Hints on Driving

by C. Morley Knight

If the wheeler is still turning too fast, drop the left hand towards the right, which will slack the near-wheel rein and so keep him off to the right, or away from the corner. Should the leader not turn quickly enough, seize the loop which is held by the forefinger of the right hand with the left thumb, retaining it there in the same manner as previously described for “pointing” a rein. Another loop can then be taken up as before, which will bring the leader round as fast as is desired.

|Best method of turning to right.| To turn to the right, slide the right hand to the front, and with the middle finger seize the near-wheel rein; draw the hand back about an inch or two, still retaining a grip of the near-wheel, but sliding the fingers over the other reins. This is done in order to prevent the wheeler coming round too quickly. Then tighten the little and third fingers on the off-side reins, and press strongly on them (fig. 37). This will have the effect of bringing the leader round to the right. If the leader is not coming round sufficiently fast, turn the back of the left hand down gradually, this will enable you to turn him with the greatest nicety.

FIG. 37.—TANDEM—TURNING TO THE RIGHT.

The above methods are especially recommended, as they entirely do away with the necessity of taking the right hand out of the reins for looping purposes, the great danger of which is that it is almost impossible to get the right hand back between them quickly enough to prevent the wheeler cutting the corner, if he is at all inclined to do so, or to check the leader if he is coming round too rapidly. The horses turn so quickly, that the wheeler can see the leader coming round almost before the lead rein can be seized with the left thumb, and tandem reins being very close together, it is difficult for the right hand to catch the wheeler’s rein in time to check him. The fact is that several things have to be done simultaneously, or nearly so, to obtain perfection, and the manipulation of the reins is then, as I have often heard it expressed, somewhat like playing the harp. Of course with very sluggish horses the reins can be looped in the same manner as when driving four horses, but as a rule less rein must be taken up, or the leader will come round and look you in the face. Therefore you must always be ready to pull the opposite rein, and so check the horse from going too far round.

|Proper time to turn leader at a corner.| Practice alone will enable one to hit off exactly the proper moment to turn the leader when a sharp corner has to be negotiated. Perhaps the best general guide is to give the leader the office when his head is abreast of the centre of the road to be turned down. More than this it is useless to say, as everything depends on the width of the road and the angle of the turn. It is, however, always a safe thing to take as much room as possible, and it is therefore a good plan before arriving at the corner to pass off to the opposite side of the road, provided the traffic will allow this to be done.

|Quickness of handling reins necessary in traffic.| In order to turn corners nicely with the wheeler going over the same ground as the leader, and not shuffling round anyhow, or to go in and out rapidly through traffic like that of London, requires the utmost nicety and quickness of handling, and also that the horses be well trained to keep constantly up to their bits, and to feel even the lightest pressure and answer to it at once. |Horses should answer to pressure of driver’s hands at once.| When you drop your hand to them, they should at once increase their pace until you come back to the original pressure, but the moment more than this is put on they should at once check their pace. They should also willingly go into an omnibus if driven there, and never shy off. Such is a perfect tandem, but one most difficult to find.

|Tendency to slow down.| A beginner at tandem driving, and even some who have had a certain amount of practice in driving four horses, will usually find the tandem has a great tendency to slow down, and that a considerable amount of whip is required to keep the horses up to the proper pace. This tendency will be found to disappear if a practised hand takes the reins, without the aid of the whip. A want of lightness of hand is usually the cause, and a want of give and take to the horses’ mouths. Probably the wrist is kept too stiff, and the pressure on the horses’ mouths is as a result uneven, too much being applied at one moment and not enough the next. To keep an even feeling on the horses’ mouths the hand must be allowed to move backwards and forwards a little, and there should be plenty of play from the wrist.

|Effect of altering centre reins.| When you find that the leader is going off to the left, and the wheeler to the right, it is usually right to push the two centre reins back a little through the left hand from the front with the right hand, using the whole hand to do it with.

|Reins must be held firmly.| If, on the contrary, the leader is bearing off to the right, and the wheeler to the left, you must then pull the two centre reins out a little until they, i.e., the horses, are straight. You must remember that, although you are using the right hand a great deal, the reins must none the less all the time be held very firmly in the left, and not allowed to slip in the least; so that at any moment you should be able to take the right hand off the reins and the horses should still be going exactly one behind the other, with all the reins tight, the left wrist turned in towards the body with the back of the hand to the front and almost perpendicular.