This original cover image was modified to add the author and title.

HINTS ON DRIVING.

CURRICLE.

HINTS ON

DRIVING

BY

CAPTAIN C. MORLEY KNIGHT, R.A.

ILLUSTRATED BY

G. H. A. WHITE, ROYAL ARTILLERY

LONDON

GEORGE BELL & SONS, YORK ST., COVENT GARDEN

1902

First Published, July, 1894.

Second Edition, revised, Dec., 1894.

Reprinted 1902.

TO

Major-General Albert Williams, R.A.

In sincere admiration for his devotion to every kind of sport, and as a mark of appreciation of his encouragement and kindly advice in all sporting matters connected with the Royal Regiment of Artillery, this little Handbook on Driving is respectfully dedicated by one who has had the honour and privilege of serving under his command.

Woolwich,

1894.

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.

The favourable reception given by the press and the public to the first edition of “Hints on Driving,” which has run out in a little over three months, gives me hopes that a reprint of it will also be acceptable.

For this edition the sheets have been carefully revised throughout, and some additions have been made, many of which have been suggested to me during a short period of service in India. Several new illustrations have also been added.

General Albert Williams, who has kindly interested himself in this work, has given me permission to insert the following letter:

“My dear Morley Knight,

“I have heard with pleasure that a second edition of your book on Driving is about to be published, and feel sure that it will be as well appreciated as the first has been. The book is full of valuable information most useful to beginners, and many professed coachmen might read it with advantage. The latter, like doctors, differ on many points, but I feel sure all good coachmen will be glad to know that your endeavours to instruct in the art of Driving have been so well received, and will welcome the new edition, the success of which I shall look forward to with confidence.

“Yours very truly,

“Albert H. Williams.”

I have also to thank His Grace the Duke of Beaufort, K.G., for his kindly advice, and the numerous hints and corrections which I have endeavoured to incorporate in this volume.

C. M. K.

Nov., 1894.

CONTENTS.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

FIG. 1.—SINGLE HARNESS ON HORSE.

HINTS ON DRIVING.

INTRODUCTION.

In the following pages an attempt has been made to explain to beginners the rudimentary principles and niceties of driving.

In most treatises on this subject the minute details have been entirely omitted, the writer taking for granted that the reader has previously acquired some practical knowledge of harnessing and driving.

It is of course impossible to describe in a short essay every method of handling the ribbons, for well-known authorities even of the present day differ on so many points, that to discuss all would take too long. Nevertheless, as nothing has been considered too trifling to be explained, it is hoped that these hints may be especially useful to those who may not have been able to obtain any previous experience, and have not a thoroughly competent tutor at hand to teach them.

The difficulties which have to be overcome are so numerous that they cannot all be discussed in detail, for one of the greatest charms of driving consists in the ever-varying and complicated problems which are being constantly placed before the driver to solve—problems which must be solved at once without hesitation—and in no sport or pastime does the old saw, “He who hesitates is lost,” more frequently prove true than in that of driving. Thus, though it happens that the same result may be obtained in a variety of ways by the practised hand, these notes being especially intended for the instruction of beginners, the author has endeavoured to solve, in the most simple and lucid manner, those problems only which are most likely to puzzle the novice.

After all, there is no way of learning to drive so instructive as sitting on the box seat beside a first-class coachman, and carefully watching the movements of his hands. The novice is always tempted to confine his attention to the horses, and so omits to notice the manipulation of the reins at the critical moment. This omission on his part should be carefully avoided, as the crisis is over in so short a space of time that it is most important to keep the attention fixed almost entirely on the driver’s hands, and carefully to commit to memory every detail of the handling of the ribbons. In this work no new theories on the art of driving have been advanced, but many very old ones have been specially emphasized by repetition—a course which has been considered justifiable on account of their great importance.

CHAPTER I
HARNESS.

It is often said by those who have little or no experience, that four horses steady themselves, and require therefore little skill in driving. This is a very great error, and a man who is keen to learn should make it his first aim to drive one horse well, and having thoroughly mastered this accomplishment, he should then proceed to handle a pair. In driving the great aim is to get the horses going well together, and all doing their fair share of work without taking more out of the driver than is absolutely necessary. In order to arrive at this it is essential to have the horses properly bitted, rightly coupled, comfortably poled up, and the harness fitted correctly.

To begin at the beginning, it is first of all |Fitting of harness. The collar.| necessary to see that the harness fits the horse. The collar is a very important point. This should lie flat on the horse’s shoulders, so as to give sufficient room for the fingers to pass between it and the horse’s neck at the sides, and the flat of the hand should be able to pass freely between the lower part of the collar and the horse’s neck. Before putting the collar on, it ought to be widened by lateral pressure with the knee, so as not to hurt the horse’s eyes while passing over his head. |Sore shoulders.| If the horse’s shoulders should get rubbed, the best remedy is to apply plenty of sweet oil. This prevents the skin getting hard and the hair coming off. Salt water should never be used.

|Hames.| The hames should fit the groove in the collar, which should be well recessed, correctly all round and be buckled up tightly, otherwise in double harness they are very liable to be pulled out when going down hill, or when pulling up suddenly. |Hames straps.| To prevent this, a small strap may be buckled round the bottom of the collar over the hame links.

With a pair, the hames straps should be buckled on so that the ends point inwards.

The traces should be of such a length that |The traces.| the backband will lie on about the middle of the pad when the horse is in draught; the horse will then not be drawing the cart by the backband. Care should be taken that the tugs are in front of the stops on the shaft, or a bad accident may occur owing to the cart running on to the horse’s quarters.

|The reins.|

The width of the reins may vary from seven-eighths of an inch to an inch and a quarter, according to the length of the driver’s fingers, but about one inch will be found the most suitable width for general purposes. The reins should not be too thick, or they will always be hard and stiff, while, on the other hand, if they are very thin, they will be uncomfortably soft in wet weather.

|Backband.| In a two-wheeled cart the backband ought to be long enough to allow the shafts to hang level. There ought always to be a little weight on the shafts, as nothing looks so vulgar as shafts pointing up to the skies, with all the weight on the belly-band. |Shafts and balance of cart.| It must be borne in mind that by letting down the shafts the balance of the cart can be very considerably altered. This alteration is often useful when there are four people in the cart, as few dog-carts balance well with this number, the weight being nearly always on the belly-band. Few owners thoroughly appreciate what misery their friends undergo when made to occupy a back seat under these conditions, as they so rarely try it themselves.

