CHAPTER IX.. Stables As They Should Be.

STABLES AS THEY SHOULD BE.

When considering this subject, the writer is freed from all restraints. He has to describe things which exist only in his own imagination; not to depict any object which has been embodied as a reality, or which has been fancied by another individual. The author, however, will endeavor to picture such an edifice as in some of its modifications any one, keeping a horse, should possess ability to erect.

To some persons the following description may appear so grand as to border on the ridiculous. Compared with existing buildings, the author’s proposal, no doubt, must seem to be of unnecessary dimensions. But a question of this nature is decided, not by what it seems but by that which it actually is. Is any provision hereafter made, that health does not demand? If the place is large, so are the animals which are to be harbored within its walls. What is unnecessary, or where is the article which is useless? As to the accommodation being too ample, what would a Saxon king of Britain say, could he be resuscitated and made to behold the palaces which her present Majesty possesses? Nay, what would a workman who had existed during the reign of “glorious old Harry” exclaim, could he contemplate the accommodations which surround his descendants of the modern time?

Stables, as they now exist, are tainted with all the evils of antiquity. Improvement has changed the homes of the people, and has even amended the prison of the caged songster; but it has entirely skipped over the jail of the horse. The place and the people about it smack of a time when corruption was the rule and filthiness was a fashion. The question therefore to be considered is, not what stables are, but what they should be. What the animal requires to maintain it in its beauty, in its health, and in its usefulness, is that which we now wish to ascertain. All the world has witnessed how much the quadruped can endure, when the master cares not for its comfort, is careless about its health, and does not study the requirements of its nature.

Bricks and mortar, however expensive such articles may be, are about the most economical purchases which the horse owner can invest his cash in. It is folly to pay large sums for thew and muscle, when the place in which such properties are to be lodged will destroy the health and undermine the strength that are imperative to their preservation. One or two deaths in a prime stud may cost more dearly than would the largest of the proposed buildings.

The money which shall be expended upon the improved stable must not be viewed as cash sunk in an unremunerative object, but as a sum invested in that which will immediately yield an exorbitant interest. It will decrease the veterinary surgeon’s bill; it will conserve the health and prolong the usefulness of the horse; it will put the animal in better heart, and will enable the proprietor to dispense with those repeated purchases which now occasion the horse owner to stare at every fresh steed he chances to meet, and to inquire “if it be for sale?”

When we wish to raise any erection, we should, before we begin to plan, thoroughly comprehend the purposes which the new edifice is to serve. A stable is not the home of a horse, in the same sense that a house is the home of a human being. The animal has not one room for day and another for night. It cannot retire; it must remain in its compartment; and it becomes the author’s duty to point out what is imperative to render the limited space a healthful abode.

In the first place, everything like a stall must be abolished--the uses of such abominations being supplied by loose boxes. Each box is to be eighteen feet square; of these there are to be six, ranged in pairs; three upon either side of the interior. Every box shall be rendered dry and sweet by six deep gutters, three on either side; and all emptying into a central branch drain, which discharges its contents into a main drain, running through the length of the entire building.

The gutters commence eighteen inches from the side divisions of the boxes; the first is situated three feet from the external wall. Six feet divides the first from the second gutter; the same space separates the second from the third gutter, which is removed only three feet from the central partition.

The flooring or pavement between the gutters is arranged in gentle undulations, like the walks in a gentleman’s garden. It is raised three inches higher in the center of each division than where its borders terminate in the gutter. The two pieces of pavement at either end of the box begin at the elevation of three inches, and sink to the level of the lowest surface as they approach the gutter. Thus every portion of the pavement will incline one in twelve, a fall of fully sufficient magnitude to allow of the speedy disappearance of fluid, which is always ejected with force and in quantity. The gutters all terminate in “stink traps,” which give admission into the branch drains; these last, as well as the main drain, consisting of circular earthen pipes.

The undulations of the pavement not only facilitate the speedy removal of fluid, and thus tend to keep in a state of purity the atmosphere within the building, but the surface presents every variety of standing ground to the choice of the quadruped. The animal, by this arrangement, can select an upward slope, a downward incline, or a level plane, whereon to rest the feet; an ability of appropriation which intelligence will not be slow to comprehend or tardy to appreciate.

1 1. The Dutch clinkers. 2 2. The prepared ground on which the gutters and the pavement repose. 3. The semicircular earthenware gutter along which the fluid flows, covered by the loose iron grating. ]

Each gutter should be two inches wide and two inches deep. They ought to commence at the depth of a Dutch clinker from the surface, and be covered by a perforated loose iron grating, the holes in which are a quarter of an inch wide, one inch long, and the last distance asunder. Thus should the horse, when down, lie over one of these gutters, the body cannot then repose on a good conductor of heat.

The gratings are not flat, but incline on every side toward the openings. This pattern was selected, because the author has beheld flat bars eaten into by the acridity of the fluid, and retaining liquid that yielded an abominable stench. Neither are these coverings fixed into their situations. They are merely laid upon the sides of the earthen gutters, which are three inches wide at the openings; the iron can afford to dispense with other fastening than its own weight supplies. Should the channel which the grating guards ever become clogged, then the easy lift of the metal-work will allow the gutter to be cleansed.

Supposed to be seen on the line =D E=, in the plan of drains to be shortly introduced.]

Supposed to be viewed on the line =E F=, which is marked on the plan of drains.]

The openings, which are ample to permit the escape of all liquid, are purposely made small, because rats and other vermin too frequently enter stables by the drains. It is by no means unusual for such pests, where they are numerous, to attack and gnaw the hoofs of living animals. The horn is without sensation; therefore it can be gradually removed without the horse being at all inconvenienced; but, assuredly, the proprietor will be vexed at a destruction which necessitates the quadruped should be idle until nature has repaired the loss of substance.

The branch drains, which commence at twenty inches from the surface, can be only entered through a stink trap; that article also opposes an obstacle to the free passage of vermin. All these branches terminate in the main drain, which, where the tube begins, is situated thirty-four inches within the soil, and, as it proceeds, has a fall of about one foot in fifteen feet.

