Bolting and Running
In the event of a horse bolting, the chances are very great against a woman's checking him. If she can do it at all, it will be by sawing his mouth, and giving a succession of sharp jerks, while endeavoring to control his course.
The most dangerous and irrational thing she can do is to jump out of the trap.
Severe injuries almost invariably attend such a proceeding; and if it be possible to stay in, she should do so, never relinquishing her hold on the reins. If from the swaying of the carriage she seems in danger of being thrown out, a woman must make sure that her skirts are not caught on anything, and that her feet are clear of the reins.
Men sometimes pull a runaway horse into a ditch or up a steep bank, which stops him; but a smash or an overturn is inevitable; and should a woman attempt this, there is great danger of her being unable to extricate herself from the tangle. She is handicapped by her skirts, which are more than likely to cause her to be dragged should the horse manage to start off again. Besides this, after a struggle such as she will have had, a woman will seldom have enough strength left to force a horse from the direction he has chosen.
Crowded Driveways
In whatever pranks horses indulge, the dangers are multiplied and intensified when encountered by a woman who ventures to drive in a crowded park or avenue during the afternoon.
Women of culture and refinement, realizing this, and wishing to avoid making themselves conspicuous on public highways, are content to be driven at this hour, reserving the mornings for the pleasure of handling the reins themselves.
Some women there are who drive better than most coachmen, and a few of these may desire to display their skill and their well-appointed traps when the spectators are most numerous. They may be competent to make their way through such a maze as one finds on popular carriage roads, but they do it in defiance of the condemnation they will receive from people of more refined ideas.
The majority of women who drive are unable to control their horses, and they need not flatter themselves that their immunity from accidents is the result of their skill. They owe their safety to the fact that men, appreciating the uncertainty of their movements, give them plenty of room, and keep as far as they can from anything driven by a woman.