth, and management when 
 in harness, should never be trusted without bits, because 
 we see too often the folly of such dependence. We can 
 call to memory the loss of life and destruction of property, 
 arising from such a neglect. 
 
 The single and double harness horse, however gentle he 
 may be, can only be considered safe and manageable in the 
 moment of danger when provided with a curb or bar bit. 
 Circumstances will occasionally arise in which power and 
 promptitude can only save from accident — like the good 
 staunch ship, in strict obedience to its rudder in the storm. 
 However unpleasant the mouth of the horse may feel with 
 a snaffle-bit, there can be no exceptional argument as to its 
 universal safety, under certain conditions ; for no well-fed, 
 spirited horse, when excited, can be controlled by one 
 person, with a plain bit in its mouth. It is this know- 
 ledge, we believe, which gave for the saddle-horse a double 
 bridle, with both snaffle and curb bit, either of which can 
 be used in the moment of danger. The safety-rein in use 
 in some parts of Europe, and used for safety on harness- 
 horses, has the same pui'pose. It is buckled to a curb or 
 
BITS — THE CURB. 159 
 
 powerful bit, while the driving reins arc attached to the 
 rings of a plain snaffle. Thus the '' snaffle-mouthed" horse 
 is driven with pleasure to all concerned, and at the same 
 time safety is fully insured by a gentle reminder, or use of 
 the reins, of the powerful Pelham, Hanoverian, or, it may 
 be the carriage harness curb, or bar bit. 
 
 The bridoon and bit of the family carriage horse answers 
 the same purpose, but their use is a little reversed, as the 
 snaffle is attached to the bearing-rein, and the driving-reins 
 to the curb, by which the horse is guided and driven with 
 safety and pleasure to all. 
 
 The Curb and its use merits a word from us on the 
 same account, because upon its presence or absence, and 
 proper attachment to the bit, depend the control of the 
 horse and safety of the person on or behind him. 
 
 Curbs are made of steel links or chain, and attached to 
 each side of the bit by spring hooks, and when properly 
 adjusted, lie immediately on or behind the chin. The 
 tightness of the chain-curb should be just sufficient to 
 admit a finger between it and the horse's lower jaw. 
 
 Curbs of leather straps are not safe, either in strength 
 or severity, when danger approaches, and should therefore 
 be replaced by the curb-chain. Some riders consider 
 themselves unsafe Avithout a Lip-strap to pass through a 
 ring in the centre of the curb, and attached to each side 
 of the bridle, to prevent the horse from working the bit up 
 between his teeth, and holding it there, in defiance of his 
 14- 
 
160 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 rider. In harness, tlie same contrivance can with equal 
 effect be applied. 
 
 Whatever deference may be paid to a favorite groom or 
 coachman in matters of the stable, allow no change from a 
 curb-bit with chain curb, under any circumstances, " be- 
 cause," as a faithful coachman said to us the other day, 
 '• they may be wanted were they not on." It is the want 
 of a thing that more forcibly and frequently attests its 
 •value, for by its use we are apt to overlook its true worth 
 by its saving influence. 
 
CHAPTER YIL 
 
 VETERINARY SURGEONS. 
 
 Veterinary Nostrums of the Stableman — Fattening — Glossing the 
 Coat — Conditioning Horses. 
 
 Perhaps no interest of the stable is of as mucli import- 
 ance to the owner of horses as the assurance of the services 
 of a sensible veterinarian, not only when sickness or acci- 
 dent occurs, but as an adviser, with a view to the pre- 
 vention of disease and the promotion of a high standard of 
 health in the horse. 
 
 In a year or so it is our intention to retire from the 
 veterinary profession to the quiet shades of a country home, 
 never more to return to active life, unless it be not to assist 
 with our advice immediate neighbors, in the stable, field, 
 or fold. 
 
 We have thus prefaced with the above remarks, in order 
 to show that we have no private ends to serve or prejudice 
 to vent in a review of this important stable adjunct. Our 
 success and profit in practice, together with the advan- 
 tages accrued thereby to patrons, leave for us nothing 
 
 (161) 
 
162 • AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 further to be desired; therefore we can afford to give 
 honest views and truthful expressions as a guide in the 
 selection of a veterinary surgeon. In a country like this, 
 it is therefore to be expected that there are persons of 
 almost every nationality to be found in all our large cities 
 and towns following and practising veterinary medicine and 
 surgery. The success to themselves and satisfaction to 
 their employers we will not individually attempt to trace ', 
 but it is our undoubted conviction, arising from experi- 
 ence and the practice of others, that no school or nation- 
 ality of veterinary science is as perfect as it should be, and 
 its followers therefore partake of the same deficiency, if by 
 intuition the necessity of a good medical education be not 
 seen and acquired in addition thereto. This will be seen 
 without argument, when we find the preponderance in 
 numbers of celebrated veterinarians throughout the world 
 to be M. D.'s in addition to V. S. 
 