Neither the pipes, the gutter, nor the clinkers are placed within or rest upon unprepared soil. Such may be the usual plan after which most stables are now built; for the drainage of these places does not generally extend beneath the surface. The pavement of the contemplated stable, however, is to be raised two feet above the level of the ground on which it is erected. For the entire space which the structure will occupy, the soil is, in the first instance, to be removed to the depth of one foot. After the foundations have been properly laid, the walls are then to be raised till they are built up two feet above the natural level of the surrounding surface.

A layer of large flints or of coarse brick rubbish is then to be thrown in; this layer is to be two feet six inches in thickness. Within this, the main and the branch drains are to be arranged, though the principal drain will also have, toward its termination, to be sunk into the earth. The remaining six inches is to be filled in with coarse sand; upon this the gutters are to commence.

The gutters are two inches deep. They all originate at five inches from the upper surface of the clinkers. The shallowest has a fall of fifteen inches, but others have a much greater inclination, as all empty into the branch drains which communicate with the main drain. This last, sinking deeper as it proceeds, quits the building at a depth of six feet six inches from the exterior of the sand within the walls of the stable.

The contemplated structure will be thus thrice drained. First, there will be the deep tubular main and branch drains; next, there is the sand and brick rubbish; while, lastly, there is the surface drainage effected by the grated gutters. So much pains have been consciously bestowed upon the dryness of the building, because nothing will, in the end, prove more detrimental to the horse than confinement in a damp abode. Not only does perfect drainage conserve the health of the equine inhabitants, but it likewise tends to preserve the bricks, the mortar, and the expensive fittings that should adorn every stable.

=S= indicates the position of a trap door, which leads to the coal-cellar under the gig-house.

The dotted line, connecting the two letters =D E=, represents the situation of the supposed section of drains, previously introduced.

The dotted line, indicated by the letters =E F=, points to the supposed situation of the cross section of drains, which has likewise been exhibited. ]

According to the supposed view, which forms the frontispiece to the present volume, there is a free but covered space, twelve feet wide, extending all round the building. The soil of this free space, covered ride or ambulatory, should also have been removed, and subsequently have been filled up, after the plan already described, as necessary for the interior of the stables. It need not, however, be paved with clinkers, as sand forms a better ground for a horse to exercise upon than can possibly be made with the hardest of known bricks.

The roof, having sheltered the ride, terminates immediately over a metal gutter. This gutter communicates with five pipes upon the western and upon the eastern sides, with two pipes upon the southern, and with three upon the northern aspects of the building.

The roofing of the ambulatory is upheld by thirty-one posts, each twelve feet high, and the same distance apart. Between every two of these posts, on all sides of the stable save the front, are placed smaller uprights, which reach only to six feet. By these smaller posts are supported one end of three movable bales on either side, the opposite extremities of the bales resting against the larger posts; each bale being six feet long, and reaching from the small uprights to the main supports. The first bale is one foot from the ground; while the others are at equal distances, and so placed as to leave four inches of clear pole to project above the highest rail.

The pipes leading from the metallic gutter are fastened to the pillars and empty into a drain, which encircles the building and receives the water from the roof; it also conveys away that which is used in washing the carriages, or for general purposes. This is carried to any convenient pond, while the liquid manure of the stable is, by the tubular pipes, conveyed into a tank situated at least twenty yards from the principal building.

Drainage of the entire roof is thus assured, and the dryness of the ambulatory in all weathers is rendered a certainty. No large stable can approximate to its requirements, in which a covered ride is not provided. It is, however, by no means uncommon to behold grooms trotting the animals on which they are seated, and which the servant is supposed to be taking out for the morning exercise; but if a horse is to be mounted and put to its paces by the man as well as by the master, it necessarily follows that the quadruped must perform double duty, or endure excessive wear.

Many grooms habitually do more than merely ride. These men are, generally, excited when in the saddle, and removed from all chance of supervision. Some of these individuals delight in antics. Most stable attendants love to display the spirit of the quadrupeds they wait upon; and all of lively dispositions, when their companions in service are looking on, naturally strive to convert duty into a pleasure. The horse is his own for the time, the animal being then entirely subject to the servant’s authority, and he being far away from all that might control his actions.

An anecdote will, perhaps, best illustrate the above observations. A medical gentleman, established in the north of England, possessed a handsome bay gelding, for which he had recently given a heavy price. Soon after the groom professed to have brought the quadruped into working condition, the doctor began to use the animal for his afternoon exercise. He was fond of a particular road; but he could not persuade his horse to pass a certain low, roadside tavern. At the door of this place the quadruped would always stand still. Punishment was of no further use than to make the animal, much to its master’s disgust, leave the door and bolt into the yard.

There was nothing, then, to be done but to turn the creature’s head homeward. No sooner did the quadruped’s face point in this direction, than the steed began to exhibit a speed which seemed to say the doctor was riding on affair of life or death. The gelding, in consequence of the disgust which its strange proceedings had awakened, was shortly afterward sold at “an awful sacrifice;” nor does the medical gentleman, to this hour, comprehend the reason of his dumb servant’s eccentric behavior.

The public house was famous as the resort of grooms. Here, “early purl” was prepared in perfection; while, at later hours, nothing could excel either the “neat liquors” or the “dog’s nose” which the tavern provided. The horse was accustomed to stand before the door; or, during those days when the doctor might walk abroad, the animal was concealed within the yard. Intelligence had learned its lesson, and its owner, being a timid rider, wanted the resolution necessary to force his slave to receive and to obey a new instruction.

The foregoing anecdote should also enforce the wisdom of masters making some further acquaintance with their living property than simply to know it for its uses. There are, however, a numerous class to whom anecdotes are not illustrations, but nothing more than amusing stories, easily invented and readily embellished. With these people, nevertheless, seeing is believing. The writer, accordingly, with all humility, invites his readers to peep down some of the many dealers’ yards, which they must pass during a morning’s walk through the streets of London.