The belly-band should not hang down |Belly-band.| quite loose, but, while allowing a little play of the shafts, should be tight enough to prevent them from tipping up to any extent.

|Girth of pad.| The pad as well as the crupper should be buckled up pretty tight if there are any steep hills to go down, and a breeching is not used; otherwise the pad will slip forward and gall the horse’s withers. Sore withers give a great deal of trouble and are difficult to cure. Another result of the pad slipping forward is chafing of the horse’s elbows. On some horses the only way to prevent it is to fasten the girth back to the shaft on each side by means of straps. This plan is frequently used in hansoms in London. The pad itself should be well stuffed off the back, particularly with high-withered horses.

|The blinkers.| The blinkers should be so fitted that the horse’s eyes come almost in the middle of them, while the headstall should be tight enough to prevent the blinkers from bulging out when pressure is put on the bit, and thus enabling the horse to see behind him; but they should be fitted so as not to turn inwards and almost touch the eyes. |Horse’s comfort reflected in manner of going.| This is a point which is very often little attended to, but one which makes a considerable difference to the horse’s comfort, and is naturally reflected in his manner of going.

The throat-lash should not be fastened too |Throat-lash.| tight; if it is, it will half choke the horse. It should be loose enough to allow three fingers to be passed between it and the horse’s throat.

The nose-band should admit of the breadth |Nose-band.| of two fingers between it and the horse’s jaw.

|Bitting.| Bitting is all a matter of common sense and practice. The reins must be altered up or down the bit until the adjustment most comfortable for the horse has been discovered. But even then a great deal will depend on |Hands.| what is generally known as “Hands.” This really unknown quantity, consisting as it does of complete sympathy between the horse and his driver, though born and not made, can be improved to some extent by teaching and practice. This gift has been defined as “not using more force on the reins than the exigencies of the occasion render absolutely necessary.” As a general rule the bit should lie flat in the horse’s mouth about one inch above the tusks.

|Curb-chain.| The curb-chain must not be too tight, and there ought to be room for at least two fingers to be placed between it and the horse’s jaw. If a horse is at all inclined to be a puller, an ignorant groom will very often fix it as tight as he can, with the probable result that the horse will jib or pull all the harder. In the latter case he will be likely to get a sore under the jaw. The best remedy for this is to fix a piece of leather on the chain, so that the latter does not rub on the sore place. If a horse bores to the near side, putting the rein down lower on the off than on the near side will very often make him go straight, and vice versâ. Some horses pull with very sharp bits, and will not do so with a snaffle, while others do just the contrary. A double-ring snaffle covered with leather or made of indiarubber is useful for very light-mouthed horses.

|Use of a net.| A net usually stops horses pulling for a time, but it is doubtful whether it has a permanent effect; so that it is better to leave it off occasionally.

|Bearing-rein.| If a horse is inclined to put his head down, and bore, a bearing-rein will prevent him from doing so; but it must not be too tight. There are many horses that would be undrivable without one, as it keeps their heads in the proper position, and thus takes the weight off the driver’s hand. When driving a young horse or a bad kicker it is always advisable to have a loose one on, as it will prevent him from becoming unmanageable by putting his head between his legs. The American pattern, which passes from the bearing-rein hook on the pad over the top of the horse’s head, through a keeper on the headpiece between his ears, down to the bridoon is very useful for a hard puller.

The correct adjustment of a bearing-rein requires a certain amount of practice, as when the horse is standing still it always appears much tighter than it really is.

|Bitting of a pulling horse.| Sometimes a very hard puller, especially in a team, can be driven with a big Liverpool bit hanging loose in his mouth and with the reins fixed to a bridoon; a bearing-rein can also be fitted on this bridoon if required.

A martingale will prove effective in the case of horses who pull owing to their habit of star-gazing.

Sometimes a horse pulls by getting hold of the cheek of the bit with his lip. This can be met with the elbow-bit, which is an improvement on the Liverpool bit, as, by having a bend in it, the cheek is so far back that the horse cannot reach it with his lips or tongue. The reason that this bit is not more generally used is that many people consider it unsightly.

Indiarubber-covered bits, especially those with a double bar, also answer very well with some pulling horses, the effect then being to make the bit work on a different part of the mouth from that to which they are accustomed.

A double bar can easily be improvised by sewing a piece of leather, like a lip-strap, only larger, across the top of an ordinary bit, just below the end of the headpiece.

An inveterate puller may in time get used to any bit, in which case frequent change is the only remedy.

|Every horse’s mouth has a key.| In fact there is a key to almost every horse’s mouth if it can only be found, and it is well worth taking considerable trouble to find it; though frequently much patience and many experiments will be required before a successful result is obtained, and the man who has to drive many horses must have a large assortment of bits.

|Martingale.| A martingale is excellent for a horse that carries his head in the air, and also very effective for one that rears. It should be so adjusted as to keep the nose about in line with the withers, and is generally fixed to the nose-band, but may be attached to the bit, and when so attached it is better to use a half-moon snaffle, or one without a joint in it, as this greatly reduces the chances of the corners of the horse’s mouth getting sore.

Circular pieces of leather, called cheek leathers, are also very useful in this respect with ordinary bits, as they keep the corners |Corners of mouth sore.| of the horse’s mouth from being pinched by the cheeks, and also prevent to a certain extent his getting hold of them with his lips.

For a horse that has only one side to |One-sided mouth.| his mouth, it often answers to have a few tacks put on the inside of the piece of leather, which effectually stops him from leaning his head out to that side.

These pieces have a round hole in the middle, which fits the bar of the bit, and a slit from this hole to the outside, so that they can be put on and taken off quite easily.

|Kicking-strap.| Kicking-straps can be used either in single or double harness. In the former the strap passes up from one of the shafts through a loop in the crupper, and down to the other shaft. In double harness two straps are required. These are fixed to the pad, from which they run parallel to the crupper down to the splinter bar. They are connected by a short strap across the loins. Kicking-straps should be so adjusted that there should be plenty of room for the movement of the horse’s quarters, as if he breaks into a canter they are liable to catch his quarters and so make him kick. A good rule is to allow a hand’s breadth between the horse’s back and this strap.

|Fitting of breeching.| A breeching is a necessity in a hilly country, more especially with a two-wheeled cart, when a brake is of no use. It should hang about a foot below the upper part of the dock, and have about four to six inches’ play when the horse is in the collar.

|Three kinds of breeching.| There are three kinds of breechings for a dog-cart.

The first starts from the tug on one end of the backband, and goes right round the horse’s quarters to the tug on the other.

The second buckles to loops on each shaft, these loops being placed half way between the stops and the front of the cart.

|Brown’s patent.| The third consists of a broad strap, which is stretched fairly taut across the shafts about six or eight inches from the front of the cart. This one is always ready and requires no adjustment, looks neat, and answers admirably. It is known as Brown’s patent.

