FIG. 2.—SINGLE HARNESS—POSITION OF THE HANDS.
|Sit well up.| Sit well up; nothing looks so bad as to see the driver leaning forward over the reins.
Finally, take the whip in the right hand at |How to start.| the place where it balances most comfortably, and you are ready to start. Then give the horse the office to start by feeling his mouth gently and speaking to him; if he does not respond touch him gently with the whip.
The moment he starts drop the hand slightly; jibbing is often caused by neglect of the latter precaution.
|Elbows must be close to sides.| Keep your elbows close to your sides, with the points almost touching the hips. The wrists should be well bent, as by this means you are enabled to keep a perfectly steady bearing on the horse’s mouth without any jerking. This is a very important point.
|Fore arm horizontal.| The fore arm should be horizontal, and the fingers from two to four inches from the centre of the body, with the knuckles to the front.
|Lower fingers to grip the reins.| The thumb must not be pressed down on the rein, except when a loop is taken up to turn a corner to the right or left (see fig. 23), |How to turn.| when the right hand is available for shortening the other rein to prevent the horse turning too rapidly, or else to use the whip to bring him round.
The fingers which should grip the reins, (so tightly that they should never slip), are the three lower ones. The forefinger should be held as in fig. 2.
|Whip not to be used when hand on reins.| Never keep a large amount of slack of the off rein in your right hand (fig. 3), as then you cannot use the whip; and remember never to hit the horse while the right hand is holding a rein.
The reason for this is obvious, because if you do try to hit him when you have the off rein in the right hand, you must slack that rein off, and the horse immediately dashes away to the left.