For a tandem set up on theories alone, the horses must be a pair perfectly matched in figure, height, color, and action; either, therefore, fit to change places with, and to do the work of, the other. Experienced tandem drivers whose opinions are entitled to consideration dissent decidedly from this view. They maintain that if the wheeler, that holds the entire weight on descending, and performs nearly all the work, on level ground, for which great strength and straight action are necessary, is the standard of the pair, a leader patterned on this type will be too stout and too coarse. If the leader, on the other hand, in quality, figure, and action is of the perfect type, he will be too light, and otherwise unsuited for the wheeler's place.
For tandem carts of standard weight, the wheeler, which is the chief factor or mainstay of the tandem, should be 15.3 hands high, with a well-cut head, deep, sloping shoulders, broad chest, short, straight back, wide hips, and strong quarters on short, strong legs. To prevent angles in, and to afford direct draught of the driving-reins, the head should be carried straight and naturally,—neither with nose poked out in front, nor pointed high like a "star-gazer's," nor yet drawn in to the chest,—and he should be a fast and straight goer, wasting none of his force in extravagant action.
"A roadster good, not straddling high,
Nor shuffling low, I find thee;
But stepping straight and cheerily
Thou leav'st the miles behind thee."
The leader, whose duties seem to be ornamental chiefly, he having nothing to carry but his harness, little work to do except on heavy or hilly roads, and nothing to hold down hill, need have none of the qualities mentioned as indispensable requisites in the wheeler.
With a wheeler, as before described, 15.3 in height, I should choose a leader 15.2 or 15.2½; a half or three-quarters thoroughbred, but with plenty of substance and bone. He should have high style and high action all round; rakish and gamy in form, spirit, and action; the head lean and thoroughbred looking; long, clean neck, with good crest; head well up and nose a little out; ears small, sensitive, and pointing to the front; deep, sloping shoulders, high on the withers; short, straight back; strong, muscular loins; straight hips; strong in the hind quarters, with muscles running well down. To this should be added a light mouth, well bitted, responding with the whole body to the lightest touch of the rein; the manners and grace of a gentleman; good sense and coolness in tight places, choosing often his own way with courage and confidence,—a rare and lovable thing in God's creation, but such there be or may be made (Plate XXXVII.).
Of tandem carts there are various patterns, but with the New York Tandem Club, the members of which have been regarded as the best exponents, in this country at least, of the proper way of appointing a tandem, as well as of driving it, the Whitechapel, and the dog-cart represented in Henderson's admirable picture entitled "Going to Cover," are the two designs in favor at the present time.
PLATE XXXVI.—TANDEM OF MR. McCANDLESS