The first method is better than the second, because it does not require any extra loops on the shafts, which tend to weaken them considerably, and also it does not take any of the paint off.

|Breeching rubbing the horse.| If a horse’s quarters should get rubbed by the breeching, the best plan to prevent any further damage is to have a large piece of sheepskin sewn round the strap, with the hair next the horse.

|Crupper.| The crupper ought to be fitted so that there is room for the breadth of the hand, or about four inches, between it and the horse’s back, when the pad is in the right place. Great care should be taken that all the hairs of the tail are passed through the crupper.

|Breast harness.| Breast harness can very often be substituted for collars with great advantage, especially when the horses’ necks get wrung by the latter.

This method of draught also obviates the necessity of keeping a large number of collars to fit all sorts of horses, while another advantage is, that you are able to use breechings to the best advantage in double harness.

The breast strap should be made of a strong leather strap, about three inches wide, and padded inside so that the hard edges do not touch the skin.

For double harness a ring must be sewn into the middle for the purpose of attaching the pole chains.

The breast strap is held up by a light strap passing over the horse’s withers, and the breeching, by a similar strap, passing over the croup. A crupper can be used, but is not necessary.

The breast straps should lie flat, and be kept well above the point of the shoulders. They must be carefully adjusted, the usual fault being that they are placed too low. Each end of the breast strap has a buckle, into which both the trace and the end of the breeching are fastened. Of course it is impossible to get as much work out of a horse with breast harness as with collars.

|Whip.| The whip should be as light as possible, and well balanced, the thong being about half the length of the stick. The points should always be of leather, as these are much the best in wet weather. |Always hang whip up.| A whip should never be allowed to stand in a corner or up against a wall, as it will very quickly warp in that position. It should always be kept hung up, either on a reel or by a string to a nail in the wall.

Before leaving the subject of harness, a word on the general appearance and neatness of turn-out will not be out of place. Straps ought to be shortened to fit the horse, and be no longer than absolutely necessary.

To prevent any ends flapping about, keepers must be tight, and fitted so as to be within an inch or two of the points of the straps. Nothing catches the eye more quickly, or looks more slovenly, than the ends of the traces sticking out a foot beyond the keepers, or a belly-band strap dangling loose underneath the horse.

When buying harness go to a really good maker: cheap clumsy harness never pays.

CHAPTER II
DRIVING—SINGLE HARNESS.

|The start.| Before starting, always have a good look round, and see that all the harness is put on correctly; then go to the off side of the horse and take the reins in the right hand, the near rein under the forefinger and the off rein under the third finger. |Getting into dog-cart.| Get up into the cart and sit down immediately; now transfer the reins into the left hand, the near rein over the forefinger, and the off rein under the middle finger. Thus you have two fingers between the reins (fig. 2). The reason for this is that it gives much more scope |How to hold reins.| for play of the wrist on the horse’s mouth than if you only have one finger between the reins. The thumb should point straight to the right, and the forefinger be held well out, pointing to the right rear. This will keep the near rein close up to the knuckle, and the horse may easily be moved across the road to either the left or right by turning the back of the hand up or down respectively.

FIG. 2.—SINGLE HARNESS—POSITION OF THE HANDS.

|Sit well up.| Sit well up; nothing looks so bad as to see the driver leaning forward over the reins.

Finally, take the whip in the right hand at |How to start.| the place where it balances most comfortably, and you are ready to start. Then give the horse the office to start by feeling his mouth gently and speaking to him; if he does not respond touch him gently with the whip.

The moment he starts drop the hand slightly; jibbing is often caused by neglect of the latter precaution.

|Elbows must be close to sides.| Keep your elbows close to your sides, with the points almost touching the hips. The wrists should be well bent, as by this means you are enabled to keep a perfectly steady bearing on the horse’s mouth without any jerking. This is a very important point.

|Fore arm horizontal.| The fore arm should be horizontal, and the fingers from two to four inches from the centre of the body, with the knuckles to the front.

|Lower fingers to grip the reins.| The thumb must not be pressed down on the rein, except when a loop is taken up to turn a corner to the right or left (see fig. 23), |How to turn.| when the right hand is available for shortening the other rein to prevent the horse turning too rapidly, or else to use the whip to bring him round.

The fingers which should grip the reins, (so tightly that they should never slip), are the three lower ones. The forefinger should be held as in fig. 2.

|Whip not to be used when hand on reins.| Never keep a large amount of slack of the off rein in your right hand (fig. 3), as then you cannot use the whip; and remember never to hit the horse while the right hand is holding a rein.

The reason for this is obvious, because if you do try to hit him when you have the off rein in the right hand, you must slack that rein off, and the horse immediately dashes away to the left.

FIG. 3.—SINGLE HARNESS—RIGHT HAND IN WRONG POSITION.

|Never move reins in left hand.| It cannot be too strongly impressed on the beginner, that whether the right hand is on the reins or not, they should always be of the same length in the hand, and never be allowed to slip.

The right hand should never on any account take the off rein out of the left hand. It is the first and most important law of driving, that the reins, as held in the left hand, should be of such a length as to keep the horse straight, and should remain at that length, whether the right hand is being used on one or other of them or not.

No coachman who drives with a rein in each hand can be said to know his business, and yet it is one of the commonest things to be seen in London.

|Do not job horse’s mouth.| Never use the whip on the horse unnecessarily, and never job him in the mouth except to punish him for doing something wrong. Nevertheless, for a horse which is inclined to kick, jobbing is very useful when applied at the right time, more especially if accompanied by a sharp hit with the whip over his ears.

|Never hit a shier.| The whip should never be used on a shier, it will only frighten him, and confirm him in the habit, which is caused by nervousness and not by vice. Encourage him rather by |Use the voice.| speaking to him, as there is nothing a horse learns to understand quicker than his master’s voice.

Do not flap the reins on his back either to start him or to make him increase his pace.

|Pace should be steady.| Learn to drive at a steady and even pace. From eight to nine miles an hour will usually be found most suitable to average horses, but do not on any account drive sometimes at six miles and sometimes at ten. Nothing tires a horse so much as constantly changing the pace.

|Start slow.| It is usually better to start a little slower, especially if you have a long way to go.

Once fairly started, keep your eyes well fixed in front of you, and watch exactly what other vehicles are doing, so that you may never have to pull up suddenly. You should be able to see from a distance whether you can get through or not, and if you see that you cannot, begin to slow down at once.

|Jerky pace very bad.| Never increase your pace, or check it, suddenly. Nothing is more uncomfortable for the passengers or more wearying to the horse.

