Riding and Driving

CHAPTER XIII

DRIVING A PAIR

So much depends upon the comfort of the horse in his harness that it is well worth the owner's time and attention to learn how the harness should be put on, how the horses should be put to, and then to see that both are done properly.

The collar goes on first, and where horses are worked hard, and regularly, as in a road coach or on a driving tour, it is well to put the collars on, and leave them on a few moments before the rest of the harnessing is done. The collar thus gets warm against the neck, and there is that much less danger of rubbing and chafing the skin, and making a bad start. The usual custom is to put the collar on with the hames attached. It is better to fasten the hames about the collar after the collar is on the horse, thus avoiding the tendency to squeeze the collar on over his head. After the saddle is on, the crupper under the tail, and the saddle-girth loosely buckled to keep the saddle in place, then is the time to tighten up the hames. The traces are crossed over the back of each horse with the outside trace on top. The bridle is then put on, and the reins drawn through the pad-terrets, and the outside or draught rein buckled to the bit, the inside or coupling rein fastened to the nose-band underneath by passing the billet through the loop, but without buckling it. Then take the rein, double it, pass the bight of it through the terret, with the loop over the bearing-rein hook.

The horses are now ready to be led out by the nose-band, not by the bit, and put to. Bring the horses up from behind alongside the pole, rather than toward the pole, when they must be turned, and pushed up to the pole. Once there, fasten them to the pole, and buckle the pole-strap at the end hole, the near horse first, then the off horse. Next fasten the traces, the outside one always first. This seems awkward, and like doing things upside down. The reason for it, however, is all-sufficient. If the inside trace is put on first, the horse may, often does, in fact, edge out from the pole at the touch of something on the pole side of him, and there is a struggle to get him back so that the outside trace may be put on. This may upset the other horse, and trouble follows.

Here, and at all other times, remember that in dealing with horses, under every and all conditions, a stitch in time saves at least eighteen. Therefore put the outside trace on first, then the inside trace, then proceed to pole up your horses, that is to say, put your pole-pieces through the kidney-link from the inside out, and tighten them up to what you consider the proper length. This adjustment is a very nice one, and can only be done accurately by one who, when driving, notes carefully the effect upon pole, pole-pieces, and collars, of a hole more or less. The horses should not carry the pole, through being poled too tight; neither should the pole go bobbing about, through being poled too loose. Over rough roads, horses should be poled up rather loosely, to give play to the pole; otherwise, every jar will swing and bump the whole vehicle. In park driving, or driving over smooth roads, they may be poled up more closely.

The more compact are horses, vehicle, and coachman acting together as one, the more easily and smoothly everything goes; but this is not to be interpreted as approval of poling up horses so tight that they are carrying the pole, and are cramped and impeded. Pole-pieces of leather, or chains, are a matter of custom. No vehicle has chains where the coachman drives; while a mail-phaeton, or lady's phaeton, where the master or mistress drives, usually has chains rather than leather. An authority to be depended upon always in such matters, writes: "Pole chains should be used only on a carriage driven by the master or mistress, such as a coach, mail-phaeton, or lady's phaeton; never on a carriage driven by a coachman, such as a landau, coupé, or Victoria, when straps should be used. This is a custom based upon the fact that the working originals of coaches and mail-phaetons had chains; an adherence to it marks the difference between well turned out and badly turned out vehicles." Both breastplates and pole-pieces should go, the former round both collar and hames, and the latter round the collar and through the kidney-link ring and not through the ring alone; otherwise the small strap at the top of the collar holding the hames together is the only safeguard, and should this break, away goes your pole, and probably your horses. But this precaution is only necessary in heavy work. The breastplate holds even if the hame-strap breaks, and to put the pole-straps around the collar chafes the horse's neck.

After the horses are poled up and their traces fastened, the coupling-reins are fastened to the bits. Certain writers on the subject advise buckling the coupling-reins first of all. The writer has no criticism to pass upon this, except that experience shows that fastening two horses together by the head, and then going to their heels for the traces, often works badly. As long as they are fastened together by their collars to the pole it is not a matter of much moment anyway. It is a matter for one's own judgment and experience rather than of fixed law. All the other matters of precedence and procedure in harnessing have a rational sanction which makes them imperative.

The reins are buckled together on the off side and, as in the case of each single rein, the bight of them passed through the off pad-terret of the off horse and looped over the bearing-rein hook. Your pair is now ready for your inspection; this done, and as you are about to take the reins, the bearing-reins are put on their hooks. In the case of green or nervous horses it is well to start them off first, fastening the bearing-reins as they move off, and thus avoid jibbing, backing, and even rearing in the stable. Take the reins in the right hand with the middle finger between them, see that the buckles of both reins are the same length from your hand, pull both reins out some ten inches, then give the off rein a few inches more, get your whip in your hand, mount to your seat, sit down, put your reins in your left hand with the index and middle finger between them, and you will find yourself with both reins of about the same length and of about the right length. Another measure of the proper length of the reins before mounting is to hold the reins in the left hand, step back until you are on a line with the horse's hocks, holding the left hand close to the body. When seated the reins will be of the right length (Plate XXIX.).

Always ask if everything is right before you feel the mouths of the horses. The groom may be just putting on a last touch, or he may be looking the other way, as you give the signal to start, and there follows a lame foot, or even a knock-down; and so much depends upon a fair start that it is worth some pains to get it.