One side of such a place is always thickly littered with straw, and securely roofed in. Slowly riding up and down this covered way may be beheld a mounted groom, who is leading another horse. Now, horse dealers are not deficient in knowingness, and many of them have, during former years, been in service themselves. Therefore, most of the class are well acquainted with the secrets of domestics; and they never trust a steed to be exercised where some of the family may not overlook the groom. “Oh, yes, they do!” the reader may exclaim; “for I have often remarked ‘breaks’ being driven through the highways of the metropolis.” Perfectly true! Such articles are to be met with in the middle or the after-part of the day, propelled by high-actioned and well-matched horses. A little inspection will show the reins are in the possession of no ordinary groom. The master or the foreman guides the quadrupeds which are then being shown to the public, and are not simply raw purchases receiving exercise.

Dealers always exercise the horses at home; the windows of the house invariably face the ride. Every London inhabitant may not be able to command a covered way opposite his drawing-room windows; but he may prevent his servant from playing tricks with his animals, by ordering the man, when out exercising the creatures, to pass the family residence at stated periods. By such an arrangement, some of those strange accidents, which occasionally spoil the proprietor’s breakfast, and which are ever reported to him as having been done by the horse in the night, might be prevented. While the owner, by claiming a right of supervision, would also instruct his servant that the quadrupeds the servant is engaged to attend upon are not absolutely given up to his pleasure.

The proprietor will, however, gain much by never permitting his animals to be exercised off the premises. This can only be done in the country, or where an ambulatory surrounds the stable. Under a sheltering roof all weathers are immaterial; the owner can easily ascertain whether his commands are shirked or fulfilled. A sick or a lame horse can be led about upon such a spot; for the soil, consisting of sand, and being always kept properly watered, is cool and soft to the feet, as well as free from dust; while a machine called a “tell-tale” will in some measure announce the time which the quadruped may be kept walking; it will also bear testimony as to the rate at which the man travels. These things, when supervision is impossible, are now left entirely to the groom; whereas a “tell-tale,” fixed at any part of the building, will render the rate of exercise cognizable to an absent master.

Exercise should never, save in illness, be given at a less pace than four miles an hour; the horses, while it is administered, should always be clothed more lightly than when standing still within the stable. It is fashionable for a groom to exercise a horse in full body-clothes: such a custom seems like tempting cough and cold, to which the quadruped, in this climate, is too much disposed. It must feel the change when its owner rides forth upon its unclothed body, and must suffer severely, should the master not return to the stable till the sun is down. Any active man should with perfect ease walk four miles in an hour; but such a rate is quick enough to oblige the animal to proceed at a gentle trot, which should not provoke perspiration, but will be sufficient exertion to promote a healthy glow of the skin.

Each groom, when on the ambulatory, should walk between two horses, holding a rein in either hand. Should one of the animals show signs of excitement, he is to leave the quiet one behind to the care of any person who may be at hand, and to run once or twice round the building with the spirited steed. Such a manœuvre is all that is necessary to quiet those creatures which, on first quitting the boxes, may skip or prance about.

When returned to the stable, the horse does not enter solitary confinement. Its loose box is eighteen feet square, and is inclosed by a fence seven feet high. Only four feet of this partition is composed of close inch and a half boarding. At that height, a stout rail, having its edges rounded, is fixed upon the topmost edge of the wood-work. From this rail spring round iron bars, placed three inches asunder, and having the higher extremity inserted into another rail, which is also rounded.

Since the author, many years ago, first thought of an open trevise, he is happy to see the idea has been generally adopted. Too many of the parties who embrace the notion, however, make it secondary to ornamentation, and compel the simple intention to assume the shape of scroll work or of an elaborated pattern. The object is to permit the prisoners to see and to communicate one with another. Both of these purposes are better attained by a straight iron bar than by a fanciful decoration, which last, moreover, must be further objectionable on the score of expense.

All needful security would be well assured by an inclosure which, unlike the common trevise, would allow the quadruped to see its companions, and to exchange those recognitions which must lighten the tedium of captivity. Nor can the writer comprehend why such simple pleasures should be denied to these gentle creatures, which most men imprison more closely than carnivorous ferocities are commonly confined. The prevention of certain deadly diseases might apply to the stables of an inn; but such occurrences have no right to be regarded as probabilities when a gentleman’s establishment has to be considered.

The bars forming the upper portion of the divisions are not so close nor so bulky but the interspaces will allow the horses, after the Australian mode of cementing friendships, “to rub noses,” or to exchange large draughts of fragrant breath with their fellow captives. Such innocent familiarities will often lead to lasting friendships, from the establishment of which the proprietor will reap an advantage. Quadrupeds perform much more gayly when harnessed with a companion that they love; and should the owner be, at any time, pressed for room, one or two additional spare boxes can always be commanded by allowing equine friends to enjoy the same compartment.

Supposed to be taken where the dotted line =A B= is situated upon the ground plan.]

There is, however, running throughout society, a strange prejudice against permitting any communication between the inhabitants of the stable. Such a dislike cannot be justified by appealing to nature, as horses, when free to exercise a choice, always congregate in herds. Neither is it warranted by universal custom. In cavalry stables, the quadrupeds are merely separated by bales, or by poles suspended at either extremity by chains, and hanging between the animals. The habit also does not gain any support from consistency of conduct; since the gentleman who shall shudder at the possibility of any communion in his stable, will, nevertheless, allow numerous equine creatures to assemble together, and leave them without check, when he turns his stud into the field to be “freshened up” by a “run at grass.”

The boxes have each a distinct entrance. The doors are fixed in the wall, and open upon the ambulatory. Each entrance is nine feet high and six feet six inches wide, all sharp edges and projecting iron-work, as hinges, latches, locks, etc., being strictly forbidden. Such things often injure animals while in the act of passing through these openings, and should never be permitted to project in any well-managed establishment.