 We need not refer to the dashing young student (Cole- 
 man), of Sir Astley Cooper, the great surgeon of England, 
 Percival, the accomplished gentleman and author, and of 
 Professor Gamgee himself, who has in his writings dis- 
 tinctly stated that by a combination of a veterinary and 
 domestic medical education, the most perfect of veterina- 
 rians are produced. Mr. Greaves, a veterinary surgeon of 
 good standing, in Manchester, England, and one of the 
 board of examiners of the students of the Royal College 
 of veterinary surgeons of London, states that many of its 
 graduates do not even know in which leg a horse is lame. 
 
VETERINARY SURGEONS. 163 
 
 This, to our knowledge is not only true of some of tliem 
 in tlieir own country, but of this also, and we know of but 
 few of them who ever brought credit upon their alma 
 mater ^ the profession, or M. R. C. V. S. How is it that 
 their proficiency in theory is so seldom borne out by facts, 
 when laid before our courts of justice and Philadelphia 
 lawyers, in cases of veterinary medical jurisprudence ? 
 
 We would not have placed the blame of almost universal 
 inefficiency to any particular school, were we not exactly 
 informed of it by our distinguished friend and surgeon 
 Professor Samuel D. Gross, M. D., of the Jefferson Medical 
 College of Philadelphia, who in accordance with the 
 expressed wish of the " x\merican Medical Association," 
 as a committee on veterinary colleges in the United States, 
 visited several like institutions in England and France, 
 during his late tour abroad. 
 
 In confirmation, independent of our experience as to the 
 general inefficiency of some of the graduates from this 
 college, we will merely refer to the controversy that arose 
 on contraction of the horse's foot, between Robert Bonner, 
 Esq., of New York, and Veterinary Professor John 
 Gamgee, of London. 
 
 The unsatisfactory result of the special examination as to 
 the cause and nature of the Texan cattle disease certainly 
 adds nothing to its credit. 
 
 The Scotch or Edinburgh graduates who, although fully 
 entitled to the appellation of M. R. C. V. S., by the sign 
 manual of 1858, forming the law of affiliation of all the 
 
164 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 veterinary colleges of the Britisli Islands, absolutely refuse 
 to advipt its title or recognise the St. Pancras or London 
 institution. 
 
 The German veterinarians are mostly followers of Hahne- 
 mann and homoeopathy, and can only give satisfaction to 
 those who believe in its tenets. 
 
 The French are intelligent, and are as a whole good 
 practitioners, a little unnecessarily cruel, perhaps, in some 
 operations, but brilliant in their execution. The want of 
 good knowledge of the English language militates much 
 against them, as it does also against the Grerman and 
 other European continental practitioners, when in this 
 country. 
 
 Of whatever nationality or school, the person to be fully 
 relied upon must, in addition, have a few years' practice 
 and observation before a reliable knowledge can be acquired 
 as to the climate and constitution of American horses and 
 other animals. Persons in the profession without this 
 observation can never be adepts in the art, or give satisfac- 
 tion to their employers, or obtain profit for themselves. 
 
 The American practitioner, whether native or of long 
 residence, is good or indifferent, just in proportion to the 
 acquirements of the national smartness or general intelli- 
 gence. On the whole they are a set of reliable and useful 
 members of society, and are entitled to confidence, being 
 well aware that an active competition would otherwise soon 
 overwhelm and almost extinguish their professional indi- 
 viduality and reputation in the profession. 
 
VETERINARY NOSTRUMS. 165 
 
 The Veterinary Nostrums of the stableman and pro- 
 fessional horseman, are perhaps too extensive and too 
 various to require individual mention. Their use or object 
 being almost entirely conjSned to improving the condition 
 of the horse, but more especially to producing a sleek and 
 glossy coat. Some few stablemen, however, make great 
 pretension to veterinary knowledge, and are too ready to 
 test it on the property of their employers. This should 
 not be allowed, where good and experienced veterinary 
 surgeons can conveniently be obtained. It is poor policy 
 and worse logic ; for according to it, the barber by force of 
 circumstances can take the place of the flxmily physician. 
 
 Without at all referring to the treatment of diseases of 
 horses by the veterinary knowledge acquired in the stable, 
 on the box of the carriage, or back of the horse, we will 
 merely mention the means used by some of them, for the 
 purpose of fattening and smoothing the coats of horses. 
 
