Cut-under Lady’s Trap
George IV Phaeton
Peters’ Phaeton
Runabout
To lengthen the reins, do not let them slip through
the left hand, but take them in the right hand, the off rein under the little finger, and the near rein between the second and third fingers immediately in front of the left hand; then close the fingers of the right hand on the reins, relax the fingers of the left hand, and pull the reins through the left hand with the right as far as may be necessary. Letting the reins slip through the left hand without the assistance of the right, as I described, is bad form, and is unsafe, because they may not slip evenly and they might well slip too much. Besides that, in driving spirited horses it is most important to have an even pressure on the bits and to feel their mouths all the time. If the reins are allowed to go, even for a moment, as they would be in letting them slip through the left hand without the assistance of the right, the horses would know it and be very apt to start and even to run.