A good Driver will have his leaders so in hand at the start that when they move they will be out of the collars, and entirely clear of the splinter-bars.
Practice should be on level ground, and on roads devoid of traffic. None save really first-class drivers ought ever attempt to pilot a coach through a crowded thoroughfare. Plenty of novices do it, and delude themselves with the notion that they are driving beautifully, when in reality they are only clearing the road—for, as a rule, people leave a passage for a four-horsed coach, chiefly I fancy through fear of being run down by it if they don’t speedily get out of its way.
Driving a Team is, on the whole, very far from child’s play, and it needs a smart wagoner to know and carry out all the nice points of the art: how, for instance, to make the wheelers work, when to put on the drags, when to run down without them, how to regulate the pace, especially when descending a steep decline, how to go nicely and collectedly over the tops of all hills, whether great or small, with numerous other minor matters, which study and practice can alone teach.
Fourteen miles an hour is a tremendously fast pace for leaders to trot. Such a rate of going would necessitate that the wheelers should gallop. Speed is, I always think, far less necessary than stamina in a four-in-hand team. A well made up quartett, of which every horse has two good ends, ought to travel from London to Epsom at a fair steady pace, and come back in the evening in spanking style.
A Team that will Trot briskly up the hill to the Star and Garter at Richmond at the rate of, say, eight miles an hour without the whip, may be pronounced a real good thing.
If Four Horses cannot be matched in height, I advocate conceding the difference to the wheelers. Age will not matter very much—nor will colour—for merely useful work; but go and action are all important.
A Good and humane Driver always looks to the condition of each horse separately, when halting after a long drive. An oatmeal drink with the chill taken off, and an abundance of water splashed about the legs, prove great refreshers. Exhausted horses are immensely benefited by getting a scrape down, together with a “pick-me-up” of warm ale.
An Upper Jaw Bit, and an Over Draw Check will teach a youngster (when training for harness) almost as much sense as he will learn by two months’ handling. The apparatus sobers him—stops that peculiar, one-sided, twisting kind of kick, or “lurch,” which beginners when fresh are wont to indulge in—and, in short, teaches him to trot his level best, without the aid of a kicking-strap. It is called the “Carleton” Check—I presume from its inventor’s name—and consists of a very small bar snaffle, not much thicker than an ordinary lead pencil, with a loose ring at either end. Straps, about half an inch wide, are buckled to these rings, and are connected above the horse’s nostrils by a narrow upper noseband: on the same principle as an ordinary chin-strap. This little noseband is necessary to keep the bit called an “upper jaw bit” in its place: namely, under the upper jaw, just as the regular bit is upon the under jaw. The little mouthpiece is very slightly curved—a mere segment of a circle—and from it the two straps run up the horse’s nose, and are joined together on his forehead to prevent them chafing his eyes. They are then continued between the ears, and along the mane, to the water hook. At the spot where they pass the headpiece they run through two square loops, in which are “rolls,” or rollers, to allow the straps free play. They are joined at the ends, and are made to hook over the water hook, after which a tiny contrivance is slipped on the hook, which renders it impossible for the horse (let him fling his head about as he chooses) to throw the rein off the hook. The hand, however, can release it in a flash—and the whole affair is a perfect marvel of neatness and ingenuity. Its good effects are, to raise the head, extend the neck, and give free play to the lungs. It likewise lengthens the gait, steadies the horse, prevents breaking, obviates “hitching” behind, takes the pull off the driver’s hands, and brings out a horse’s trot, if he has any at all in him. The evils are, that it spoils a handsome erect carriage, lowers the crest, and makes the animal poke his nose in an unsightly manner. In short, it is invaluable for training a road horse, or trotter, but the habitual use of it is undesirable and even cruel, for a horse cannot possibly bend while he has it on. So rigid are its effects, and so impossible is it for an animal to lower his head while wearing it, that I am of opinion it would put an effectual “stopper” upon the tricks of the most confirmed buck-jumper living, if connecting-straps were just passed, say, underneath the saddle, and attached firmly to the crupper. This is merely an idea,—but I should like to see it tested in a practical way.
The Kemble Jackson is another kind of bit employed very largely in the States, especially in Kentucky, which is a very horsey district,—one of the most so, indeed, in America. The Jackson can be used with or without an upper jaw bit, and has the reins of the check to run through loops directly under the ears—where some tandem lines go. This has the effect of giving a lofty carriage to the head, without making the horse poke his nose as the Carleton does. No noseband is employed with it, and the wearer can hold his head in handsome position—which is an immense advantage with a carriage horse, in which up-headedness is an essential attribute. It is in some points quite before the Carleton, which latter (if constantly used) imparts absolute rigidity to the muscles of the neck, and intensifies the evil known as “ewe”-neck; but for helping the trot, and teaching sense to a youngster, the Carleton beats anything that I have ever seen.