 Arsenic. — Arsenic of commerce or white arsenic is by 
 the dealer considered a great favorite in the fattening of 
 horses, and it must, in truth be said, will not when given 
 in moderate doses and continued sufficiently long, fail to 
 please the giver. The dose should not exceed five grains ; 
 we have known much suffering and loss of animal life and 
 property by the use of this drug when purchased according 
 to its money value. 
 
 Horses fed with arsenic are difficult to keep in good con- 
 dition and with a smooth coat of hair, when after a time 
 they are deprived of the drug. 
 
166 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 Antimony, Sulphur and Nitrate of Potassa or 
 Saltpetre in certain proportions is not an American nos- 
 trum^ but of English origin, and is often used by persons 
 in the American stable, not so much for fattening pur- 
 poses as for giving a fine coat, which it will not fail to do. 
 It must, however, be remembered that antimony is a metal 
 difficult of solution, and consequently injurious to the pas- 
 sive organs of the body, such as the liver and kidneys, in 
 which, after death, it can be seen throughout their sub- 
 stance. 
 
 AssAFCETTDA. — This gum-resin is a substance of frequent 
 use for the promotion of the appetite and spirit of the 
 horse, and some, on account of the alliaceous smell, tie a 
 piece of it to the bridle bit to prevent horses from " catch- 
 ing" any disease. It is a good bitter and will promote the 
 appetite, but has no effect as a preventive of sickness. 
 Gentian Root would be a good substitute for assafoetida 
 for the stomach of the horse, when given in half ounce 
 doses. 
 
 Carraway and Coriander Seeds singly, or combined 
 with Fenugreek, are great favorites with many persons for 
 promoting the appetite, but are too costly; and'moreover, 
 better and more economical substitutes can be had. 
 
 Sweet Oil and Mustard Seed are used by some sta- 
 blemen to smooth the coat — one ounce of oil to a teaspoon- 
 ful of the mustard seed. It will here be observed, that the 
 oil is a good fattening material when given to animals in 
 doses not sufficient to move the bowels or disturb the 
 
VETERINARY NOSTRUMS. 167 
 
 stomach, and the seed of mustard would be more effectual, 
 were it ground before being given. 
 
 Of the effects of the above mixture, we cannot speak 
 from experience, but we are fully assured by those in whom 
 we can believe, that it is beneficial. 
 
 Gunpowder and White of Egg are among the pecu- 
 liar and inexplicable improvers of animal tissue, why, we 
 cannot well understand, nevertheless, they are occasionally 
 employed for the purpose of giving spirit and life to horses 
 of easy disposition and not disposed to run off. The effects 
 produced by a few days' administration, we are assured by 
 one who has employed this mixture, to be almost miracu- 
 lous, causing quiet horses to attempt to run away. We 
 do not vouch for the truth of the effects of the above. 
 Those who are curious, can with little trouble and expense 
 test the effects for themselves. 
 
 Willow-Bark Tea. — This is a favorite as well as a 
 harmless substance, when given to horses, mixed in their 
 feed; it imparts good spirits and appearance. The bark is 
 gathered before the young shoots are ripe and the sap of 
 the tree has gone down. Then it is dried in a low-heated 
 oven, or in the sun, and a few ounces of it put into a pot, 
 with a quart of water, and boiled down to a pint. A tum- 
 blerful is poured over the feed once a day, or at night only. 
 
 We do not doubt the efficacy of this as a conditioner and 
 appetizer of the horse, as the willow or osier contains a 
 principle similar in some respects to the valuable and costly 
 quinine. 
 15 
 
168 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 Snake Root — Virginiana AristolocMa Serpen feria. — 
 A great, and perhaps the greatest and most favorite of 
 all the stable bitters for the conditioning and laying of 
 the coats of carriage horses — at least it is so in Philadel- 
 phia. There are few coachmen in this city who have not 
 recourse to its efficacy. The root, after being gathered and 
 dried, is fit for use. A portion of it is placed in an earthen 
 or iron pot or vessel, covered with cold water, and allowed 
 to steep for an indefinite time. The liquor only is used, 
 and poured on and mixed with the evening meal every 
 night, or till the expected improvement, whether of appe- 
 tite or condition, or both, be satisfactory. It certainly does 
 not offer those objections which exist against other articles 
 in use for conditioning horses. 
 
 The above-named articles in use by stablemen and others 
 are, as a rule, given to the horse without the knowledge or 
 consent of the owner, but in the most secret manner. 
 Certainly the owner is seldom if ever appealed to for any- 
 thing for such a purpose, but he may be and is often told 
 that time, &c., will improve the animals of the stable, little 
 suspecting the use or effects of drugs. 
 