It is far better for the beginner to slow down at once, if he is not sure of getting through a tight place, than to go fast up to it, and then have to pull up quite suddenly, if he can pull up at all. This cannot always be done at the last moment, and an accident is the result. |Shortening reins.| As a rule, when it is necessary to pull up in a hurry, the reins cannot be shortened except by throwing up the hands, which, to say the least of it, looks very unbusinesslike. The proper course to pursue is to catch hold of the reins with the first finger and thumb of the right hand just behind the left, and shorten them as much as necessary by pulling them through (fig. 4).

FIG. 4.—SHORTENING REINS.

It is far better on such an occasion to have the reins rather too short than too long, but if only a small amount of shortening is required the right hand can be placed on the reins in front of the left and the left hand slid up to the right (fig. 5).

|Signal with whip to carriage behind.| When driving in a town, it is the rule to swing the whip stick round once or twice as an indication to the drivers of vehicles behind you that you are going to slow down or turn a corner.

|Turn corners carefully.| Before coming to the turn the pace must always be checked, particularly in a town, where the streets are generally slippery and there is nearly always a curbstone. Many an accident occurs daily through corners being negotiated carelessly. This advice appears almost superfluous, but the reader will find that to drive, even fairly broken horses, collectedly round sharp turns requires great care and precaution.

|Starting a jibber.| In conclusion, it is worth pointing out, that a horse which is inclined to jib, may often be started either by turning him to one side with the rein, or if this fails, by getting some one to push him over. The reason is that he is thus made to move before the pull comes on his shoulders.

FIG. 5.—SHORTENING REINS BY SLIDING LEFT HAND
UP TO RIGHT.

|Fit of gloves.| The fit of the gloves may seem a very trivial matter to the uninitiated, but it is not considered such by the expert coachman.

Any one attempting to drive with tight “masher” gloves will find his hand cramped in a very short time. All his power is taken up in trying to keep his hand shut and wrestling with his gloves, and not as it should be in holding the reins tight.

It is difficult in fact to have them too large.

They should be made of dogskin, and when new, at least one inch longer than the fingers, and rather larger, also very loose indeed across the palm of the hand and wrist. They will very soon shrink down and become the right size, after the hand has got damp in them once or twice.

It is a good plan to punch a few round holes in the back of the gloves to keep the hand cool.

The leather should be hard and tough, but not too thick. Strapping inside is apt to make gloves clumsy and very awkward for driving, especially with four reins.

|Woollen gloves.| Woollen gloves should always be carried, as they are the most comfortable in wet weather, and the reins do not slip through them.

|Carriage rugs.| Never drive without a rug or apron of some kind. A light cloth or cotton one may be used in summer, but for the winter it is far better to have a thick one of box cloth warmly lined. When choosing an apron, remember to get one with a V-shaped piece let in at the top; this adds greatly to one’s comfort if there are two people in the cart, as it allows of the sides being tucked under, and thus keeps out both cold and wet very much better than one without the V let into it.

|Hints on building dog-cart.| A dog-cart is the handiest of two-wheeled carts for all-round purposes, and therefore the one in most general use; so that a few hints on the selection or building of such a vehicle may be of use to those who have not had much practical experience in that line. At the same time I would strongly recommend that when buying a carriage of any kind professional advice should, if possible, be obtained, since no one without experience can possibly find out faulty workmanship or detect defects in the material.

The following would be built for horses about 15.2 in height:—

|Height of wheels.| The wheels should be fairly high, say about five feet, as this enables the horse to pull the cart over any small obstruction with greater ease than with low wheels.

|Track of wheels.| The track should be from five to five feet three inches wide. This gives plenty of room inside, and makes the cart less likely to upset.

FIG. 6.—DOG-CART.

|Bent shafts.| Bent shafts are the most convenient for driving horses of different heights, and should be pivoted on the front part of the cart and adjustable behind. A cart so constructed will easily admit of horses from 14.2 to 16 hands being driven in the same vehicle.

|Body of cart should be wide and low.| The body should be as wide as possible, because nothing is more uncomfortable than being cramped on a narrow seat. It also ought to be low on the axle, thus rendering the cart far more safe and also more comfortable.

A fixed body is better than one that moves backwards and forwards on the shafts, because it always remains the same distance from the horse, and enables the cart to be built lighter.

|Seat of cart.| The seat should be low enough to prevent the driver from feeling he is in want of a footstool or that he is half standing, and should slide in a groove out of which it cannot come if the horse falls down. Many men have been thrown out and had bad accidents simply because of the seat coming away. It is moreover more comfortable if slightly below the top of the sides of the cart. The back and front seats should be so arranged that the cart will balance equally well with one person or four—a result which can be arrived at by having the seats to slide backwards and forwards when more than two people are in the cart. |Heath’s patent seat the best.| I consider Heath’s patent the best for this purpose; it is very light and effective.

|Adjustable foot-rest necessary.| If the seat is a sliding one, the driver must have an adjustable foot-rest, and this can easily be managed by having about half-a-dozen pairs of holes in the floor of the cart for the foot-rest to fit into. It should be a plain board covered with indiarubber to prevent the feet slipping, and tilted at an incline which will keep the feet at right angles to the legs. |Bar foot-rest dangerous.| A bar foot-rest is most dangerous, as the feet may be easily caught under it in getting out of the cart. |Position of lamps.| The lamps should be fixed between the wheels and the sides of the cart, care being taken that there is plenty of room for them, so that should they get bent by any accident they will not interfere with the wheels. This position is much the best for tandem driving; in any other position they are continually catching the lash of the whip, and are consequently a perpetual source of annoyance.

|Best trace attachment.| The best system of draught for a dog-cart is that in which the traces are attached to a swingle-tree, from the centre of which two chains pass down to loops fixed to the axle close to the inside of the wheels.

|Swingle-tree.| The swingle-tree is held up by two straps which pass through metal loops in the front part of the cart. These straps should be pretty strong; were they to break, the bar would fall on the horse’s hocks and cause an accident.

|Chains on swingle-tree not to be too long.| Be careful that the chains are not too long, and that the pull is really on them, and not as is frequently the case entirely on the straps. In the latter case of course the swingle-tree ceases to be of any use.

|Advantages of swingle-tree attachment.| The swingle-tree attachment enables the horse to pull directly from the axle-tree by means of the chains, and in this way the best line of draught is obtained; moreover a certain amount of play is given to the horses’ shoulders and the chance of their galling is less than with the ordinary method.

CHAPTER III
DRIVING—DOUBLE HARNESS.

FIG. 7.—DOUBLE HARNESS ON HORSE.