The folding doors are divided into two parts, though not absolutely in the center, since the lower portion extends only four feet from the ground. The upper part can be thrown wide, without releasing the quadruped. The ventilation is thereby rendered far purer, while the captive is indulged with a more animated view than the walls of the interior can afford. The quadrupeds will protrude their heads through such spaces, and remain in that position for successive hours, looking the pictures of mild contentment, and contemplating liberty, which a generous nature appears to have relinquished almost without regret. A simple creature may here in shade enjoy the summer breeze, as it blows aside the forelock; for if man is, by his position, forced to confine the steed, he is not compelled to aggravate the sufferings which necessarily attend the condition of captivity.

The doorway, being of those dimensions which have been already described, should afford all necessary security, especially when the groom adopts the proper method of conducting an animal through the ample space.

No possible accident should impress the memory of the captive with the notion that doors and anguish are associated one with the other. The habit of the animal, being accustomed to advance the head through the upper space, would, moreover, be of some service in dispelling all idea of pain, should the impression have been received prior to the horse coming into the possession of its present owner. The sight also of the man, to whom the affectionate creature may be attached, would, moreover, attract the notice and inspire the confidence of timidity.

The lower division of the door should, on fine nights, after dusk, be opened, that the prisoner may stretch its limbs and bathe its hoof in the evening dew. So the grass is kept sufficiently short, not to afford more than a nibble, no harm, but much good, will arise from sanctioning so innocent a luxury as a stroll in the free air. The eye of the horse fits the creature to roam by night; and man should, by this time, have suffered enough to cause a doubt as to the wisdom of crossing nature in her many wonderful provisions for the welfare of her children.

Such a suggestion may startle the prejudices which are inherent in the proprietors of most training stables. These places are, however, chiefly situated on the open downs, where ground is cheap, and the herbage scarcely affords a bite for the close-feeding sheep. Half an acre of such land could, without much expense, be attached to each box. On to this the flock might be turned by day; but so much liberty could be afforded the equine captive during the night. The racer being reared for speed, it is surely wrong to cramp its limbs by too stringent a confinement!

Something also is attained, beneficial to other parties than the quadrupeds, by having the doors of the boxes to open on the ambulatory. The necessity for mounting many animals within the stables would thereby be avoided; while the groom, upon rainy days, need not exert a dangerous haste, for fear of wetting his best livery. Hurry is never a safe emotion, when exhibited within the stable. The inhabitants, when they behold their attendant looking vexed, see him move quickly, and hear him speak loudly, from such signs infer danger; or timidity flushes with a certainty of his displeasure. It is the fault of the present race of stable-men, that they regard the horse as a senseless thing; whereas the dumb are always the observant, and, generally, are very sympathetic. They draw conclusions from scenes and acts which it may be beyond their stretch of reason to accurately comprehend. Being liable to misconstrue, the less they see of exciting spectacles the better.

Within the loose box there is no rack for hay, to strain the horses’ necks, and shake seeds into their eyes, which must be open to direct the teeth. The ordinary manger is also absent. The horse does not sit to eat, nor can it lift the food to the mouth; but naturally it lowers the head to its gratification, and thus has no need to be accommodated with exalted fixtures. As it can with ease feed off the ground, why should man, in the nineteenth century, persist in forcing the animal, which he domesticates, to forego the habits which nature has engrafted on existence?

No rope fastens an animal directly under the opening to a dirty hay-loft. No puffs of cold wind, therefore, can blow upon the quadruped through such an aperture, which is not a loss, for horses are very susceptible to colds, which modern stables are ingeniously arranged to encourage. Like all life, when hotly and impurely inclosed, the steeds become morbidly delicate: the pampered daughters of the wealthy cannot, possibly, be more vulnerable to evil influences than are those equine slaves, whose service demands a body vigorous with health, strong and able to encounter all the seasons in their vicissitudes.

There are, within the building, three small compartments, placed against the outer wall of each box, and resting upon the ground. Two are situated on one side of the entrance, the third stands by itself in the opposite corner. All project eighteen inches from the wall, and two are eighteen inches high. One compartment is used for water, and is raised two feet, being, as regards length, of the same dimensions. One is intended to hold prepared food--this is three feet long; while that meant to receive the occasional allowance of grass extends one foot beyond the last dimension. The bottoms of the food receptacles are both raised six inches from the level of the stable; an arrangement which hopes to anticipate any strain upon the muscles of the neck, should the animal be more than usually compact in its developments.

Certain horse proprietors are loud in their commendations of cut food, which they assert can be eaten quickly, and, therefore, allows so much longer a period for resting the body. Stable condiments also are advertised as fattening and appetizing adjuncts. To both propositions the author must object. The body’s rest depends not upon the quickness with which the contents of the manger can be swallowed, but upon the ease with which they can be digested, after sustenance has entered the stomach. The last function is not facilitated by the provender being bolted; nor does it at all depend on the shortness of the period in which a certain quantity of victuals can be put out of sight. As to those stimulants which are supposed to increase the appetite and to favor the accumulation of fat, carters having, for ages, been condemned because they resorted to such nostrums, it is difficult to understand the reason why these things are patronized, when openly compounded, puffed, and sold by advertising tradesmen.

a. The movable or sliding shutter, which, by a slanting surface made within the substance of the wall, leads to the corn trough that is situated on the ground.

b. The sliding shutter let into the wall, the lower compartment of which alone admits of an upward motion.

c. The corn trough and slanting surface, guarded by the shutter, as seen from above. ]

The capacity for rest, moreover, depends upon the constitutional necessities of the body which is to enjoy it. The horse is a creature of activity. It sleeps lightly, and is fitted to eat its food as it walks. The quadruped requires little rest. To force those conditions, necessary for the repose of weary existence, upon wakeful life, such as silence, solitude, and darkness, is merely to increase the severity of that imprisonment which every English animal is born to undergo. It is torture, and betrays only the ignorance of those by whom such cruelty is practiced.

The receptacle for the prepared food can, by means of a sliding aperture inserted into the wall, be filled from without: thus the necessity for a groom entering the compartment of a restless or ravenous quadruped, whenever the animal is fed, may be avoided. Contention between the man and a voracious horse can be, by this arrangement, rendered an impossibility; and it is a great point in the conduct of a stable to keep the attendants in good humor. Ignorant servants, when enraged, are too much disposed to vent their bad temper upon any inferior over which they may be invested with authority.