 Our substitute for any or all of the above, either 
 harmless or injurious to the horse, is composed of materials 
 indicated by the general condition and constitution of 
 horses, viz., a disposition to anemia or thinness of blood, 
 and consequent want of spirit and fineness of coat or hair. 
 These conditions are best met when the materials for blood 
 making enter the stomach, coupled with those substances 
 
VETERINARY NOSTRUMS. 169 
 
 known to promote digestion and assimilation of tlie food — 
 as follows : — 
 
 Sulphate of iron, powdered . . .2 ounces. 
 Gentian root, " ... 4 ounces. 
 
 Pimento berries, " ... 4 ounces. 
 
 Mix, and divide into twelve powders. Give one in the evening 
 feed two or three times a week. 
 
 It must not be forgotten tliat good sound corn, oats, haj, 
 stabling, bedding, and grooming are all that is required for 
 the health of horses. The effects of colds, coughs, &c., 
 however, should not be neglected, as they have a very great 
 tendency to give rise to watery and weak blood. To over- 
 come this, a few doses of the above mixture will do good, 
 and may be the means of saving a valuable horse. 
 
 To continue further the subject of nostrums, we may 
 state that they are not confined to fattening of horses, but 
 for every species of sores, lameness, &c. We have never 
 heard mention, in all our experience in stables and among 
 horsemen, of anything superior to a trot or heavy blanket 
 that is used to check a " chill" upon a horse. We consider 
 it of more importance than all the nostrums combined ; for 
 the effects of a chill are usually in strict proportion to its 
 severity and duration. To supply a safe and certain 
 remedy as a check to a congestive or other chill, will be to 
 the coachman or horseman a matter of the first importance, 
 when it is remembered that the chill, if not almost imme- 
 diately checked, will the next day, or perhaps sooner, 
 
170 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 result in pleurisy, lung disease, bowel affections, or foun- 
 dering. 
 
 Make a solution of the acetate of ammonia, eight ounces, 
 and give as a drench out of a bottle, and increase the 
 clothing till the chill is checked. It should be given when 
 freshly made. 
 
 Horses are subject to chills in winter after drinking 
 water. To avoid this, fill each bucket and place them in 
 the stable on a sparred rack laid on the floor, so that the 
 water will, before the hour for watering comes around, be 
 of the temperature of the stable, and near that of the body 
 of the horses also. 
 
CHAPTER EIGHTH. 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS. 
 
 Breeding and Training of Horses — Accidents — Sprains — Diseases 
 — Runaway Horses — Pasturing of Colts and young Horses — 
 Clipping — Good Eeed overlooked, but an important agent in im- 
 provement of Breeds of Horses. 
 
 Breeding and Training of Horses. — We would re- 
 spectfully recommend all who are interested in this impor- 
 tant subject, to peruse the work entitled " The Horse 
 in the Stable and the Field." 
 
 Accidents. — In the case of accidents to horses in the 
 stable of whatever character, time should be taken to con- 
 sider the nature of the injury, and determine the best 
 course to pursue, and not to be in haste to have recourse 
 to nostrums, bleeding, blistering, physicking, or starving 
 the suffering animal. Soothe any irritation or agitation 
 under which the horse may suffer; allow free ventilation, 
 and give it all the cold water it may desire. Then, if it be 
 necessary, a good sensible veterinary surgeon may be called 
 in to consult with the owner as to the cause, cure, and pre- 
 vention of the disease in future. Simple bruises, cuts, or 
 sores on the skin may be left to nature, or at most anointed 
 with tincture of myrrh and aloes, and if the sores discharge 
 15^ (171) 
 
172 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 matter, substitute a wash of chloride of zinc, in the propor- 
 tion of four grains to the ounce of soft water to check 
 excessive granulation (proud flesh). In the heat of sum- 
 mer, sores do not as a general thing heal readily. 
 
 Sprains. — The effects of sprains in horses depend on 
 their situation and severity. If a ligament be sprained 
 it will be more readily cured than if the injury involve the 
 articulations of a joint; this not only gives more trouble, 
 but is liable to a recurrence. Sprains of the muscles, liga- 
 ments, or articulations of a joint require for their cure 
 absolute and entire rest, without which little good result 
 will be observed from the best-directed treatment. Let 
 no hot oils, liniments, embrocations, or blisters be applied, 
 till all heat and tenderness have been removed ; after this 
 is fully assured and the foot placed more firmly upon the 
 ground, the following liniment may be applied : — 
 
 Take of Oil of Olives, 
 
 Oil of Turpentine, 
 
 Tincture of Aconite Roots, each two ounces, 
 
 Mix and apply once daily till the skin becomes a little 
 rough or swollen. 
 