To drive a pair well, that is, to be able to put-to and drive any two horses, is not such an easy thing as at first sight it may appear to the uninitiated. To drive a pair of good goers thoroughly accustomed to their work, and harnessed up in the right manner, is such a very simple matter that the merest tyro ought to be able to compete with it, with fair success. But when he has two entirely different and unknown animals to take in hand, it is quite another question.

|Belly-bands.| Double harness is fitted exactly the same way as single, except that the belly-bands should be slightly looser, so as to admit two or three fingers between them and the girths.

We will suppose that the harness has been put on the horses and correctly fitted to them, and that they are standing in the stable ready to be put-to; then the correct way of bringing them out would be as follows:—

|How to lead horse out of stable.| The traces having been placed across his back, the horse should be led out by the nose-band, not by the rein or the bar of the bit, otherwise the groom is very apt to job him in the mouth without intending to do so, a performance to which he may object and run violently back, or rear up and fall over. Great care should be exercised when leading out of the stable. It not infrequently happens that horses hit their hips against the walls, which is liable to chip them, and cause lameness, besides teaching them the extremely bad habit of rushing out of the stable-door.

|Hooking in alongside of pole.| Bring the horse carefully up alongside of the pole, so that he does not hit either the pole or the bar, and at once insert the hook of the pole chain into the ring of the kidney link of the hames, to prevent his running back on to the splinter bar.

Now place the outside trace on the roller bolt, and afterwards fix the inside one. The quicker the latter is done with uncertain horses or kickers the better, as this operation renders it necessary to reach right over behind their quarters. If only one horse is likely to kick, he should be put in first, to avoid this danger. When taking out the exact reverse should always be adhered to.

|Polling up.| Never pole up the horses too tightly, as it is very uncomfortable for them, more especially with a team, when the pole is a heavy one, because if the pole chains are tight the weight of the pole will be always resting on their necks. See that the end of the hook on the chain is pointing downwards, as otherwise a horse with a bar across the bottom of his bit may get caught in it.

|Pole pieces.| For ordinary pair work leather pole pieces are commonly used instead of chains. They do not require so much cleaning, and are much less trouble. They must be made of strong leather and kept soft with dubbing or salad oil, otherwise they may become rotten and dangerous.

|Adjustment of coupling reins.| The correct adjustment of the two short inside reins, called coupling reins, requires great care. They should be so fitted that an even pressure is brought on both sides of the horses’ mouths, and in such a way also that both horses shall go straight and pull evenly on the traces (fig. 8).

FIG. 8.—COUPLING REINS PROPERLY FITTED—HORSES’ HEADS STRAIGHT.

With a view to this the outer reins have a number of holes punched in them, up and down which the buckles of the coupling reins can be shifted, thus enabling them to be shortened or lengthened to suit each particular horse’s mouth.

|To prevent a horse carrying his head to one side.| For instance, if the near horse carries his head to the near side, the coupling rein on the off side should be taken up, when his head will be straightened. At the same time it must be borne in mind that if a coupling rein is let out the effect is also produced of shortening up the outer rein on the same side, and thus bringing the horse on that side further back than the other.

|To make horses which carry their heads in different ways pull level.| Supposing we have two horses apparently well matched, but that the near horse carries his head rather out to the front and has a light mouth, while the off horse has a hard mouth and carries his head close in to his chest. Now to get this pair to pull equally on the traces we must obviously have the near horse’s reins considerably longer than those of the off horse. If they have been put to with the coupling reins of equal length, both buckled in the centre holes, there will then be three or four holes on each side of the buckles, and the reins can either be let out or taken up (fig. 9).

FIG. 9.—COUPLING REINS OF EQUAL LENGTH.

In this case we should begin by letting out the off side coupling rein two holes, and taking up the near-side rein the same number (fig. 10).

Then as the near horse has a light mouth, he should be put on the cheek, and the hard-mouthed pulling off horse on the middle bar. This fitting will probably suit the horses, and the pull on all four traces will be even.

The reins will now be adjusted like those in fig. 10, which shows how the near horse is able to hold his head well in front of the other, while the collars are brought level.

|Coupling reins must not be too tight.| The most general fault is coupling up both reins too tightly, which makes the horses carry their heads in towards the pole, instead of going quite straight, as they should do. To prevent horses acquiring this habit, it is a good plan occasionally to change their positions, instead of always driving them on the same side of the pole.

FIG. 10.—OFF-SIDE COUPLING REIN FITTED FOR HORSE
WHICH POKES HIS NOSE, NEAR COUPLING REIN FITTED
FOR HORSE WHICH CARRIES HEAD IN CHEST.

This fault is very often to be seen in the leaders of a team, keeping them close together, and causing them to rub up against each other to such an extent that they sometimes chafe.

|To alter length of rein without interfering with coupling rein.| It is a convenience, particularly when breaking young horses, to have more than one hole in the billets for buckling the reins on the bits, so that a horse can be pulled back or let out a hole on either side without altering the coupling rein.

|To prevent horses leaning against the pole.| Horses in a pair sometimes get into the trick of leaning in against the pole, particularly when going down hill.

It is a difficult habit to cure them of, and perhaps the best preventive is a good cut with the whip when they first attempt it, though a little furze or a bit of hedgehog skin on the pole is sometimes effective.

|Reins must not be allowed to slip.| The reins must never be allowed to slip through the fingers of the left hand, nor under any circumstances should the off rein be taken |Right rein never be taken out of left hand.| out of the left hand in order to turn to the right or pull across the road.

The right hand should pull the rein towards the centre of the body, and not out to the side to which you wish to go.

|To prevent collar galling the wither.| Sometimes a horse gets galled by the collar, from being continually pulled up, or from holding back down steep hills; this can be remedied by having a tinned iron plate fitted on under the top of the collar, without taking the horse out of work.

|Length of traces.| It will be found that traces usually stretch and become of unequal length; when this occurs, the shorter trace should be put on the inside, and should be marked, so that it shall not be put on the outside by mistake. With some horses it will be found necessary to have the inside trace half a hole or even one hole shorter than the outer one, so as to obtain an equal pressure on both sides of the collar.

|Bearing straps.| If bearing straps for the traces are used they should be just long enough to keep them in a straight line; if longer, they will jump up when the horse goes into his collar.

Further instructions for his guidance in driving a pair the reader will find in the chapter on driving four horses.

Breaks are so commonly used in India, that a few hints may prove useful.

As a rule those in use are so low that the horses’ quarters are in front of the footboard instead of being under it, and the driver is consequently too far from his work. In modern breaks the driving seat and boot are built almost exactly like those of a coach, where the footboard is well over the horses’ quarters. That portion of the footboard which comes over the roller bolts should be about five feet from the ground, which gives room for the horses underneath.

