To take off Harness, begin by removing the reins and bridle; then take off the hames by themselves, then the collar, and lastly the terret-pad and crupper.
DRIVING.
In driving, a man should sit up against his work, and be thoroughly propped by his legs and feet, with the left or rein hand held well into his body, in front of or a little below the waist. Nothing looks more ungraceful than to have the reins at arm’s-length, held out at a distance from one’s chest.
A driver should always be seated before any one else in or about the vehicle; and having carefully taken a firm hold of the reins in his left hand before mounting his seat, they should so remain, and never be shifted. But should the driver be either obliged or find it convenient to allow others to be seated first, he will then of necessity have to mount from the off or right side, in which case he will in the first place have to take the reins in his right hand until seated, when he will at once transfer them to their proper position in his left.
The whip should invariably be placed in the socket, or be handed carefully to the driver after he has mounted. To mount with it in hand is highly dangerous; the sight of it over the blinkers, or an accidental touch to an animal when the driver is unprepared, may startle and set off a team—while holding a whip in the act of mounting renders that piece of gymnastics doubly awkward to accomplish. All turns and manœuvres may be effected by the fore-finger (and thumb if necessary) of the right or whip hand, either on the off or the near side rein, according as the direction of the intended movement is towards the right or left.[25] But in driving four-in-hand, unicorns, or tandems, insert the fourth finger of the whip-hand between the lead and wheel reins on the side you want to pull, to turn or direct your horses.
With four-in-hand the general principle is, while allowing only a certain amount of play to the heads of your leaders, to keep your wheelers well in hand, ready for any sudden emergency, bearing in mind that it is only with them, as they are attached to the pole, that you can stop the carriage.
A driver having occasion to raise his right hand for any purpose, should first place the whip transversely under the thumb of the left or rein hand (above, but upon, one of the reins), leaving the other hand at liberty; indeed, the whip should always lie in this transverse position, whether in the right or the left hand, unless when in use for correction. Many horses are very clever at watching the whip over the blinkers, and careless pointing forward with it may keep a high-spirited animal in a continual fret.
To ascertain how each horse is doing his work, judge not only by the test of the willing horse bearing more on your hand; see also how each horse keeps his traces. In whichever case they are slack, you may depend that that horse has no draught upon him; if tight, he is doing his share of the work, or more. A good whip will correct the defaulter so as to avoid annoying the other horse. There is no better criterion of skill in the use of the whip than this.
With the leaders in tandem and four-in-hand, and in low-seated carriages, unless the dash-board be very high, the reins are apt to get under the horses’ tails. In such cases, to avoid a kicking match, no immediate attempt should be made to replace the reins while they are confined; but a very light lash of the whip on the leg will engage the attention of the animal, and while the tail is switched up on the touch of the lash, the reins may be released. Horses should always be kept well in hand, unless that, upon a long and tiresome journey, some consideration may be shown for what they have to go through. Under such circumstances, attention may well be directed to the manner the billets are placed in the bit ([page 62]).