 Diseases, — The diseases to which horses are subject 
 are many, and some are peculiar to the American sta- 
 ble. Hence the necessity for the employment of persons 
 familiar with their treatment. We do not wish to treat of 
 the subject in the present volume, as it is fully explained 
 in the work entitled " Diseases in the American Stable, 
 Field, and Farmyard.'' 
 
RUNAWAY HORSES — CLIPPING. 173 
 
 Runaway Horses. — lu some horses this habit merely 
 amounts to an inclination — waiting for an occasion to do 
 so — and should be settled then for ever. The horse should 
 be harnessed with coarse harness and hitched to a strong 
 wagon, taken to a mud road and given every opportunity 
 to run away, but not without a good steady driver as a 
 guide, and to urge the animal to take his satisfaction in 
 full by a thorough run without an effort to stop him. 
 
 Pasturing of Colts and Young Horses. — The ex- 
 perience of many years has taught the author that the 
 present system of pasturing colts and young horses is 
 not only wrong, but positively injurious to them ; espe- 
 cially if they be high-bred animals. How often have 
 we been called to see young thoroughbred colts afflicted 
 with diseases of the bones and joints of the legs — ring-bone 
 and spavin ! Why is this so in animals that have never 
 been worked in any way, and only from one to three years of 
 age ? It is simply because of too much range of pasture, and 
 often the pasturing of too many of them together. Let 
 a half to one acre be strongly fenced for each colt, and there 
 will be no ring-bone among them. The fence for this 
 purpose — or at all events one that answers well — is the 
 dri/ stone wall (laid up without lime or mortar). 
 
 Clipping. — We refer to this subject, not to describe 
 how it is performed, because there are persons who make 
 a business of clipping horses, but to show in what kind of 
 horses it is an advantage, as well as those on whom it 
 has a contrary effect. Horses that are used for long drives 
 
174 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 and have long coats of hair, which a long winter night will 
 not drj, should be clipped for health's sake, if for no other 
 consideration ; this will enable the animal to do the work 
 with greater freedom and less loss of nerve force, as will be 
 seen by his improved condition and spirit. Horses used 
 for shopping, calling, and standing at the doors on the 
 street in cold weather, are better with their coats on, for 
 the removal of it would amount almost to cruelty, 
 
 Good Feeding overlooked, but an important 
 Agent in improvement of Breeds of Horses. — The 
 agriculturist — the tiller of the soil — the producer of grain 
 or vegetable matter, will readily understand when for a 
 simile, we liken the sustenance of animal life to that of 
 plants, inasmuch as both develop stamina in accordance 
 with the materials used or consumed to promote growth and 
 perfection. In poor soil or earth containing little or none 
 of the constituents of the plant, it cannot grow and deve- 
 lop, even though assisted by cultivation and a favorable 
 season, as it otherwise would were it upon soil supplied 
 with or containing all that its nature demands. So it is 
 with horses in growth and perfection of development. 
 What can be expected but a faulty form from the progeny 
 of a starved mare ? This may in a great degree be 
 improved by subsequent generosity, extended both to colt 
 and dam^-to the latter when giving milk, and to the former 
 till a perfect form is attained and the animal has arrived at 
 its maturity. What wisdom or economy is there in stint- 
 ing and starving colts the first years of their existence, and 
 
ADVANTAGES OF GOOD FEEDING. 175 
 
 expecting them not to show it in subsequent life ? To 
 improve more fully the forms and perfection of horses of 
 whatever breed, good and generous diet must be allowed 
 to both sire and dam even before procreation, and to the 
 offspring from the commencement of its existence till a 
 perfect animal is produced or it has attained the age of six 
 years. 
 
 By proper attention to feeding, &c., the law of like pro- 
 ducing like will not only be modified and improved upon, 
 but a good sire and dam will be reflected in a better animal 
 of its kind. 
 
Ground Plun of SlabU of Fairman Rogers, Philaddplda. 
 
 (176) 
 
DESCRIPTION 
 
 OF 
 
 PRIVATE STABLE OF FAIRMAN ROGERS, Esq. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA. 
 
 See Prontispiece. 
 
 This stable is 50 feet by 32 feet 3 inches, and 15 feet 
 high to the under side of the cornice. Under the part 
 where the horses stand there is a cellar 20 X 20, divided 
 into two parts, one for manure, the other for the small 
 greenhouse boiler which heats the harness-room and coach- 
 house, and supplies hot water for the stable. The ceiling 
 of these cellars is of iron beams, with brick arches laid in 
 hydraulic cement, forming a firm floor for the stable. 
 
 The manure cellar does not open into the stable, but by 
 an outside door into the alley in the rear. The other cel- 
 lar is entered from the bottom of the hay-drop. 
 