The inside seats should be at least six feet long, so as to take four people comfortably on each side; a second seat behind the driving seat as on a coach can be added, and if necessary can be made removable. This gives three extra seats looking to the front, the occupants of which will not suffer so much from the dust as if they were inside.

The body can be hung on four elliptical springs, with a cross spring on the hind axle, or on two elliptical springs in front with two side springs and a cross spring behind. The latter method is to be preferred.

|Break measurements.| The approximate dimensions are as follows (see fig. 40): height of body from ground, 3 ft. 6 in.; driving seat without cushions, 7 ft.; front wheels, 3 ft. 2 in.; hind wheels, 4 ft. 6 in.; length of pole, 10 ft. 6 in.; weight about 12 cwt.; track, 5 ft.

CHAPTER IV
CURRICLE AND CAPE-CART.

When it is desired to drive a pair, but owing to the expense, lack of carriage accommodation, or other reasons, the purchase of an extra carriage is inconvenient, an ordinary dog-cart can be fitted with a pole and adapted for a pair of ponies or horses at a very small cost. In such a case however the pole of the dog-cart, having nothing to support it with the ordinary double harness, would fall to the ground, and it would therefore be necessary to adopt one of the two following methods of draught:—

|Curricle.| 1. That known as Curricle, in which a bar passing from one horse to the other over the pads supports the pole by means of a strap or brace.

|Cape-cart.| 2. The system employed in what is generally known as the Cape-cart, in which the supporting bar passes through a ring near the end of the pole, and is held up by straps passing over the horses’ necks.

The first of these systems is the smarter in appearance, while the other is more suitable for rough work. I will begin by discussing the Curricle.

|Cost of curricle.| An ordinary dog-cart which has removable shafts can be fitted with the requisite gear, including the curricle bar and the pole chains, for about £10. The necessary alterations were made to my own dog-cart by Messrs. Heath of Aldershot, who had originally built it, but with no idea at the time it was made of having a pole eventually fitted to it. I found that it worked admirably from the first, and no subsequent alterations or repairs were necessary, there being in fact nothing at all likely to get out of order.

|How to fit dog-cart with a pole.| To adapt the cart for pole draught, a large square iron loop must be fixed under the front of the cart, and a smaller one under the centre. The latter loop must be very strong and firmly fixed, as it has to take the extreme end of the pole, which at times puts on it a very great amount of strain.

An extra board will therefore probably have to be fitted right across the bottom of the cart, the ordinary boarding of which the bottom of a dog-cart is usually made being too thin and flimsy to resist the strain which the pole loop will put on it. Should this loop tear out, or the board to which it is fixed give way, a very serious accident may occur.

The pole must of course fit both loops accurately, and it must be secured in them by a bolt passing through it and preventing it from being drawn out.

FIG. 11.—POLE FITTED WITH SPRING FOR CURRICLE.

Underneath the pole at the point where the supporting strap will come there should be a strong spring (fig. 11), which will do away with much of the jar on the pole itself, and also on the backs of the horses; and if it is likely that a team of four will be driven, the pole should be made with a hook at the end to take the swingle bars.

|Bars for attaching traces.| For the attachment of the traces two bars must be provided for, and as the front of the cart will be too narrow for these to be fixed to it direct, iron stays projecting about six inches to either side can be screwed on underneath each end of the front of the cart. The bars can then be fixed to these stays by bolts passing through their centres. The bars will then revolve on their centres and give the horses’ shoulders plenty of play, enabling them to do their work with much comfort.

To the dog-cart itself no other alterations are necessary. The addition of the pole does not affect the balance to any appreciable extent.

|Difference between curricle and ordinary double harness.| With regard to the harness, the chief difference between curricle and ordinary double harness is in the pads.

These must be strong and heavy, and fitted with special roller bolts, on which the steel curricle bar rests (fig. 12). They require to be heavy and strong, because at times the pole will put a considerable weight on them, more particularly when going down hill.

FIG. 12.—CURRICLE BAR AND ROLLER BOLTS.

On each side they have a leather loop like those on a tandem pad, and through these the traces are passed. In the bolts on the top of the pads is pivoted a small steel roller. The curricle bar rests on the rollers, and by their action is enabled to work freely from side to side, or from one horse towards the other, without any friction or noise. The rollers can be raised or lowered about a couple of inches, so that should the horses be of unequal height the bar can be levelled by raising or dropping one end of it.

|Curricle bar.| The bar should be made of steel, and must be long enough to give at least six inches play to the outside of each pad when the horses are standing square in their places. It has a small screw at each end, on which are screwed flat circular nuts to prevent the bar dropping out of the bolts and off the rollers. These are put on immediately the bar has been passed through the bolts, and are themselves secured and prevented from coming unscrewed by V-shaped steel ties, which pass through slits at the extreme ends of the bar. In the centre of the bar is a long-shaped loop or slit, through which the brace or supporting strap is passed (fig. 12).

|Supporting strap or brace.| This brace should be a strong leather strap about three inches wide. It passes under the spring below the pole, through the slit in the bar, and is fastened by a large double buckle.

The traces are the same as for single harness.

|How to prevent pole tipping up.| To prevent the pole from tipping up when the weight is on the back of the cart, a light strap, with a double buckle at each end of it, can be fastened to the end of the girth-strap of one of the pads under the horse, passed over the pole, and again buckled at the other end to the other horse’s girth-strap. This is an effectual remedy for the tilting up of the pole, even when a heavy man mounts suddenly on to the back seat. In all other respects the harness is the same as ordinary double harness.

If the cart is fitted with a swingle bar for single harness, the steel chains which connect the bar to the axle can perfectly well be used as pole chains, in which case it would be unnecessary to purchase new ones.

Ponies of fourteen hands or upwards, which would look too small for a full-sized dog-cart in single harness, and would be unable owing to its weight to draw it, look extremely well and make little of the weight when driven as a pair, and can thus be utilized in curricle when perhaps their services in harness would otherwise be lost.

A team of horses, or better still of ponies, can also be driven in the poled dog-cart, provided that the pole has the hook referred to before at the end of it.

Four horses look altogether too big, and the team is too long for the short cart behind it; but a team of ponies, although they also look rather too long, are very much better; and the slight disadvantage of appearance is well counterbalanced by the pleasure of driving them, and by the ease with which long distances can be covered without distress.

Given a good, comfortable, roomy dog-cart and four fairly-trained ponies which are really fit, and no more enjoyable way of travelling about a country can be found for two, three, or even four people. The weight to be drawn is so small compared to the horse-power employed, that all hills can be surmounted at a rapid pace, and long distances can be covered in a single day, without placing any undue strain on the cattle.

