Riding and Driving

by Edward L. Anderson; Price Collier

The carriage should be run out first, the pole or shafts put in place and dusted, the proper whip and robes got together. It may be well for the owner to realize that a man alone should have at least three-quarters of an hour to turn out on the box of a brougham or Victoria, proportionally less time for a runabout or other light carriage, on which he is to appear in stable clothes. The horse should be brought out of or turned in his stall and attached to the pillar-reins, and his feet, coat, and head gone over. The collar should then be stretched and put over his head, being careful not to rub hard against the eye-bones in so doing, fasten on the hames, and turn the collar into place. It is easier to fasten hames on to the collar before the collar is turned. Then put on the bridle, seeing to it that the bit is in its proper place, as well as the winkers, and that both sides of the bridle are of the same length. The saddle should be placed first well back on the horse, so that the crupper may be put under the tail without undue pulling and hauling. Then place the saddle where it belongs on the horse's back, and tighten up the girth. Run the reins through their terrets and fasten them to the bit, and lead your horse out and back him into the shafts. Never take hold of the bit in leading him out but by the nose-band. If you slip or stumble or he throws his head, if you have him by the bit you jab him in the mouth, and then even before he is in the vehicle he is sensitive and restive. Put your horse as near the carriage as possible without danger of hitting when in motion. The tug girth, which holds the shafts, should be tight enough to hold the shafts in place in a four-wheeled carriage, but loose enough to allow a certain amount of play in two-wheeled carriages. Where, as in a gig harness, the play is given by the tug itself, this is not necessary.

In unharnessing, take off the bearing-rein, unfasten the traces, then the tug girth—not vice versa, so that if a horse starts forward there will be something to prevent the carriage running on his heels. Always loosen a curb-chain before taking off a bridle,—this applies equally to the horse in harness or under saddle,—and lastly the breeching. The reins should be unbuckled from the bit, drawn back through the terrets, and hung over the arm or out of the way. Take off the pad, turn the collar, and take off the hames, then turn the collar back and leave it in its place a few minutes to prevent galled shoulders. The bit and curb-chain should be thrown into the bucket of lime water, or at any rate cleaned carefully at once. It is much easier to prevent rust than to get it off.

In taking out a pair, the reins should be unbuckled first of all and pulled through from the front. If you drive into the stable, do it yourself before dismounting. In taking off the traces, begin with the inside one, then the outside one, then the pole-chains or pole-pieces. Take off the saddles, turn the collars, remove the hames, leaving collars on as before. It is a great saving of time, and lessens confusion, to fix the habit of both harnessing and unharnessing in a regular way, until it becomes mechanical; and mistakes are not made, and accidents do not happen, because the habit of doing things properly has become fixed. Have your buckle-rein on off-side horse. First, because that marks the rein, and, secondly, because as that rein is the one not thrown across there is less likelihood of hitting and hurting the attendant on that side.

Before you take the reins in your hand look over the trap, harness, and horse, and see that all is right. The stop on the shafts should by all means be behind the tugs; the traces, collar, breeching, bridle, girths, bit, bearing-rein, should be looked over, first, to see if you may drive in safety, and then to confirm you in what you have learned about these things.

Take the reins in the left hand, the near rein over the second finger, the off rein between the third and fourth finger. No matter what the vehicle is, take the whip with you when you get into it. The whip in the socket is in the way, and the whip should be almost as constantly in the hands as the reins anyway, so that it is better to begin with the whip where it belongs. Then place the reins in the right hand with the whip, mount to your place, take your seat quickly, change the reins back into the left hand, see that they are about the right length without feeling your horse's mouth, which would make him start before you are ready, and you are ready to send your first telegram to your horse. Do it discreetly, gently, and if you are not where your voice will disturb other horses, add a word of some kind, preferably a signal not in common use between men and horses. A horse learns quickly to recognize, and does not forget, his owner's voice. That voice encourages, soothes, or commands him. But where you are driving with or surrounded by others, the use of your voice in the well-known click or chirrup would disturb all the horses and coachmen about you. It is easy to accustom your own horses to any phrase: "Come on now," "Look alive," or even "What's the matter?" which conveys no message to other horses and at the same time rouses your own. The writer has an intimate acquaintance with several horses who will start into action at hearing "Come on now," in a well-known voice.

Nothing is more disagreeable at a railway station, in a hurly-burly of traps and horses, than the clicking and clucking and snapping of whips, which, while meant for one or two horses, disturb half a dozen. Two-thirds of the coachmen on private carriages catch sight of their masters, flap the horses with the reins, swing the whip, and chirrup; and yet they would be surprised to be told that they do not know the rudiments of driving. Nothing smacks more of the farmer than a man who, behind you, or passing you, or standing near you and wishing to start, clicks or clucks to his horse, starting your horse up at the same time. A man who cannot start one, two, or four horses with his hands, and without a hullabaloo of noise, is unworthy to sit behind horses at all. If your horses are new to your stable, or awkward and untrained, feel the mouth gently, and if this is not understood or is misunderstood, use the whip gently and make your start in that way. The perfection of starting is to have the horse feel his bit on his bars almost exactly at the moment his shoulders feel the collar—a fraction of a lightning stroke after, to be exact.

When you are ready to start either out of the stable or from the door, have the man stand clear. No leading of the horse forward, no pulling at bit or nose-band; give the horse a chance to learn what you want of him without puzzling him with a variety of signals.

It is a little ahead of time to speak of it here, but, lest we forget, it may be mentioned at once. Never allow the groom or grooms to stop your horse or horses, whether one, two, or four, when you drive into the stable. This makes horses restless, makes them back, slide, or kick, and in the case of a four may result in a general mix-up. Stop your horses gradually, with voice and reins, but stop them yourself. They have come in from the drive more or less accustomed to your hands and ways, according as you are more or less proficient, and a rough hand on bit or nose, and an apparition in front of them, ought to, and generally does, upset them. Besides all this you ought to, and they ought to know how to stop properly, and without fuss or flurry exactly when and where you wish them to, even if it be on the cement floor of your stable entrance.

The reins should be held with the near rein between the thumb and first finger, the off rein between the third and fourth fingers. Hold your hand so that your knuckles, turned toward your horse, and the buttons on your waistcoat, will make two parallel lines up and down with the hand three or four inches from the body. The reins should be clasped, or held by the two lower, or fourth and fifth fingers; the second finger should point straight across and upward enough to keep the near rein over the knuckle of that finger and the thumb pointing in the same direction, but not so much upward. The reins are held, not by squeezing them on their flat surface, but by pressure on their edges. The edges, in a word, being held between the two last fingers and the root of the thumb. This arrangement makes a flexible joint, the wrist, for the reins and for the bit to play upon. This suppleness of the wrist, just enough and not too much, is what is called "hands." It means, that your wrist gives just enough play to the horse's mouth to enable him to feel your influence, without being either confused or hampered by it.