Riding and Driving

by Edward L. Anderson; Price Collier

On Western roads in this country, the four horses are put much farther from the coach and from one another, and given plenty of leeway as to traces and pole-chains. Driving over their heavy, rough roads necessitates this. If one of our compactly harnessed teams attempted to work over their roads, the coach, passengers, and horses' shoulders would be badly racked. Indeed, it is to be doubted whether closely harnessed horses would not pull one another down. The experienced coachman from the East does not sneer at the long drawn out teams in the West; nor does the Westerner sneer at the closely coupled teams of the East. Each is adapted to do its own work. It is only the neophyte who sneers here or elsewhere, and a stupid neophyte at that; for to sneer at ignorance is stupid, and to sneer at stupidity, ignorant.

Now that you have your horses harnessed to your vehicle, have another look round, for at this business a quiet start is more than half the battle, and it is worth while to see to it that you may get away without at once stopping, to arrange something about the harness that has been neglected.

Now step back to the off wheeler's quarter, and with the right hand take hold of the leaders' reins and place them in the left hand where they belong, with the forefinger between them; then take the wheelers' reins, and place them in the left hand with the middle finger between them. You will then have: near leader's rein over forefinger, off leader's rein under forefinger and on top of the near wheeler's rein; the near wheeler's rein over the middle finger, and under the off leader's rein, and the off wheeler's rein under the middle finger. Then with your right hand pull out twelve to eighteen inches of both off reins; see that the buckles of the wheel-reins and the stitchings of the lead-reins are at an even distance from the left hand, so that when you are seated on the box the reins will be level. It saves time, trouble, and embarrassment to be able to do this quickly and accurately. If you are beginning or out of practice, it is well to get up and down with the reins until they are the proper length in your hand.

Then put the reins in the right hand exactly as they were in the left (or one finger lower down, so that the forefinger is free to hold on in getting up; this is advised by some coachmen, but is not necessary), throw the ends of the reins over your right arm, take your whip in your right hand, and you are ready to mount. To do this, put your left foot on the hub of the wheel, right foot on the roller-bolt, left foot on the step, and right foot on the foot-board, using your left hand to hold on with and leaving the right hanging down. Sit down at once, for, having climbed so high, it would be humiliating to tumble off if a horse started. Then put the reins back in the left hand, where you should find them all of about the proper length (Plate XXXII.). If they are not, get them level without touching the mouths of the horses. In taking the reins from their place to put them in the hand, it is usual to drop the ends on the ground. If, however, you are on a muddy street or wet pavement, put the ends of the reins over the little finger of the right hand, which will keep them out of the mud and wet while you are arranging them in your hand to mount.

Another way of taking up the reins is, instead of drawing out the two off reins before mounting, to allow the two off reins to run through the fingers as you mount to the box, which has, to be sure, the advantage of keeping control of all four horses from the moment you take up the reins. It is rare that a man drives four without men at his horses' heads when he gets up, and for the beginner, at any rate, the first-mentioned method is the simpler of the two.

Start quietly. Feel your horses' mouths gently as a reminder that something is coming, give the word, let them have sufficient rein, let the wheelers into their collars first, and go off quietly at a walk. If you are driving a green team, or a mean team, or a team you are making, always start from the stable yourself. Even if your coachman is a better coachman than you are, it is best to get away with them yourself, and to keep them amenable from the start. Although it is advised here to let the wheelers start the coach, the ideal way is to let all four horses feel their traces at the same moment; but it is only under ideal circumstances and with an ideal team that all four horses will dip into their collars at the same instant, and walk off with the coach, without so much as a flurry or a shake of the head at starting. Such horses are too good to be true, and need very little driving.

Let the rugs or quarter-blankets be taken off quietly, not grabbed off as a sort of "get-up" signal, and if your horses are at all inclined to waver, let the grooms run ahead a few steps so that the horses can see them and be tempted to go on with them, and then, the team fairly started, they can drop back and take their places on the coach. Let them have their heads at the start and get them in hand after they are all in the traces. By checking a horse suddenly at the start, with a too tight rein, or jabbing a leader under the tail with the pole, or, worst of all, forgetting to take the brake off and jerking the whole team back on their haunches at the start, you may, you will indeed, so irritate your horses that it will take your gentlest and most skilful behavior to get them right and going pleasantly.

The writer knows one mare at least who behaves perfectly if everything goes smoothly at the start, but if she is upset at the start, the whole drive is spoilt by her behavior; nor is she appeased till safely back in the stable. So, by all means, use every endeavor, every artifice even, to get a good start.

As was duly emphasized in Chapter XIII., by far the greater part of the comfort and skill in driving depends upon the give and take of the left hand from the wrist, or with a slight movement forward or backward of the hand itself. Turning the left hand up or down with a movement to the right or left will, if your horses are well in hand, guide them to the right or left. In starting, you are usually on one side or the other of the road. To bring your horses over, two small points to the left with the near lead-rein under the thumb, the near wheel-rein under the forefinger; or if to the right, the off lead-rein under the forefinger and the off wheel-rein under the middle finger will give the direction, and, once they are where you want them, the reins slip out, and you have had the right hand free to be used if necessary. Or, turning the left hand down with the knuckles toward the horses, bringing the hand at the same time back to the left hip, will take them to the right; while turning the left over, the knuckles toward you, and the hand moved toward the body, will turn them to the left. This movement of the left hand up or down shortens or lengthens the near lead-rein.

There is an objection to moving the left hand about much, and turns to the left and right are best made by "points" or "loops." Before turning anywhere, always have your leaders well in hand. If they have hold of the pole-end, the wheelers are helpless to turn the coach. To turn to the left, take the near lead-rein with the three lower fingers of the right hand and draw it back, catching it under the left thumb, holding it fast till your team has responded (see Plate XXXII.). To turn to the right, do the same thing with your off lead-rein, holding it either under the thumb or under the forefinger of the left hand (see Plate XXXII.). Under the forefinger is better, since the rein is then in its proper place to run out, just as in the former case under the thumb is better for the same reason. Never pull a rein off to the side, but always straight back toward you, so that the hands may never get too far away from one another. Do not spoil your point by letting the left hand go forward to meet it, but bring the point back with the right hand, keeping the left hand in its place.