The bars, though considerably lighter, are exactly like the bars of a coach, while the leaders’ harness, it is hardly necessary to remark, is precisely the same.

|Cape-cart.| In the Cape-cart, about eighteen inches from the end of the pole, comes a supporting bar or yoke, sometimes called a bugle, the use of which is to prevent the pole from falling to the ground. This bar, usually made of lance wood, about an inch in diameter, and five feet long, can be attached to the pole in several ways, but it is best so to arrange it that it can slide up and down the pole as well as from side to side. Perhaps the best and simplest attachment is obtained by passing a short strap with brass rings at each end of it round the pole, and then putting the yoke through the rings. The middle of the yoke ought to be covered with leather, to prevent it being chafed by the pole.

Though collars can be used, breast harness is nearly always employed, and is much to be preferred on account of the breeching being much more effective than with collars; without a breeching the horses are apt to come back on to the splinter bar.

Neither cruppers nor pads are essential.

FIG. 13.—CAPE-CART HARNESS.

The breast harness is held up by straps which pass through the same pads as the yoke straps.

These latter are fixed near the middle of the yoke, and pass through pads on the horses’ withers to short buckling pieces attached near the outer ends of the bar.

|Makers of Cape harness.| Messrs. Atkinson and Philipson of Newcastle-on-Tyne make a speciality of this kind of harness.

A dog-cart can be adapted for the Cape-cart draught in exactly the same manner as previously described for curricle; the pole, however, should be rather longer.

Advocates of the Cape-cart claim the following advantages for it over the Curricle: that specially constructed heavy pads are not required, and that should one horse fall, there is very slight chance of his bringing down the other with him.

These two styles of draught are much used abroad, the latter in India, where it is known as “Tonga,” the former in South Africa, whence it derives its name. As far as utility goes there appears to be little between them.

FIG. 14.—SPRINGING A HILL.

CHAPTER V
DRIVING FOUR HORSES—POSITION OF COACHMAN.

In order to learn to drive four horses as they should be driven, it is necessary to begin by studying the rules and general principles of this most fascinating amusement. To the lovers of this pastime nothing is more enjoyable than sitting behind a perfect and well-appointed team skilfully driven. |Constant practice necessary.| It is most essential for one who would become a thoroughly efficient whip to have several years of constant practice, and even when this has been obtained, it will be found that there is still always something to learn.

FIG. 16.—FOUR WEIGHTS AND PULLEYS FOR PRACTISING DRIVING.

|Practice with weights.| For driving, like so many other accomplishments, requires to be kept up, or else the hand and eye will very soon be found to have lost their cunning, and not only does one become slow and clumsy with the whip and reins, but the arms and fingers soon tire. In order to keep the hand in, when not driving regularly, an arrangement of weights and pulleys is a very convenient toy. It requires a weight of about twenty pounds (a cylinder of lead is very handy), to which is attached a strong cord. This passes over pulley P (fig. 15), fixed for convenience to the mantelpiece or other projection from the wall, down to pulley P¹, on the floor, and then ends in a loop, into which four straps can be fastened like reins. Then sitting in a comfortable chair, the hands holding the straps like reins, the weight can be kept working up and down (four or five inches will be found quite sufficient) for ten minutes or so. Another method, which is rather more complicated, but more useful for the beginner, is shown in fig. 16. This, while strengthening his arms and fingers, enables him to acquire the art of looping and shortening the reins, and in fact to practise all the tricks of |Arrangement of pulleys and weights.| the trade. For this practice eight pulleys are required; four are fixed on the wall, about three or four feet from the ground and from three to six inches apart; the other four are placed directly under these, and fixed to the floor close up against the wall. A strong cord is passed under each lower pulley first, then over the pulley directly above, the ends being fastened to weights of four or five pounds. To the other ends of the cords are attached leather straps similar to ordinary reins. Thus you have four reins, the two inner ones representing the wheelers, the two outer ones the leaders.

FIG. 15.—PRACTISING DRIVING WITH THE WEIGHTS.

|Weight on hands when driving four horses.| It has been found by trial that the approximate weight on the hands when driving a light team is about five pounds, but the average weight may be taken as about ten or twelve pounds, which will be much increased with a team of pullers; while going down a steep hill the pressure will not infrequently exceed thirty-five pounds. These pressures, which I ascertained after many experiments, will show the novice how all-important it is that he should be really fit, and the muscles of his arms and fingers well developed, before he can hope to be really master of a team of horses.

It is always advisable, while practising with weights, to hold a whip, or stick to represent a whip, in the right hand, as by so doing you will very soon get into the way of using this hand correctly on the reins (fig. 15).

|Muscle of thumb necessary for holding whip.| It is very important for the young driver to develop the muscle of the thumb; otherwise it will be found extremely tiring to hold the whip properly for any considerable time, more especially against a high wind.

Messrs. Whippy and Steggall have shown me a very neat arrangement of weights and pulleys which can be easily fitted up in any room, and is well worth inspection.

|Position of body on driving seat.| When driving, the body should be kept upright and square to the front, but all stiffness should be avoided. The driving seat should be low, and about three or four inches higher at the back than in front, so that the driver can sit down in a really comfortable position. |Position of legs.| The ankles and knees should be just touching each other, and the arms close to the sides, the point of the elbows touching the hip bone. |Position of arms.| The forearm should be about horizontal, and the left hand from three to four inches from the centre of the body, the back of the hand being turned towards the front and nearly vertical, but inclined a little towards the horses. |Position of left wrist.| The wrist must be bent slightly towards the body, and on no account allowed to bend the other way. This is far the best position for feeling the horses’ mouths, as the wrist then acts like a spring, and a perfectly even pressure can be maintained. |Leaning forward bad.| Sit well back, and do not lean forward over the reins in the attitude of a dairymaid on a milking-stool. |Driver should sit well down.| The driver should on no account be half standing, or merely leaning against the seat, with unbent knees, as, in the event of a wheeler falling or shying up a bank, he will inevitably be jerked off the coach.

CHAPTER VI
FOUR HORSES—THE REINS.

|How to hold reins.| The best way of holding the reins is to have the near lead over the left forefinger, the off lead between the forefinger and the middle finger, the near wheel between the same and under the off lead, and the off wheel between the middle and the third finger (fig. 17) |Thumb and forefinger must not hold the reins.| . The reins must be gripped firmly by the three lower fingers of the left hand, so that they cannot possibly slip, the thumb and forefinger never being used to hold the reins except when looping. The thumb should invariably point to the right, and the forefinger be held well out. The near lead rein should pass over or close to the knuckle of the forefinger, and not over the first or second joint. The beginner will find that after a time the muscle at the base of the left thumb will develop wonderfully, and that the reins will be held between this muscle and the lower fingers very firmly without any apparent effort.

