The compartments used for the residence of horses in a stable, are either loose boxes or stalls; the presumption being that each animal has a place to itself. In a stall, a horse is constantly tied up; in a loose box, he is supposed to be free, except on special occasions, as for instance, when he is being groomed.

Fig. 25. One Door to Two Loose Boxes.

The chief conditions which regulate the form, size and construction of these compartments are : -

1. Comfort And Safety Of The Horses

In the interests of horses, I strongly advise the use, when practicable, of loose boxes in preference to that of stalls; because the former, owing to the increased liberty they afford, are more comfortable and more healthy for horses than the latter, and are free from the dangers connected with tying-up and leaving open the entrance of the compartment. In a stall, a horse is obliged to accept a constrained position which must be more or less irksome to him, and which renders him liable to "filled legs," thrush, and other ailments, especially of the hind limbs, from want of exercise, and from not being able to change the position of the feet with sufficient facility. The presence of the tying-up chain or rope, whether single or double, is not only a source of discomfort to a horse, especially when he is lying down, and of danger to him by his getting a foreleg over the chain or rope, but it is also an inducement to cribbing. Besides, a horse is apt, particularly when he hangs back in his stall, to inflict injury on his neighbour or neighbours or to get kicked by them, in the event of there being an occupied stall on one or both sides of him, to say nothing of the risk of his kicking a confiding passer-by. Severe accidents from being kicked by a neighbour, and from getting a leg over a tying-up chain or rope, are by no means unfrequent.

Stalls which are separated by swinging bails, have the special disadvantage that horses in them are apt to hurt themselves by getting over the bails, and to injure their neighbours by kicking sideways.

2. Economy Of Space

At first glance we might think that if a stall was big enough for a horse to be tied up in, it would be sufficiently large for him to be left loose in. We must, however, bear in mind that as the side divisions of a box which has another box or stall alongside of it, must be high enough to prevent the horse putting his head over them; he will be unable in such circumstances to turn round in as narrow a space as he could do in a stall of similar width, over the side divisions of which he could place his head and a portion of his neck. A horse in a box as narrow as an ordinary-stall, might easily hurt himself by trying to turn quickly round. Also, a horse during the night when lying down in a stall, generally utilises a portion of the gangway to stretch himself out, at a time when that passage is not in frequent use. The economy in space is much greater with swinging bail stalls than with ordinary stalls.

3. Economy Of Labour

Even if a loose box, supposing, of course, that the horse was allowed to be loose in it, was only the same size as a stall (instead of being usually about double the size), it would require more labour to keep in order; because a loose horse will disarrange or "mess about" ("morter" as they say in Leicestershire) his bedding, will dirty himself and his clothing more than in a stall, and will give trouble by distributing his dung and urine more or less impartially about his box, instead of depositing them in one place and in a convenient position for removal, as the animal would do, were he tied up. It is evident that swinging bail stalls are easier to clean out than even ordinary ones. The only circumstance that would justify a master in consulting the comfort of his groom in preference to that of his horses, is the fact of the servant having more animals than he can attend to. Although this saving clause might apply to a man who, like a cab proprietor, has to make his livelihood out of his horses, it can have no reference to the owner of "pleasure horses." So great is the disfavour with which the large majority of grooms regard the beneficial practice of giving horses freedom to move about and to assume a comfortable position in which to lie down, that, except in training stables almost all the horses which are given in England the supposed luxury of a loose box, are tied up for a considerable portion of the day, and, in many cases, even during the night. This custom is particularly cruel when applied to hard-worked horses, like hunters during the season; for the instinct of the horse prompts him to seek repose in the middle of the day.

4. Economy Of Material

It is self-evident that in the construction of swinging bail stalls, a minimum of material is required, and that boxes demand more material than ordinary stalls.

5. Facilities Of Ventilation

The balance here is somewhat in favour of stalls; for although in the same space they would have more divisions, these partitions would not be so high as those of boxes, and their entrance would be open. Swinging bail stalls evidently offer less obstruction to ventilation than any other kind of compartment.

To sum up, we may say that all valuable horses and all horses kept for pleasure should have boxes; and that swinging bail stalls should be used only when rigid economy in space and money has to be practised, and when facilities for ventilation are narrowly limited.