The trough in which the horse receives his grain is termed a manger. It is made of wood, or of cast-iron. Stone has been employed, but it forms a bulky clumsy manger, and is not in any respect superior to iron. In Scotland the mangers are usually made of wood, and extend the whole breadth of the stall. In many places these are giving place to others made of cast-iron, which are durable, and, when properly made, more suitable. Wooden mangers are in constant want of repairs, and they are never perfectly sweet and clean. Greater durability is given to them by covering the breast with thick plate-iron; but no contrivance nor any care can keep them always clean, especially where the food is often boiled. The wood imbibes the moisture, and the manger becomes musty; it has a sour, fetid smell, which prevents many delicate feeders from eating, and disgusts all horses. The iron manger lasts for ever. A little care keeps it clean, and it is never sour when empty. The short iron manger is not much dearer than the long wooden one, and its superior durability renders it ultimately much cheaper.

There is no occasion for having it so long as the stall is broad. Wooden mangers, I believe, are generally made of this length in order that they may be securely fixed. The horses are tied to them, and their ends are supported by the travises. Iron mangers are usually about thirty or thirty-six inches long, and there is no need for having them longer. In many stables, however, they are six feet long, which adds greatly to their cost, without rendering them more useful. They are seldom sufficiently deep, particularly for horses that receive chaff or roots. Nine or ten inches in the ordinary depth; two or three inches more would improve them. In breadth they should be twelve inches, which is about one inch wider than usual. All this is inside measure. The smaller-sized iron manger answers well enough for small horses, or indeed for any kind of horses, so long as they receive no manger food, but grain and beans. When bulkier articles are to be eaten from the manger, the usual size is found to be rather inconvenient. It holds the food, but the horse throws it out when turning it over in search of that which he likes best. There is no objection to a manger of greater depth and width. Shallow mangers require two or three spars across them, to prevent the horse from scattering his grain.

In general two are sufficient. They should be placed near the ends, and across the top, or just within the manger. Round iron bars, one inch thick, are better than wooden spars. If these have been omitted in the original construction of an iron manger, substitutes of hardwood may be wedged in so firmly, that the horse can not extract them with his teeth. When placed in front of the horse, the manger should be provided with a ring for the collar rein. A long manger, whether of wood or iron, may have two rings, each fourteen inches from the travis. The edge of the manger should be thick, that it may be strong, and blunt, not doing much injury when the horse strikes it with his head. Neither a wooden nor an iron manger should be flat at bottom. It should be concave within, convex without. The sharp corner of a flat-bottomed manger injures the horse about the head when rising, and about the legs or knees when he is pawing, and, in proportion to its size and weight, it holds less than the concave manger.

Some mangers are made to remove. This is particularly desirable with wooden mangers. They can be taken out, cleaned, and exposed to the air. But all the cleaning an iron manger requires can be given without shifting it. It is safest when fixed. Iron mangers are easily secured against a stone wall, by means of cramps and lead; but they are not so firm on a wall of brick. Care must be taken to have them fast; they are very weighty, and when the horse is attached to them, it is not a little matter that holds them. They will be broken, and the horse injured should they fall. On a brick wall, an iron bolt passing completely through, and secured by a screw-nut, affords the greatest security. The iron racks are sometimes attached in the same way. They have as much need to be Strongly fixed as the mangers, for the horse is often tied to them.

The manger is always placed too low Professor Coleman, and some others, direct that it be put upon the ground. Nature, they say, intended the horse to gather his food from the surface of the soil, and for this reason he ought not to have it elevated. With as much force they might object to the use of chairs, tables, and beds, in our own dwelling-houses. They do not attempt to show that the horse suffers any inconvenience by feeding from a high manger, or that he likes better to eat off the ground. God made it easy but not necessary for him to do so. Before domestication he may be indifferent about the situation of his food; but every groom knows that a stabled horse likes to have both his grain and his water held to a level with his head. There is no reason whatever for having the mangers low, but there is reason for having them high. When too low, the horse can not feed so easily, and he is apt to receive injury by stepping into the manger, or by setting his feet on its edge, and, when lying, it is in his way.

The top of the manger ought to stand between three feet six inches and four feet from the ground. For horses about fifteen hands it may be three feet six or eight inches; for ponies it must be lower in proportion to their height; for the very tallest horse it does not require to be more than four feet high. When too high, the horse can not get his muzzle to the bottom; when too low, he is very apt to get his fore-feet into it. This last accident happens so often, and so frequently lames the horse, that it is rather surprising a low manger should be so common. The manger, indeed, is not blamed so often as the horse, who is chastised and tied down, or sold off as incurably mischievous. It would surely be an easy matter to raise the manger to its proper height. Horses that like to see about them, are most prone to the trick of jumping into it.

A short manger may be placed either directly in front of the horse, or in one corner. It is better to have it in the latter situation, on the right side, supposing the rack to be placed on the left. When in front, it is apt to incommode the horse as he is lying down or rising up. Iron mangers (see Fig. 6), of small dimensions, are sometimes made of a triangular form to fi into corners. They do well enough to hold a feed of oats, Out they are all a great deal too small for the mixed food which is now given to many horses.

A long manger, long as the stall is broad, has a space below it unoccupied, save by litter, which, when not perfectly free from moisture, ought never to be placed in this situation. To prevent a careless groom from putting the litter here, and to prevent the horse from getting his head below the manger and hurting himself when rising, this vacancy ought to be boarded up. The boarding may slope from the top of the manger downward to the ground, near or close to the wall. This also pre vents the horse from cutting his knees against the manger, should it have a flat bottom. Short, or corner mangers have less space below them, but it is as well to have them enclosed.

Fig. 6.

In some stables a drawer serves the purposes of a manger. It is made of wood; it holds little more than one measure of oats; and it slides into a recess in the wall, exactly like a table-drawer. It has springs or catches, which keep it in or out. It is pulled out only when the horse is to eat, and it is shut up whenever he has done. It is said that horses never learn to crib-bite when fed in this way. The drawer-manger, however, is little patronised. I have seen only one. It is doubtful whether it answers the intention with which it has been invented.