Moreover, a great deal of the excitement generally displayed by particular animals, where every prisoner can witness the distribution of the food to the rest, is, by the above plan, entirely abolished; and every observant stable attendant well knows how greatly quietude favors a speedy attainment of, as well as tends to, the preservation of condition. By means of the box and the sliding shutter, the food may be served to all almost as rapidly as a man can walk. The provender is first divided into portions, and these are put into open boxes, which are placed upon a barrow. One of these boxes the man empties through each shoot, and then, having washed out the utensil at the pump under the covered way, returns it to the provender house. This last plan, however, entails some trouble; therefore only in exceptional cases should it be adopted.

As to the supply of liquid, some arrangement is also needed: the bottom of the water trough is level with the surrounding pavement. The supply pipe is commanded by a tap, and all the receptacles can be simultaneously filled by means of the tube that rises above the superior margin of the trough. Below the earth is a conduit, which conveys away the superabundant liquid. Into this tube or drain two smaller pipes empty, both of which arise from the interior of the receptacle. The smallest pipe reaches almost to the topmost edge of the compartment, and is simply intended to prevent the possibility of an overflow. The other and the larger tube is inserted into the bottom of the trough, and the removal of a plug, which commands the entrance, permits the contents of the trough to flow through this pipe into the larger conduit below, which empties its contents into the main tubular drain. By turning on the supply, which is derived from a cistern to be hereafter mentioned, and by also opening the waste pipes, all the troughs can at any time be quickly cleansed.

The cistern is situated in the boiler-house, and is elevated several feet above the level of the stable. The boiler-house adjoins the boxes, and from the raised cistern springs the supply pipe, which is carried under ground through the stables. Water, however, will always rise to its own level; this property convinces us that the troughs will be speedily filled whenever the taps are turned. The taps by which the flow is commanded are both placed in the first box, and by this arrangement the animal can receive fresh water four times daily, without fluid being carried to the horse. The contents of the customary pails are too frequently spilt by careless grooms. The horse naturally thrives best in a dry abode. Besides, the drink, as in nature, is always before the creature; for if presented only at stated periods, the draught may be offered when desire does not require liquids; or it may be withheld when thirst is so powerful as to engender a disinclination for solid nourishment. Moreover, servants are not always attentive to their monotonous duties; and the animal, in consequence, may be denied a necessary supply of fluid.

The water troughs are, moreover, recommended by further reasons. Horses are blest with acute senses; and everybody must have observed the animal blow upon, or rather smell, fluid before it partakes of the refreshment which it needs. The stable pails generally stand about; such things are exceedingly handy; and we need not be surprised if they are occasionally used for other than for cleanly purposes. The troughs, being fixed, are secured to one service; the pipes emptying into the receptacles prevent the purity of the supply from being tampered with. The above advantages are also associated with the ascertained fact that the horse, with water constantly before it, drinks less than the animal to which the pail is brought only after hours of enforced abstinence have generated a raging thirst.

The roof of the proposed stable should be of the ordinary description, or should slope from a central ridge toward the outer walls. The central compartment is eighteen feet from the walls; it is twenty-two feet from the level of the interior; and its margins rest upon walls which are raised twelve feet high.

H. A trap door in the roof of the ambulatory, which leads to the entrance of the loft above the sheltered ground.]

A plan of the contemplated roof is presented to the notice of the reader, who will perceive it consists of two parts. The larger portion is gabled at each extremity, and has a span of thirty-six feet. The smaller, or surrounding division, merely protects the covered ride or ambulatory. Where the two inclines meet, are hollows, which are technically spoken of as “valleys.” The water within these valleys is conveyed away by means of four large pipes, two on either side, which are let into the outer wall; while the rain, which flows down the outer incline of the smaller division, drains into a metallic gutter, whence it is carried away by fifteen smaller pipes.

Over the center of the larger division of the roof is placed a ventilator. It commences twenty-one feet from the northern extremity of the building, and it extends, on either side, six feet from the center. It is thirty feet long, and its sides are four feet high. The sides are composed of four-feet louvre boards, which, being set in working frames, can, by means of lines which reach to the ground, be opened or closed as the increased temperature calls for air or the cold demands protection.

The ventilator is roofed with six-ounce glass, which is of more than a sufficient stoutness to resist any tempest that occurs in this climate. The central ridge of the ventilator rises twenty-eight feet from the pavement; and it is laterally supported by the boarded sides which have already been described. The roof of this part of the edifice also serves the purposes of windows, admitting light to the interior.

Should any person feel disposed to complain of the probable cost likely to attend this last provision, let such person remember that the first outlay, in this particular, is likely to be the last. The material is, moreover, cheaper than it formerly was; while its elevation removes it from all reasonable chance of breakage. The rain will wash the outer portion, while the position of the interior surface will prevent the accumulation of much soil; consequently the glass will be spared all those accidents which too frequently disturb the peace of housekeepers during the cleansing of ordinary windows.

The glass is designedly placed upon the roof, as when stable windows occupy the usual situations, they are generally suffered to be in so foul a condition as almost to counteract the purpose of their institution. Some of the panes are commonly broken; and where the glass is absent, its place is rudely supplied by rags or by paper, while the window-ledge is crowded with those articles which it is desired should be ready to the hand, or which it is wished to store snugly away.

When a stable is without windows, the dark house encourages a lazy servant. The architect’s neglect also teaches the man a want of regard for that cleanliness which is essential to the well-being of the horse. With such a place, the absence of care soon becomes an unavoidable necessity, which the cunning of ignorance will not be slow to perceive, and to act upon, as being a justification of idleness. Nothing either in or about the stable should be sanctioned which would not accord with the cleanliness of a home or with the sweetness of a dairy. No dust should be suffered to accumulate in holes or on beams; while the animals are taking their early exercise, the flooring ought to be thoroughly washed down every morning, and the wood-work should be scrubbed once every week.

