Hints on Driving

by C. Morley Knight

This position of the left hand is of great importance, as by turning the back down or up respectively a great deal can be done in the way of directing the leader to the right or left without any assistance from the right hand. |Thumb and forefinger always ready to take up loop.| The thumb should be nearly parallel to the front, and like the first finger should be ready at any time to take up and hold a loop of either lead rein; therefore these fingers should never be busy gripping the reins. |Third and fourth fingers must grip reins tightly.| The whole four reins should be held firmly in position by the grip of the third and little finger, slightly assisted by the middle finger.

To get horses, which have never been in |Tendency to form a pair.| tandem before, exactly to follow one behind the other, requires considerable skill and patience, as it will be found that their common tendency is to get one alongside the other, the wheeler as a rule being anxious to run up alongside the leader. This tendency to form a pair must be checked at once, but without any jerking or hurried pulling at the reins.

|Do not worry leader.| The leader should be worried as little as possible; therefore, do not pull him across the road more than you can avoid, particularly at first, but try to make the wheeler follow him, and you will find that if they are fairly well-disposed horses they will soon fall in with the idea of following one another.

|Constant use of whip shows bad coachman.| Do not use the whip perpetually; try and work the horses chiefly with your hands, and to a certain extent by your voice. For instance, when starting them give them the office by slightly feeling their mouths with the reins and immediately shouting “Go on,” or something to that effect, momentarily dropping your hand to them in order to avoid any jibbing while getting under way. The horses will very quickly understand this, and the use of the whip will be unnecessary. |Wheeler should start cart.| Remember, however, that the wheeler should start the cart; therefore be ready to touch him with the whip, if he hangs back; if, however, he is inclined to jib, it may be better to allow the leader to assist him.

With raw and nervous horses a good start is everything. Watch the leader carefully, and when you see him starting get the wheeler off at once by using the whip if he is not moving off at the same time. When pulling up, I think it is always a good plan to say “Whoa.” They very soon learn to obey the voice, and it often comes in handy.

|Encourage horse with voice.| If a horse shies, speak to him at once and encourage him, but on no account hit him or you will confirm him in the habit. He does it nearly always from nervousness, or from defective vision, and not from devilry. |Never hit a shyer.| A shyer will often go perfectly in the wheel of a tandem and never shy at all, but is never safe in the lead. I am also a believer in rating a horse soundly when he does wrong, and especially when you are hitting him, as the next time you rate him he will think he is going to feel the whip, and be very careful at once.

|Returning lash after hitting leader.| In a dog-cart, when you have hit your leader, bring the lash back and catch it quickly with a turn round the stick by a slight jerk, or bring it straight into the fingers of your right hand by the same motion. You can then at once bring it well into the cart, and get your hand back on the reins. This last is a very important matter, as when the leader is hit he generally takes to pulling for a few yards, and your whip hand is much needed on the reins to steady him.

On the other hand, it is very unsafe to bring your right hand on to the reins unless the lash has been brought well into the cart, as it may easily be caught up round the axle or get under the wheel; and, as a rule, if the wheel goes over it, it will break off at that spot next time you use it.

It is often very convenient to have the whip ready to hit the leader at a particular place or corner which he is likely to want to go round. To do this unwind the lash, and keep the point of the stick out to the right front. The lash can then fly loose and do no harm, unless the wind is blowing across from right to left.

|Check pace before going down hill.| Always check the pace before reaching the crest of a hill which you are about to descend, as when once on the downward slope this may not be possible, whereas to increase the pace is easy enough. When going down a hill it will be necessary to shorten up all four reins, either by pulling them through from behind with the thumb and forefinger (fig. 4), or by placing the right hand on the reins as before explained and sliding the left up to it (fig. 35). Sometimes it will be found necessary when going down a very steep hill to pull back the leader a little, |Leader out of draught down hill.| but as a rule the mere fact of the wheeler coming out of draught to hold back the cart will necessitate the shortening of all the reins, which will bring the leader sufficiently out of his collar to prevent him pulling on the traces.