Once fairly started, keep your eyes well fixed in front of you, and watch exactly what other vehicles are doing, so that you may never have to pull up suddenly. You should be able to see from a distance whether you can get through or not, and if you see that you cannot, begin to slow down at once.
|Jerky pace very bad.| Never increase your pace, or check it, suddenly. Nothing is more uncomfortable for the passengers or more wearying to the horse.
It is far better for the beginner to slow down at once, if he is not sure of getting through a tight place, than to go fast up to it, and then have to pull up quite suddenly, if he can pull up at all. This cannot always be done at the last moment, and an accident is the result. |Shortening reins.| As a rule, when it is necessary to pull up in a hurry, the reins cannot be shortened except by throwing up the hands, which, to say the least of it, looks very unbusinesslike. The proper course to pursue is to catch hold of the reins with the first finger and thumb of the right hand just behind the left, and shorten them as much as necessary by pulling them through (fig. 4).
FIG. 4.—SHORTENING REINS.
It is far better on such an occasion to have the reins rather too short than too long, but if only a small amount of shortening is required the right hand can be placed on the reins in front of the left and the left hand slid up to the right (fig. 5).
|Signal with whip to carriage behind.| When driving in a town, it is the rule to swing the whip stick round once or twice as an indication to the drivers of vehicles behind you that you are going to slow down or turn a corner.
|Turn corners carefully.| Before coming to the turn the pace must always be checked, particularly in a town, where the streets are generally slippery and there is nearly always a curbstone. Many an accident occurs daily through corners being negotiated carelessly. This advice appears almost superfluous, but the reader will find that to drive, even fairly broken horses, collectedly round sharp turns requires great care and precaution.
|Starting a jibber.| In conclusion, it is worth pointing out, that a horse which is inclined to jib, may often be started either by turning him to one side with the rein, or if this fails, by getting some one to push him over. The reason is that he is thus made to move before the pull comes on his shoulders.
