Hints on Driving

by C. Morley Knight

|Difference between curricle and ordinary double harness.| With regard to the harness, the chief difference between curricle and ordinary double harness is in the pads.

These must be strong and heavy, and fitted with special roller bolts, on which the steel curricle bar rests (fig. 12). They require to be heavy and strong, because at times the pole will put a considerable weight on them, more particularly when going down hill.

FIG. 12.—CURRICLE BAR AND ROLLER BOLTS.

On each side they have a leather loop like those on a tandem pad, and through these the traces are passed. In the bolts on the top of the pads is pivoted a small steel roller. The curricle bar rests on the rollers, and by their action is enabled to work freely from side to side, or from one horse towards the other, without any friction or noise. The rollers can be raised or lowered about a couple of inches, so that should the horses be of unequal height the bar can be levelled by raising or dropping one end of it.

|Curricle bar.| The bar should be made of steel, and must be long enough to give at least six inches play to the outside of each pad when the horses are standing square in their places. It has a small screw at each end, on which are screwed flat circular nuts to prevent the bar dropping out of the bolts and off the rollers. These are put on immediately the bar has been passed through the bolts, and are themselves secured and prevented from coming unscrewed by V-shaped steel ties, which pass through slits at the extreme ends of the bar. In the centre of the bar is a long-shaped loop or slit, through which the brace or supporting strap is passed (fig. 12).

|Supporting strap or brace.| This brace should be a strong leather strap about three inches wide. It passes under the spring below the pole, through the slit in the bar, and is fastened by a large double buckle.

The traces are the same as for single harness.

|How to prevent pole tipping up.| To prevent the pole from tipping up when the weight is on the back of the cart, a light strap, with a double buckle at each end of it, can be fastened to the end of the girth-strap of one of the pads under the horse, passed over the pole, and again buckled at the other end to the other horse’s girth-strap. This is an effectual remedy for the tilting up of the pole, even when a heavy man mounts suddenly on to the back seat. In all other respects the harness is the same as ordinary double harness.

If the cart is fitted with a swingle bar for single harness, the steel chains which connect the bar to the axle can perfectly well be used as pole chains, in which case it would be unnecessary to purchase new ones.