A stable, to be the abode of health, cannot command too much air, nor can it possibly admit too much light. The interior, however, should not be whitewashed in accordance with the general fashion. This glaring absence of color may, at first, look excessively clean, but it also exposes the smallest neglect of purity, which cannot always be present where animals are lodged. The cheapness of the wash may be its recommendation with those who are very studious of economy; but, in the end, it proves a dear substitute for a better covering, as a white surface causes that strain upon the optic nerve which renders blindness a common malady among the inhabitants of snowy regions.

Let the roof and walls be colored with a green which is made by mixing blue and yellow together. The light will, by the green tint, be partially absorbed, while the eye of the captive will be soothed by gazing upon the hue which constitutes the livery of nature. The pigment should not be purchased, for though the color which may be bought will be probably brighter than any made at home, excessive brightness is, in the present case, no advantage, and the more brilliant compound is dangerous, because it may consist of arsenic combined with copper. Or should a brighter color be very much desired, such can now be obtained, which is uncontaminated with any preparation of arsenic: though, probably, at a greater expense than that which is easily made by mixing together damp blue and powdered yellow ocher with size and water.

The roof is slated; but as this species of covering is always very hot in summer and equally cold in winter, the temperature of the interior will, in some measure, be less liable to such variations if the spaces between the joists are filled with solid plaster. Over the last material laths are nailed; and the surface is then to be thinly ceiled. The laths should, however, be of a stouter kind than those which are generally employed; the reason of their introduction is to anticipate the possibility of heavy lumps of plaster falling, and either injuring or frightening the horses.

The reader will now accompany the author to the back of the imaginary stable, which faces the north, and is divided from the last loose box by a stout wall.

The northern extremity is of the same width as the other parts of the building; it extends twelve feet beyond the last loose box. Its interior is divided into three rooms, each twelve feet square, and all separated by brick walls. Entrance to these apartments is gained through three doors, the upper parts of which, being glazed, will also serve the purposes of windows.

The center division is sacred to the harness: it is kept warm by means which will be hereafter described. The trappings of the horse are too perishable and too costly to be housed within the stable. Damp, dust, and ammoniacal fumes are all injurious to this expensive article. Damp cannot but be present in the abode of animal life; the breath, insensible perspiration, evaporation from the water troughs, washing of the pavement, hoofs, etc. are the common sources of the supply. The dust is occasioned by the spreading of the litter, the movement of the grooms and of the animals, as well as by many causes of motion, which can never occur without sending the finer particles of decaying matter flying from the various substances which are strewn about. Ammoniacal fumes are also generated by the decomposition of the equine excretions; however carefully the interior may be drained, or however pure the atmosphere may seem to human sense, this gas must more or less exist in every stable. Such taints, besides damaging the substances, also necessitate extra cleansing; though moderate attention is preservative in its nature, anything approaching to excessive labor not only destroys the fresh aspect of the harness, but is provocative of its speedy annihilation.

Within the harness-room all the clothes (after being dried and aired) are to be placed, and in this apartment every piece of harness (subsequent to being cleansed) should be stored; it is there hung upon appropriate fixtures and kept ready for instant use, being protected by thick curtains, which are made to fall over and to cover the several pieces.

On the left of the spectator, looking toward the building, is another room, which acts the part of a hay-loft. Within twelve feet square is stored all the provender and the litter immediately required for the horses. The space may appear somewhat limited for the supply of six horses; but enough for present use can be housed, and grooms are not rendered careful by the contemplation of anything like a superabundance. It is the filthy custom, now prevalent, to keep the food of a cleanly animal in a loft immediately above the stalls in which the horses are confined. Thus the store-house is commonly located in the situation which is the most directly exposed to the volatile or the heated emanations of the stable. Nor is this the only source of contamination. The groom’s living and sleeping apartment opens by a door, which is not generally shut, and immediately leads to the equine pantry.

The author dare not further pursue this topic. The fancy of the reader, guided by the above facts, can readily picture everything that could be written about the fitness of provender thus housed, for promoting the health of a creature remarkable for the niceness of its habits, the acuteness of its senses, and the delicacy of its tastes. It may be forced to consume, and may, at length, morbidly “grow fond of that it feeds upon;” but such food cannot otherwise than undermine the health which sustenance should promote.

On the opposite side to the harness-room is another compartment, which is used as a tool-house. There are various items employed about a stable which commonly litter the space inhabited by the horses,--such as brooms, mops, forks, pails, combs, brushes, leathers, bandages, etc. Everything occasionally used, or daily employed, either on the animals or for the vehicles, is deposited in the tool-house. For such articles as come under the denomination of lumber, and are not of any present or probable utility, another place is provided, which will be shortly alluded to.

By thus allotting a store for everything, and encouraging habits of regularity, a considerable sum is saved, while the comfort of the grooms is provided for by every article being, at all times, to be readily found. By ordering all appliances to be carried back when no longer in use, nothing is left about the stable to litter the place, or be damaged by the animals.

Stable implements, in the hands of an irate groom, have proved terrible weapons of offense. A horse has been stabbed with a fork; a blow given with the edge of a pail has inflicted a fearful gash. The formation of the cranium in most existing stable attendants should suggest the prudence of not allowing temptation to be too convenient to such individuals when they become excited.

Having inspected the northern extremity, the reader will now be kind enough to move, in imagination, to the front of the erection. Before this can be seen, the sides and northern end of the ambulatory, or covered ride, will have been observed; in the front view, the intermediate posts and rails, which elsewhere define the path, are absent. The floor of the ambulatory being raised on all sides two feet above the surface, from the level of the front there extends, for twenty feet, a sloping pavement, which gradually reaches the surrounding ground. This arrangement is fully illustrated in the frontispiece to the present volume.

The stable, notwithstanding the last provision, is not supposed to be placed on a marsh, within a hollow, or even upon a decided level; but, when a choice is possible, it should be located upon the brow of a hill. It is there favorably situated for the dryness of the interior as well as for the action of the drains.