 The coach-house C H is 30 X 22 with an asphalte 
 floor, afi'ording room for four carriages to stand, besides 
 space to drive in. The floor slopes to a drain over which 
 carriages are washed. 
 
 The harness-room HRisl6X'?'^, and contains glass 
 
 (177) 
 
178 AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 
 
 cases for harness and saddles H C and S C, with bit-case 
 and whip-racks on the other side. The washroom. W R 
 contains wash-basin and water-closet. The passage P from 
 coachhouse to stable, is four feet wide and has its corners 
 rounded off. A closet C for the carriage-brushes, &c., and 
 a hay-drop from above, occupies the space in the turning of 
 the stairs. 
 
 The stable is 30 X 17; it is divided into three loose- 
 boxes, each 12 X 10? and a passage five feet wide. The 
 fronts and divisions of the boxes are all movable. The 
 posts reaching from the floor to the ceiling, and all or any 
 of them can be changed into stalls, thus giving accommo- 
 dations for three, four, five, or six horses at pleasure. The 
 stalls are five feet wide. Each stall has a drain, and each 
 box consequently two, running into a main drain behind 
 the stalls, and thence through a trap into the well in the 
 cellar. The drains are of cast iron covered with movable 
 iron gratings, so that they can easily be cleaned throughout 
 the entire length. 
 
 The waste-pipe of the sink runs into the trap to insure 
 its being always full of water and not of urine. The floor 
 of these boxes is made of oak strips with asphalte run be- 
 tween them. 
 
 The racks and mangers are of iron, and movable, so as 
 to suit both boxes and stalls and to admit of their being 
 cleaned and painted. The sink S is furnished with hot 
 and cold water, and in a kind of niche with a closet for 
 stable-brushes, &c., over it. 
 
AMERICAN STABLE GUIDE. 179 
 
 The stable is ventilated by fresh air coming in through 
 flues in the south wall and by a movable fan-light over the 
 door, and the foul air is taken out by ventilator Y close to 
 the floor and by a large opening at the ceiling, both open- 
 ing into the central ventilating shaft, which is warmed by 
 the waste heat from the tank of the boiler. There is almost a 
 total absence of stable smell, except when the weather is so 
 cold that less air than usual can be admitted. The oats come 
 down in wooden pipes in the back of the saddle-case open- 
 ing into the stable. Under the stairs is a closet for buck- 
 ets, brooms, and hose. 
 
 The first floor is 11 feet high in the clear, which with 
 1 foot for the joists leaves 3 feet for the height of second 
 story at the sides. It is 9 feet in the clear under the ridge- 
 pole, giving ample space for hay, straw, and feed, with a 
 comfortable coachman's dressing-room, without adding 
 much to the apparent height of the stable from the outside. 
 A large hay-door, made like a dormer window, opens on to 
 the back street. The large sliding coach-house doors open 
 on to the end of a twenty foot street which runs straight out 
 from them. 
 
 The building has thirteen-inch brick walls, and is lined 
 and finished throughout with yellow pine varnished, there 
 being no plastering. 
 
 16 
 
INDEX 
 
 Accidents, 171. 
 
 Advantages of good feeding, 174. 
 Agricultural steam boiler, 106, 107. 
 Airing the stables, 108. 
 Analysis of corn, 80. 
 
 of oats, 81. 
 Anemia, 168. 
 Antimony, 166. 
 
 Application of cold water, 136. 
 Arsenic, 165. 
 Assafoetida, 166. 
 Axles, 144. 
 
 Collings patent, 144. 
 
 Bale-posts, 27. 
 
 Bandages, 126. 
 
 Bark, tan, 138. 
 
 Barley, 87. 
 
 Bar-sand, 138. 
 
 Beauty of carriages, 142. 
 
 Bedding, 137. 
 
 Biting, 139. 
 
 Bits, 157, 159. 
 
 Blacking, harness, 150, 151. 
 
 Blanketing horses, 121. 
 
 Blankets, tearing the, 141. 
 
 straightening the, 110. 
 Boiler, agricultural, 106, 107. 
 Boxes, loose, 28. 
 Bran, 103. 
 Brass mounts, 155. 
 Breaking loose in the stall, 141. 
 Breeding, 171. 
 Bridle, English bridoon, 152, 159. 
 
 Kemble Jackson, 153. 
 
 Bridles, 157. 
 
 Bridoon bridle, 152, 159. 
 
 Brood-mare, food for, 73. 
 
 Care of carriages, 148. 
 
 horses' feet, 130. 
 Carraway seed, 166. 
 Carriage-house, 40. 
 Carriages, 142. 
 
 beauty of, 142. 
 
 lightness, strength, and weak- 
 ness of, 142. 
 
 axles, 144. 
 