FIG. 17.—FOUR-IN-HAND—HOW TO HOLD REINS.

|Adjusting length of reins in hand.| There are various ways of adjusting the reins, either by pulling them out or pushing them back from the front, or by pulling them from behind, or by taking out the lead reins.

|Shortening reins.| One general principle as to shortening the reins is to do it by putting the right hand in front of the left, and pushing those required to be shortened through the left hand. In doing this the thumb should never be used, as it is fully occupied in holding the whip. But the beginner will very often find it easier to shorten the reins from behind by pulling them through the left hand. In this case the thumb and forefinger must be used. I consider the following the easiest and most effective ways of adjusting the reins, viz.:—

|To shorten all four reins.| All four reins can be shortened, if much is required, by pulling them through from behind, but it is generally quicker and neater to hold the reins with right hand two or three inches in front of left (the little and the third fingers over the off-side reins and middle finger between the near-side reins), and then slide the left hand up to the right. By this means a perfectly steady pressure is kept on the horses’ mouths. This movement is generally required when going down hill.

|To shorten both wheel reins.| Both wheel reins.—It is better to shorten these by pulling them through from behind. This is necessary when going down steep hills, especially when the wheelers are loosely poled up, so as to prevent the bars hitting the leaders’ hocks.

|To shorten both lead reins.| Both lead reins.—In order to shorten these take out both the leaders with the right hand (the third and little fingers over off, and first or middle finger over near-side rein); you can then pass them back to your left hand the required length by letting them slide through the right hand the necessary amount. To lengthen them, simply pull them through from the front.

|Shortening near-lead rein.| The near lead.—Either push through from the front, with the full of the right hand over the rein, or take it right out of the left hand the same way and replace it the proper length.

|Shortening off lead rein.| The off lead.—Push through from the front.

|Shortening near wheel.| The near wheel.—This rein will be found the most difficult of all to keep in its right place and to shorten. It constantly slips when the horses pull, and for beginners it is certainly the best plan to pull it through from behind. It can also be done by lengthening out the off-lead rein from the front, and then pushing both reins back together.

|Shortening off wheel.| The off wheel.—Push it through from the front with the right hand.

|Shortening centre reins.| T he two centre reins.—Always adjust them from the front. If the leaders are not straight in front of you, which will be found a very common occurrence, but are running to the right, they will generally come straight by pulling the two centre reins through the left hand from the front, so as to lengthen them a little; on the contrary, if the leaders are running to the left, push these two reins back so as to shorten them.

If, however, they are going to the right or left simply because you are holding the off or the near-lead rein too short, let out this rein only, just enough to bring the leaders square.

|Passing off across road.| The following are probably the easiest and most effective methods of passing off across the road, or of turning to the right or left:—

1. To the left.—Turn the left-hand knuckles upwards, and pass it across the body from left to right; the horses will incline to the left, the reins on that side being shortened.

To the right.—Pass the left hand down towards the left hip, back of the hand to the front, with the knuckle of the forefinger downwards and that of the little finger uppermost; this shortens the right-hand reins and causes the team to incline in that direction. The whip can be applied to the off wheeler in the first instance, or the near one in the second, in front of the pad, if the horses do not cross rapidly enough.

2. To the left.—With the right hand seize the near-lead and wheel reins under the lower fingers; then either pull those reins up towards the centre of the body, which will shorten them, or allow the left hand to go slightly to the front, which will slack off the right reins, or better still, combine both these motions, the result being the same in each case, that the team will go to the left. To the right.—Take hold of the off-lead and wheel reins with the lower fingers of the right hand, and treat them in the same way as described for the left reins, when the team will go to the right.

FIG. 18.—STEADYING TEAM WITH RIGHT HAND.

The latter of the two methods is by far the best and the one most usually employed, the other only being possible with very perfectly broken teams, as obviously only very little pressure can be put on.

FIG. 19.—HOW LOOP SHOULD BE TAKEN UP.

|To steady the team.| In order to steady the horses or to ease the left hand, the right hand may be placed in front of the other over all the four reins (fig. 18), but it is generally preferable to have the hand on only three reins for steadying purposes, the third and little fingers being over the off reins and the upper fingers over only one of the near reins.

FIG. 20.—LOOPING NEAR-LEAD REIN UNDER THUMB.

|The point or loop.| It will now be necessary to explain the term “point” or “loop.” The point is made by taking hold of either the near or the off-lead reins under the little and third fingers of the right hand (not with the forefinger and thumb), and placing it six inches or more (according to the inclination of the turn), |Loop under thumb.| in advance of the left, and then bringing it back so as to form a loop under the left thumb (figs. 20, 21), which must press the rein firmly down on the forefinger. As a rule never move the left hand forward while doing this. The off-lead rein can also be looped under the first finger in turning to the right (fig. 22).

FIG. 21.—LOOPING OFF-LEAD REIN UNDER THUMB.

FIG. 22.—LOOPING OFF-LEAD REIN UNDER FIRST FINGER.

Turning to either side can be done as follows: By pointing the near leader to turn to the left (fig. 20), or the off leader to turn to the right (fig. 21); or, by pointing both the near-lead and the near-wheel reins together to go to the left, and similarly both the off-side reins together to go to the right, at the same time striking the opposite wheeler with the whip in front of the pad after the point has been made, if the horses are required to move in either direction very quickly; or, by passing the near-wheel rein round the left thumb, and then looping the off-lead under the forefinger (fig. 22), it will be found that the horses will get more easily round a very sharp and |Turning an awkward corner.| awkward corner to the right, especially going down hill. In a like manner, by looping the off-wheel rein under the forefinger of the left hand, and then pointing the near leader under the thumb, any difficult turn to the left can be negotiated with perfect safety. This method will often be found quicker and better than passing the off-wheel rein under the thumb.

|Meaning of opposition point.| This looping up of the wheeler’s rein on the opposite side to which you are about to turn may be termed the “Opposition point.”

This device for preventing the wheelers from cutting the corners will be found most useful with horses that have been driven a great deal in the wheel, because they soon learn to recognize the indication given to the leaders by the shortening of the lead rein passing along close to their heads.

FIG. 23.—RIGHT HAND ON OFF-SIDE REINS TO PREVENT WHEELERS CUTTING CORNER.

Very often, when the wheelers are boring to one side going down hill, and the whip is required, it is useful to loop up the wheeler’s rein on the opposite side to which they are boring, before using the whip.