Having defined the position of the building, the author will now consider the last engraving, which was an imaginary front view of the supposititious building. This portion of the erection stands before the loose boxes, and, like the back, is also divided into three compartments. It is separated from the stables by a stout wall, consequently there is to the interior no entrance by this direction.

The corner space to the left of the spectator, who is supposed to stand in front of the edifice, consists of one room, which is plastered, ceiled, and boarded--the dimensions being by breadth twelve, by depth eighteen feet. The entrance is guarded by a pair of well-made and closely-fitting folding doors. The interior is meant to serve as a double coach-house. The place is made as comfortable and is kept as free from drafts as its uses will permit.

PLAN OF THE COAL-CELLAR, WHICH IS IMMEDIATELY UNDER THE GIG-HOUSE. ]

At the opposite corner exists a similar but smaller apartment. It possesses doors like the first; also, it is similarly provided with such things as ceiling, plaster, and boards, which are not customarily to be seen in these places. The room is as wide as the coach-house, but reaches back only ten feet; it is meant to serve as a gig-house. Beneath the flooring is the coal-cellar, and which is gained by a trap door cut in the floor of the present apartment. Close to this trap an entrance is pierced in the parting wall; and upon the last door being opened, as well as the trap being raised, a direct descent is formed, leading immediately to the cellar.

Between the gig and the coach-house there must exist a clear space, eighteen feet deep, twelve feet wide, and of the last extent in height, when measured from its roof to the pavement, which is level with the ambulatory. The covering to this ground being flat and less lofty than the slates of the building, is proof that a clear space must exist above it. The place itself, however, contains nothing that can tempt cupidity. It is evidently a sheltered ground, where the carriage may be got ready, the harness may be cleaned, or any job be executed which might soil other portions of the interior. Such a spot is handy for many purposes, and serves as a loitering chamber for those idle gossips who delight in hanging about large stables.

Against the wall of this last locality, and near to its right-hand corner, is a projecting block of brick-work, which measures three feet by two and a half feet. It is evidently neither useful nor ornamental; therefore the reader rightly conjectures it merely indicates the presence of a chimney. Close to the chimney, but nearer to the entrance, is fixed a pump. From a plug, ready to be inserted into the muzzle, and from a pipe running some feet up the wall, which it ultimately pierces, evidently the pump is occasionally used to force water into a hidden receptacle situated above the surrounding level. In the left-hand corner of this clear space is built a convenience for the stable servants, which should be kept as clean as any other part of the edifice.

Looking once more at the front of the stable, we perceive there is a clock above the sheltered ground, while immediately under the clock something resembling the top of a door can be discerned. The roof of the ambulatory has also a trap let into it, which must be situated directly beneath this door. The trap being raised, and the door opened, by means of a ladder, which should hang upon the outer side of the ambulatory, admittance is gained into the clock-loft: by this means the works of the time-piece can be regulated; while the remaining space affords ample accommodation for storing, and also offers a spot where are housed those articles which are of no immediate utility.

Between the gig-house and one of the first loose boxes there is a space of eight feet by twelve feet. This forms a room which has two entrances: one is by a door pierced through the wall of the gig-house; the other is by a door, the upper part of which is glazed, and which opens from the ambulatory. Leading to the floor of the apartment are placed before each door two steps, the pavement of this room being two feet lower than any other level in the building. The ceiling, however, is ten feet removed from the floor.

In the farthest corner, raised against the northern wall of the compartment, is situated a self-acting and slow-consuming boiler. The fire faces toward the door, and the chimney has already been alluded to as built out on to the covered ground. Commencing in the farther corner, at the opposite extremity to that occupied by the door leading to the gig-house, is a staircase, which obviously conducts to an upper apartment.

The oblong space above the loose boxes, which is indicated by dotted lines, denotes the size of the central ventilator.]

Above the boiler, and removed but one foot from the ceiling, is a cistern, which occupies the entire length of the wall, or extends for twelve feet: it is four feet high and three feet wide. The situation of the cistern explains the use of the forcing pipe, which leads upward from the pump and supplies the cistern as has been noticed. From this reservoir the boiler is replenished, and the water troughs are kept perpetually filled. The pipe leading to the stable quits the cistern at eighteen inches from the bottom; consequently the horses will want fluid, while the cistern holds a supply sufficient to last some time when only used to fill the boiler. This arrangement involves a necessary artifice. Pumping is hard work, and grooms are not famed for a love of mechanical labor; but these men are always clamorous at any stint within their dominions. They will grumble loudly if the horses lack water, and persecute their fellow, whose turn it may be to pump, until the defect is remedied; whereas the boiler might become red hot, and an explosion threaten to demolish the building, without one of these people being moved by the likelihood of such a catastrophe.

From the boiler proceed pipes which travel into the loose boxes, into the harness-room, into the coach-house, and into the gig-house. Within these tubes circulates warm water, the fluid being returned again to the boiler when its caloric has been diffused through the interior. Few persons imagine how important warmth is to the welfare of the horse. Cold immediately roughens the coat, and if not speedily counteracted, stiffens the limbs or depresses the spirit. Were gentlemen willing to maintain the temperature of their stables, that lengthy coat, which nature now sends as a needed protection, would not be produced: the follies and the barbarities of clipping and singeing might then be abolished. The animal which is properly lodged can alone attain the limit of possible perfection.

Impure heat generates damp: the moisture derived from such a source, being finely divided, is far more penetrating, far more destructive, and altogether more noxious, than a similar amount of water could prove. It destroys clothing, encourages moths, dims plated and painted ornaments, rusts steel, soils varnish, rots wood and leather,--in short, there is nothing within the stable but suffers more or less; while in the animal, colds, coughs, and influenzas are but the intimations of its presence, the full effects being shown by the breaking forth of farcy and of glanders. Better be without horse and stable, than to be possessed of both, and be forced to lodge the quadruped where cold and damp prevail.

