[When exposed to an average temperature of 60 to 65 degrees, to keep up a healthy animal heat, the horse expires every twenty-fours, 97 1/8 ounces of carbon. The food which he eats supplies this carbon, and the oxygen which is respired in the atmosphere, is its consumer. The union of these two, carbon and oxygen, produces heat, and this is all we know of it. The colder the atmosphere the more oxygen it contains; it follows, therefore, that the lower the temperature to which animals are exposed, the greater the consumption of carbon in their respiration, and the greater the amount of food necessary to supply that carbon: and this is the reason why a horse in a warm stable fats faster, or is kept in better condition with the same amount of food than in a cold stable. A warmer atmosphere, or warmer clothing, as stated by Liebig, is merely an equivalent for a certain amount of food. The warming of stables is unnecessary except for the racer or trotter when in training, and the hunter and stagecoach horse at full work.

For horses engaged in the ordinary work of the farm or the road, they are extremely pernicious; for the moment they are exposed to a raw wind, or to standing in the open air, they are liable to take cold, when inflammation of the lungs, founder, and other diseases, are pretty certain to follow. We are persuaded that roomy, well-ventilated stables, of nearly the same temperature within as the atmosphere is without, are decidedly the most healthy for the horse; and that he will do more ordinary work during the winter thus lodged, than if kept in a heated atmosphere, and be a hardier and longer-lived animal. If the cold weather makes his hair a little longer, or his coat somewhat the rougher, this is of no consequence, when by it we secure greater hardihood, constitution, and endurance Our rule is to feed horses well; keep them dry and clean; use them fairly within their powers : walk them cool after being heated; then take them to their stable, and properly clothe them if the weather requires it.

When well-bred, thus treated, horses may attain an average working life of twenty-five years.]