Stable Management and the Prevention of Disease Among Horses in India (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: Gharas Under Floors. A most detestable practice carried on by saises in some private stables is that of burying a large earthen vessel called a ghara in the floor under the place where each horse stands. This was formerly done in certain native cavalry stables, and I heard of at least one instance where the vessels were found in the lines of a British cavalry regiment. The object of so burying them is to form receptacles for the urine, and they are left undisturbed and uncleansed for months, or even years. When dug up they are invariably found full of putrid urine, the soil all round being saturated with it to a depth of two or three feet. Ground Ventilation. Ground ventilation is rarely properly provided for, although it is of great importance in all stables with walls. Its advantages are that it ensures a supply of pure air for the horse to breathe when lying down, and that it causes vapours or gases rising from the urine and dung to be at once carried off One or more holes, about a foot square, should be made in the corners of the wall opposite the doorway, and a few inches above the level of the ground outside, so that rainwater may not enter through them. Each hole should be guarded by a wooden frame containing iron bars, or a plate of zinc perforated with holes about half an inch in diameter, so as to keep out jackals, dogs, and other animals. In very cold weather it is easy to protect the horses from draughts by placing some loose bedding against the hole, and thus breaking the force of the wind. To Prevent Eobbeky Of Grain. As some saises are in the habit of stealing the grain, many people have their horses brought to the veranda of the bungalow at each meal-time to be fed before them. It is, however, quite as good a plan to allow the horse sufficient food, ...