|Shortening reins going down hill.| It should hardly ever be necessary to shorten the lead reins when going down hill, as the mere fact of the wheelers coming back out of draught to hold back the coach will make you shorten up the reins enough to bring the leaders out of draught at the same time. If anything, it will be found necessary to shorten the wheel reins, more especially if the hill is very steep and the wheelers are loosely poled up.
|Leaders out of draught going down hill.| Going down hill the leaders should just carry the bars, and nothing more. They should not put any strain at all on the pole, for by doing so they obviously tend to counteract the efforts of the wheelers to keep back the coach. In order to carry the bars the traces should be slack, but not slack enough to let the whole weight of the bars weigh down on the pole, which would put so much extra weight on the wheelers’ necks.
|Leaders must not pull on pole when turning.| Be careful that the leaders are not straining on the pole when turning a corner, as otherwise the wheelers will inevitably be pulled sharply across on to the pavement or footpath, and the pole may be broken.
CHAPTER VII
FOUR-IN-HAND—THE WHIP.
|How to hold whip.| You must learn to play with the whip neatly, and to be able to use it skilfully on any of the horses. The handle should rest in the palm of the right hand, and be kept firmly in its place by the action of the thumb pressing against the base of the forefinger; the lower fingers will then be left free to catch hold of the reins.
If, however, it is necessary to pull the reins through from behind, the lower fingers must be tightened on the handle so as to allow the thumb and forefinger to be used.
Always take care that the whip is in its right place, and the thong properly done up. |Angle of whip.| Hold the whip at an angle of about thirty degrees to the left front and about forty degrees upwards, and not as in the picture opposite (fig. 26).
The thong ought to have three or four turns round the stick, the first turn beginning close to or on the quill, which is always covered with black twine.
|No kinks in lash.| Pay special attention to holding the whip so that the double thong hangs straight down and has no kinks in it. If there should be any kinks they can be taken out by adding a turn or two on the stick, or by taking some off.