 Collings patent axles, 144. 
 
 springs, 145. 
 
 shackles, 147. 
 
 care of, 148. 
 
 cleansing of, 148. 
 
 crown soap, 150. 
 
 cresylic soap, 151. 
 Carrots, 89. 
 Catch-pit, 24. 
 Chain, curb, 155. 
 Chemistry of food, 66. 
 Chill, remedy for, 169. 
 City railway car stables, 58. 
 City stables, walls of, 18. 
 Clean, vicious to, 141. 
 Cleansing the stable, 108, 111, 117, 
 118. 
 
 carriages, 148. 
 Clipping, 173. 
 Clover hay, 99. 
 Club-stable, 44. 
 
 regulations of, 45. 
 
 (181) 
 
182 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Cold water, application of, 132. 
 Colts, pasturing of, 173. 
 Cooley's lock hasp, 65. 
 Coriander seed, 166. 
 Corn, 79, 83. 
 
 a heat-producing feed, 69. 
 
 analysis of, 80. 
 Corn-meal and bran, 84. 
 Cresylic soap, 151. 
 Cribbing, 140. 
 
 prevention of, 140. 
 Crown soap, 150. 
 Curb-bit, 159, 155. 
 Curb-chain, 155. 
 Cutter, hay and straw, 102. 
 
 "Dandy brush," 115. 
 Doors of stables, 19. 
 fastenings of, 20 
 "Dexter's" feed, 70. 
 Diseases of horses, 172. 
 Drainage of stables, 23. 
 Draught horses, 85. 
 Dressing, or grooming, 113, 115, 
 
 116. 
 Dry-hard hoofs, 131. 
 
 Egg, white of, 167. 
 Exercise, 118. 
 
 Fairman Rogers's stable, 177. 
 
 Farm stable, 61. 
 
 Fastenings to doors of stables, 20. 
 
 Feed, "Dexter's," 70. 
 
 Feed for brood mares, 73. 
 
 mules, 74. 
 
 old horses, 73. 
 
 stallions, 74. 
 
 spavined horses, 73. 
 
 railway horses, 71. 
 Feeding, regularity in, 109. 
 Feet, care of, 130. 
 Floors of stables, 22. 
 Food, chemistry of, 66 
 Foot properly prepared for the 
 shoe (illustration), 133. 
 
 Forest leaves for bedding, 138. 
 Four-in-band, 153. 
 
 Gentleman's stable, 17. 
 
 Good feeding, advantages of, 174. 
 
 Grass, 92. 
 
 for bedding, 137. 
 Grooming, 113, 115, 116. 
 Gunpowder as a medicine, 167. 
 Gutter, iron surface, 24. 
 
 Hanoverian bit, 159 
 Harness, 151. 
 
 specialities in, 151. 
 
 care of, 154, 155. 
 
 paste and blacking, 154, 155. 
 Harness-room, 42. 
 Hay, 96, 99, 102. 
 Hay and straw cutter, 102. 
 Hay loft, 19. 
 
 Heat-producing feed, corn a, 69. 
 Horse feed, weight per bushel of 
 
 articles of, 105. 
 Horses, runaway, 173. 
 
 "led," 119. 
 
 poor man's, 72. 
 
 blanketing, 121. 
 
 diseases of, 172, 
 
 draught, 85. 
 
 number of in United States, 
 11. 
 
 prices of, 1.3-15. 
 
 shoeing, 132. 
 
 spavined, feed for, 73. 
 
 young, pasturing of, 173. 
 Horses' feet, care of, 130. 
 Hoofs, dry-bard, 131. 
 House for carriage, 40. 
 
 Implements in private stables, 114. 
 Iron surface gutter, 24. 
 
 Keeper of livery stable, 53. 
 Kemble Jackson bridle, 153. 
 Kicking, 138. 
 Kicking-strap, 153. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 183 
 
 Leaves, forest, as bedding, 138. 
 "Led" horse, 119. 
 Lighting of stables, 36. 
 Lightness, strength and weakness 
 
 of carriages, 142. 
 Liniment for sprains, 172. 
 Lip-strap, 159. 
 Liquid, polishing, 156. 
 Livery stable, 50. 
 keeper of, 53. 
 Lock hasp, Cooley's, 65. 
 Loft, hay, 19. 
 Loose-boxes, 28. 
 Loose, breaking, 141. 
 
 Mangers, 26. 
 Mare, brood, feed for, 73. 
 Meadow grass for bedding, 138. 
 Medicine, gunpowder as a, 167. 
 Mounts, brass, 155. 
 
 Prince's or yellow metal, 155. 
 Mules, feed for, 74. 
 Mustard seed, 166. 
 
