With single harness the horse is brought direct at the gate, and kept very straight, his hind feet passing over the centre object.
In driving through crowded streets or in a narrow way, especially with vehicles coming rapidly towards you, and every prospect of a collision, take a stronger hold of your horses, and moderate your pace, remembering that, if you cannot avoid grief, the less the impetus the less the crash, if it should come. This result is amusingly exemplified by the stage-coachman’s definition of the difference between the results of road and rail accidents. Coachey says, “If even an upset occur on the road, there you are; but if an accident takes place by rail, where are you?”
Remember to collect your horses well in hand before you alter your course on the road, or to cross it, in order to have them alert and handy for any emergency.
When travelling in damp weather, the roads being sticky, half wet and dry, your horse requires saving and consideration, no matter to what extent the wind may be blowing, if it goes only in the same direction as himself. When the roads are perfectly dry with a light wind blowing against your horse, he travels under the more favourable circumstances.
Neither blinkers nor bit should ever, upon any consideration, be removed from a horse while he is attached to a carriage, whether to feed or for any other purpose. Want of caution in this respect has been a fertile source of most serious accidents.
When a horse falls irretrievably in harness, the driver should avoid leaving his seat till some assistant can go to the animal’s head, who, placing his coat or some soft substance between it and the road, to prevent injury to the eyes, presses one or both knees lightly on the neck, but so as to prevent the beast from rising; which done, the driver can get down from his seat, and, availing of all the aid he can procure, frees all the harness as rapidly as possible, and, running back the carriage from the horse, assists him to rise. To disengage buckles easily in such cases, instead of dragging at the point of the strap in the usual way, force both ends of it to the centre of the buckle, which will cause the tongue to turn back, and so free the strap.
When a fall in harness occurs on slippery pavement such as some of the London streets, or in frosty weather, before the horse is permitted to make any effort to rise, some ashes, dry clay, sand, sawdust, hay or straw, or even any old rug or piece of cloth or carpet, should be so placed as to prevent him from slipping in his ineffectual and distressing endeavours to recover his legs.
Backing.—When a horse takes to backing, and danger is threatened, if you cannot get him forward, and have no assistant to take him by the head, the more rapidly you bring the brute’s head to the point where he aims at bringing his tail the better. It is a bad habit, however, to give an animal, to allow of his being taken by the head when he is obstreperous, and should only be resorted to when quite unavoidable.
Kicking in Harness.—When there is no kicking-strap or other means of restraint available, and an animal seems disposed to persist in kicking, the driver, retaining his seat, should direct some one to hold up one of the fore feet (if he finds a difficulty in doing so, doubling the knee and tying a handkerchief tightly round it) so as to prevent the foot reaching the ground, which done, the driver may help to unharness, while the other assistant takes hold of the horse’s head.
Shying.—[See page 88.]