Small stable for 4 horsesLarge stable for dozens of horses
Astable is a building in whichworking animals are kept, especiallyhorses oroxen.[1]: 200 [2]: 42 The building is usually divided intostalls, and may include storage for equipment and feed.
There are many different types of stables in use today; the American-style stable called abarn, for instance, is a large barn with a door at each end and individual stalls inside or free-standing stables with top and bottom-opening doors. The term "stable" is additionally utilised to denote a business or a collection of animals under the care of a single owner, irrespective of their housing or whereabouts.
A building withtie stalls is also known as stanchion or stall barn, where animals are tethered by the head or neck to their stall. It is mostly used in thedairy cow industry, but traditionally horses were also tied up.
The exterior design of a stable can vary widely based on climate, building materials, historical period and cultural styles of architecture. A wide range of building materials can be used, includingmasonry (bricks or stone), wood and steel. Stables range in size from a small building housing one or two animals to large facilities that house hundreds of animals.
Layout styles
Typical early stable with a row of tie stalls and one box stall
Traditional exterior-door stalls built in a row and facing a courtyard
Freestanding stalls built inside a single large building
Each stall has a small fenced turnout area; access to each stall is from inside the building
Stable with an open layout and no individual stalls
Stables and riding hall in Czech RepublicEnglish two-story stone stables with exterior stone steps (use has been converted)
During the times when horses were the primary mode of transportation, European high society and royalty kept large stables of horses to pull carriages, ride, and breed. Many of these stables were elaborately constructed and still exist today.
In England, the stable was historically the second building constructed on a farm.[2]: 7 The world's oldest horse stables were discovered in the ancient city ofPi-Ramesses inQantir, inAncient Egypt, and were established byRamesses II (c. 1304–1213 BC). These stables covered approximately 182,986 square feet, had floors sloped for drainage, and could contain about 480 horses.[3]Free-standing stables began to be built from the 16th century. They were well built and placed near the house because these animals were highly valued and carefully maintained. They were once vital to the economy and an indicator of their owners' position in the community. Relatively few examples survive of complete interiors (i.e. with stalls, mangers and feed racks) from the mid-19th century or earlier.[2]
Traditionally, stables inGreat Britain had ahayloft on the upper floor and a pitching door at the front. Doors and windows were symmetrically arranged. Their interiors were divided into stalls and usually included a large stall for afoalingmare or sick horse. The floors were cobbled (or, later, bricked) and featured drainage channels. An outside stone stairway constructed against the side of the building was common for reaching the upper level.[4][2]: 7
The wordstable is also usedmetonymically to refer to the collection of horses that the building contains (for example,the college's stable includes a wide variety of breeds) and even, by extension,metaphorically to refer to a group of people—often (but not exclusively) athletes—trained, coached, supervised or managed by the same person or organisation. For example, art galleries typically refer to the artists they represent as their stable of artists. Analogously, car enthusiast magazines sometimes speak of collectible cars in this way, referring to the cars in a collector's stable.
Historically, the headquarters of a unit ofcavalry, not simply their horses' accommodation, was known as a "stable".
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