 Natural grass for bedding, 138. 
 Nostrums, substitute for, 168. 
 Number of horses in the United 
 States, 11. 
 
 Oats, 75. 
 
 analysis of, 81. 
 Oat-straw, 138. 
 Oil, sweet, 166. 
 Old horses, feed for, 73. 
 
 Paste, harness, 154, 155. 
 Pasturing colts and young horses, 
 
 173. 
 Pelham bit, 159. 
 Phillips's stable, 41. 
 Polishing liquid, 156. 
 Poor man's horse, 72. 
 Prevention of cribbing, 140. 
 Prices of horses, 13-15. 
 Prince'a-metal mounts, 155. 
 Private stables, implements in, 
 
 114. 
 
 16* 
 
 Quantity and quality of food, 72. 
 
 Racing stable, 54. 
 
 plan of, 55. 
 Racks, 26. 
 
 Railroad horses, feed of, 71. 
 Railroad stables, 58. 
 Regularity in feeding, 109. 
 Regulations of club stable, 45. 
 Rein, safety, 158. 
 Remedy for chill, 169. 
 Rogers's (Fairman) stable, 177. 
 Rolling in the stable, 140. 
 Room for harness, 42. 
 Root, snake, 168. 
 Runaway horses, 173. 
 Rye, 89. 
 Rye straw, 137. 
 
 Saddles, 156. 
 
 Safety-rein, 158. 
 
 Salt-marsh grass for bedding, 138. 
 
 Sand, bar, 138. 
 
 Saw-dust for bedding, 138, 
 
 Seed, carraway, 166. 
 
 coriander, 166 
 
 mustard, 166. 
 Shackles, 147. 
 Shaft, ventilating, 33. 
 Shoeing horses, 132. 
 Shying in the stable, 135. 
 Sleeping-room for stableman, 39. 
 Snaflfle-bit, 157. 
 Snake root, 168. 
 Spavined horses, feed for, 73. 
 Specialities in harness, 151. 
 Sprains, 172. 
 
 liniment for, 172. 
 Springs of carriages, 145. 
 Stable, farm, 61. 
 
 club, 44. 
 
 gentleman's, 17. 
 
 Fairman Rogers's, 177. 
 
 Phillips's, 41. 
 
 livery, 50. 
 
 racing, 54. 
 
 work, 108. 
 
184 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Stable vices, 138. 
 
 Stableman, sleeping-room for, 39. 
 
 Stables, doors of, 19. 
 
 windows of, 20. 
 
 fastenings to doors of, 20. 
 
 blinds to windows of, 21. 
 
 floors of, 22. 
 
 drainage of, 23. 
 
 ventilation of, 32-37, 109. 
 
 lighting of,- 36. 
 
 temperature of, 37-39. 
 
 city, walls of, 18. 
 
 cleaning, 108. 
 
 airing, 109. 
 
 city railway car, 58. 
 
 variety of, 43. 
 Stallion, feed for, 74. 
 Stall-posts, 27. 
 Stalls, 25. 
 Steam boiler, agricultural, 106, 
 
 107. 
 Straightening the blankets, 110. 
 Strap, kicking, 153. 
 
 lip, 159. 
 Straw cutter, 102. 
 Straw, oat, 138. 
 Substitute for nostrums, 168. 
 Sweet oil, 166. 
 
 Tan bark, 138 
 Tandem, 154. 
 Tea, willow-bark, 167. 
 
 Tearing the blankets, l4l. 
 
 " Telegraph" hay and straw cutter, 
 
 102. 
 Temperature of stables, 37-39. 
 Timothy hay, 96. 
 Training, 171. 
 Treatment after work, 135. 
 Turnips, 89. 
 Tying, 128. 
 
 Variety of stables, 43. 
 Ventilating shaft, 33. 
 Ventilation of stables, 32-37, 109. 
 Veterinary nostrums, 165. 
 
 surgeons, 161. 
 Vices, stable, 138. 
 Vicious to clean, 141. 
 
 Walls of city stables, 18. 
 Water-brush, 110. 
 Water, cold, application of, 136. 
 Watering horses, 74, 111. 
 Weight per bushel of articles of 
 
 horse feed, 105. 
 White of egg, 167. 
 Willow-bark tea, 167. 
 AVindows of stables, 20. 
 
 blinds for, 21. 
 Work, treatment after, 135. 
 
 Yellow-metal mounts, 155. 
 Young horses, pasturing of, 173. 
 
 THE END. 
 
¥^tebster Family Library of Veterinaiy MedldRg 
 
 Ciimmings School of Veterinary Medicine s^ 
 
 Tufts University 
 
 200 Westboro Road 
 
 Morth Grafton. MA OfiSm