Hints on Driving

by C. Morley Knight

This fault is very often to be seen in the leaders of a team, keeping them close together, and causing them to rub up against each other to such an extent that they sometimes chafe.

|To alter length of rein without interfering with coupling rein.| It is a convenience, particularly when breaking young horses, to have more than one hole in the billets for buckling the reins on the bits, so that a horse can be pulled back or let out a hole on either side without altering the coupling rein.

|To prevent horses leaning against the pole.| Horses in a pair sometimes get into the trick of leaning in against the pole, particularly when going down hill.

It is a difficult habit to cure them of, and perhaps the best preventive is a good cut with the whip when they first attempt it, though a little furze or a bit of hedgehog skin on the pole is sometimes effective.

|Reins must not be allowed to slip.| The reins must never be allowed to slip through the fingers of the left hand, nor under any circumstances should the off rein be taken |Right rein never be taken out of left hand.| out of the left hand in order to turn to the right or pull across the road.

The right hand should pull the rein towards the centre of the body, and not out to the side to which you wish to go.

|To prevent collar galling the wither.| Sometimes a horse gets galled by the collar, from being continually pulled up, or from holding back down steep hills; this can be remedied by having a tinned iron plate fitted on under the top of the collar, without taking the horse out of work.

|Length of traces.| It will be found that traces usually stretch and become of unequal length; when this occurs, the shorter trace should be put on the inside, and should be marked, so that it shall not be put on the outside by mistake. With some horses it will be found necessary to have the inside trace half a hole or even one hole shorter than the outer one, so as to obtain an equal pressure on both sides of the collar.

|Bearing straps.| If bearing straps for the traces are used they should be just long enough to keep them in a straight line; if longer, they will jump up when the horse goes into his collar.

Further instructions for his guidance in driving a pair the reader will find in the chapter on driving four horses.