"OPEN-AIR TREATMENT" FOR ANIMALS.
[To THE EDITOR OP THE "SPECTATDR."]
SIR,—My experience, now extending back some twenty years, of horse breeding in Ireland entirely bears out what you my (Spectator, October 31st) as to the value of open air for animals. My brood mares are never housed, summer or winter, day or night, and they certainly bring healthier and hardier stock than when I used to house them at night during the winter. The foals are housed at night during their first winter, as their• coats are soft and woolly and seem to soak the rain more than the hair of older animals, but after that never enter a house till they are finally brought in and trained, and even then the windows and outer doors of their stables are never shut, which seems to answer, as I am thankful to say colds are almost unknown in my stable. Also, if you remember, when the celebrated Orme,' sire of 'Flying Fox,' &c., &c., went temporarily mad, the late Duke of Westminster had him turned out into a paddock with only an open shed in it, with the result that he very soon recovered.—I am, Sir, &c., [Was this cure for madness recognised by the ancient Assyrians ? Nebuchadnezzar appears to have undergone just such a cure for acute mania.—ED. Spectator.]
Previous page