Few gentlemen care about, or probably no gentleman has ever seriously thought about, the coach-house being aired. Yet persons tenderly brought up, nursed in luxury, and frequently in delicate health, have the carriage kept near to a close stable, or housed in a building sadly exposed to the moist atmosphere of this northern climate. The vehicle is pulled out of such a place, is hastily made to wear an outward smartness, and is then whisked to the front door of the mansion. Ladies, habited in the thinnest of evening dresses, leave their warm apartments and subject their exposed beauties to the chilling effects which must necessarily be present in vehicles so carelessly sheltered. Here, after the bustle of preparation, they remain inactive for some period. They are set down at a fashionable hotel, and return thence in the same conveyance. The next day they naturally complain of a cold, supposed to have been caught at the party of last night!

People when seated within a carriage, the windows being up, may esteem themselves protected from the night air; but they would be safer walking through frost or rain than traveling inactive within such a receptacle. Consumption is far more prevalent among carriage folk than it is common among races which are supposed to exist in spheres liable to all the ills of life. Poverty has to encounter many perils, and is obliged to endure many privations; but it is not exposed to those snares which the ignorance of wealth has invented for its own destruction.

Perhaps, in this country, of many classes, the richer are most troubled with colds, with coughs, and with diseases of the air-passages. Good living, no labor, and careful nursing may enable them to linger on to a good old age; but comparatively few know the blessings of a vigorous being after the fiftieth year has passed. Warm rooms, a study of the weather, and ample envelopes prolong the life; but such things cannot restore the health. Gout, paralysis, epilepsy, with numerous brain disorders, are not common in agricultural districts, where carriages are scarce. Bronchitis and laryngitis are almost the property of the wealthy. Yet many men have paid pleasing compliments to the aristocracy concerning their longevity; but no one has hitherto traced the cause which bows the youthful scion to an early grave, and makes a valetudinarian of the noble who should be still enjoying a vigorous middle life. Invention has been racked to keep the feet warm when within the vehicle; but it seems not to have occurred to those numerous parties whose office it is to minister to the luxuries of the rich, that the interior of a carriage might be benefited by a secure lodging, or by its being thoroughly aired. Such conveyances, for hours, during the most rainy nights, crowd about the doors of fashionable mansions, the woolen lining or the cotton covering of the interior imbibing the malaria which resides in the heavy midnight atmosphere of most large towns. Women, in the tenderest dawn of approaching maturity, and flushed with the pleasure of the dance, enter these seemingly-sheltered receptacles, where, lulled by the motion, they soon fall asleep. Activity is changed for instantaneous stagnation; the bustle of amusement for the stillness of repose; the heated room for the cold interior of a damp carriage; and, during the drive home, every pore of the body being open, need we feel surprised should the seeds of any lurking evil be kindled into activity?

It is better to be without a carriage than to command one of the ordinary description; one that is seldom employed, or that is kept in a moist shed. All which comfort requires might be attained, were damp excluded from the coach-house, and were this portion of the building warmed with the same means as keeps up the temperature of the stable. To prove how readily and how cheaply this might be accomplished, the warm water pipes which enter the boxes and the harness-room also penetrate the coach-houses--all being supplied by a furnace which is denominated “slow-consuming.”

These boilers are of modern invention, and do not require constant attendance. They occupy comparatively little space; and as they burn coke, of course they are maintained in operation at small expense. An advertisement informs the author they can always be seen in operation at No. 155 Cheapside, being denominated “Riddle’s Slow Combustion Boilers.” They are merely proposed to the reader as the most recent improvement of which the author is apprised.

T indicates the position of the trap, which allows of entrance to the interior of the cistern. ]

Supposed to be drawn where the letters C D point to a line which runs across the ground plan.]

Having enlarged upon the advantages to be secured by the existence of a boiler, the reader must next accompany the author up the stairs which lead from the boiler-house to the room above. Close to the northern wall, near to the center of its space, is seen an ample trap door. Recollection assures us it is situated immediately over the cistern; its evident use is to permit the reservoir to be cleansed of the deposit which most kinds of water will soon leave behind. Additional room is secured for this small apartment by the insertion of a large dormer, or garret window, which allows the ceiling to be even with the highest rafter of the roof. There is also another and a smaller window, that enables the person looking through it to command a perfect view of the stable.

Connected with this apartment is a bell, which sounds in an adjacent cottage, where the grooms reside. Should assistance be required, the bell, being gently touched once, intimates that the help of one groom is necessary. A violent ring indicates the need of all haste. Two sounds announce that two grooms are wanted. Thus the number of men is always told by the number of sounds; and the occasion for quickness is suggested by the violence with which the wire is moved. A number of loud sounds, rapidly succeeding one another, is a signal to come immediately, and to bring such extra assistance as can be readily procured.

Another advantage is secured by a man being awake, and upon the premises. The present necessity for cramming the entire quantity of food down the animal by a particular hour is thereby avoided. The natural habits of the horse can be attended to, the animal not being left twelve long hours alone and without employment. The five feeds might be better distributed if given at six in the morning, twelve in the day, five in the afternoon, ten at night, and two o’clock on the following morning. If this plan of feeding were tried and the fodder properly prepared before being placed in the manger, the animal would enjoy its provision more, and fewer complaints would be heard about the fastidious appetite of a creature whose natural propensities are, by present customs, openly violated.

The night watcher of a stable has more serious duties to perform than most people associate with a comfortable, although a humble room. The groom, having finished the day’s work, ascends to the apartment, and remains there until his fellows return on the following morning, or unless some business occasions him to quit it. There are light, fire, table, chair, couch, and rugs provided. The man is not forbidden to sleep; but while he rests, the window which overlooks the stable should remain open, so that any noise within the boxes may disturb his repose. The watcher is expected to wear his clothes through the night, so that should an accident, at any time, require his aid, he may always be prepared to afford assistance; or should any horse be returned, after the other grooms have left for the night, he may be ready to receive, to dress, and to feed the animal.

The architectural designs which embellish this part were drawn by the author’s brother, Mr. Julius Mayhew, who, under the inventor’s direction, will be happy to employ his talent in erecting the supposed stable for any gentleman intending to follow out the plans which have been exhibited.