The whip should be held at the place where the ferrule goes round the handle, as all good whip-makers make their whips to balance at that point (Plate XXIX.). The knees and feet should be together; the feet not poked out as though you were standing on them, nor tucked under you as though you were ashamed of them. You will balance better if you sit straight with your back hollowed in at the small of it. To lengthen or shorten the reins put the right hand on the reins in front of the left with the little and fourth finger on the right hand or off rein, leaving the left hand or near rein between the fourth and middle fingers, and the thumb and index finger over the same—the near rein (Plate XXIX.). You may shorten the reins now, by just so much, as you place the right hand in front of the left, by sliding the left hand up to the right, and taking your grip again. It is best to do this gradually, taking in a little of the reins at a time, rather than by taking ten or twelve inches at a time. Whether it be the left or the right hand that is in front, the hand in front should for the time being hold the reins. Never, under any circumstances, get the thumb under the near rein nor the little finger under the off rein, a very common and faulty practice. The reason being that in such a situation your right hand is hampered in moving quickly, by having the thumb under the rein, your left hand likewise by having the little finger under instead of on top of the rein. As all these movements should be made mechanically, without looking at the reins, the fingers should be so placed and kept that there is no mixing up in the process. The right hand indeed should do its fingering of the reins as quickly and accurately as a practised pianoforte player picks out and strikes his notes.

In stopping, place the right hand on the reins from eight to ten inches in front of the left, as described above, press the right hand in toward the body while raising the left hand. If this is not enough, hold the reins in the right hand, pass the left in front, and take in more rein, the right coming forward again to the front place. In an emergency, it is always safest to pull the reins through from behind with the right hand (Plate XXIX.). To the inexperienced this is quicker and safer, whether with two reins or four. In driving a pair of "roadsters," so called, they are put to with their heads far apart, and bitted with plain snaffle-bits. Such a pair must be driven with two hands, one rein in each hand, in order to keep an even pressure upon their mouths.

Before you have gone very far along a straight road you will notice, unless you are driving a thoroughly made, mannered, and properly put together pair, that one horse does more work than the other, or that one horse seems to be in front of the other. This is caused by the formation of the horses, the length of the traces, the coupling-reins. Traces stretch with wear, and when this has become apparent, the shorter traces should be used on the inside; if they are on the outside, it is easy to see that this will put the pull on the collar where it should not be, and gall the shoulders. The lazier or shorter horse should be in shorter traces. As to the coupling-reins, this is, strange to say and to see, a part of the harness that many drivers of horses never examine, and never alter, any more than they think of trying to change the diameter of their wheels. As a matter of fact, the coupling-reins are the key to the problem of driving a pair or a four comfortably.

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If you will examine a pair of two-horse reins, you will notice that they are just like the two reins for one horse—one rein goes on the outside of the bit of one horse, and one goes on the outside of the bit of the other horse. These are called the draught-reins. But there is a marked difference, for on each of these reins is buckled another rein, called the coupling-rein; the one on the left rein goes over and is buckled on the inside of the bit of the right-hand horse, and the coupling-rein of the right rein goes over and is buckled on the inside of the bit of the left-hand or near horse. In buckling these coupling-reins to the bits, if one horse is more up-headed than the other, let his coupling-rein be on top, so that he will not annoy the other horse by jerking up the other's coupling-rein. The adjustment of these reins should be suited to the conformation and disposition of the horses, and it is in this adjustment that the experienced whip makes himself and his horses comfortable, by making them go together, and go level. No two horses suit each other exactly as to length of body or neck, or the way of carrying the head, and yet you may see dozens of pairs of reins where the coupling-rein buckles have apparently never been changed! The buckles of the coupling-reins should be near enough to the hand in pair or four driving—say eighteen inches—to enable one to change the couplings from the driving-cushion. In most harnesses there are two or three holes in the billet that buckles to the bit, so that the length may be changed also at the bit. There are arguments for and against this practice of having holes in the billet. It is said that this makes it easy to change a coupling from the ground; on the other hand, an ignorant groom may make the change there unknown to the coachman, and thus cause confusion. Take your choice!

The object of these two inside, or coupling, reins is to hold the horses together, at the head, of course, and they should be so adjusted that an even pressure is brought to bear on both sides of the horses' mouths, so that they will go straight, and do each his share of the work. If horses were all alike, it would be easy enough to buckle these coupling-reins in the same hole on each draught-rein, and your horses would be level. But suppose we have two horses, one of which, the near horse, carries his head higher than the other and out farther than the other. If these two are to go level, the near horse must have his reins longer than those of his mate. Up and down the draught-reins are punched some fifteen holes in four-in-hand harness, fewer in pair-horse harness, and an inch apart, and the coupling-reins can be buckled longer or shorter by buckling up and down these reins. In the case we are describing, we must of course let out the coupling-rein of the up-headed, near side horse, say three holes, and (remember that the near side coupling-rein is the one buckled on to the off side draught-rein and vice versa) take up the near side coupling-rein the same number.

It must be remembered in this operation, however, that the shortening of the coupling-rein brings the horses' heads nearer together, and if they were going properly, parallel to the pole, and at the right distance apart, before one coupling-rein was shortened, then, if this relative position to one another is to be maintained, the other coupling-rein must be let out an equal number of holes.

"When the horses are working exactly alike, the reins are as shown by the heavy lines; A and B are the two sides of the off horse's bit, and C and D the two sides of the near horse's bit. The two outside or draught reins run straight to the coachman's hand, viz. AM and DN. The coupling-reins are CM and BN, buckled to the draught-reins M and N. If the off horse bends his neck so as to bring his head nearer to his body, both the reins which run to his bit will be too slack, and he will run forward and do more than his share of the work, while the near horse is held back. To prevent this the off horse's coupling-rein to BN is shortened by running it up the draught-rein to N', the last hole, until it comes just tight to the bit; but this obviously leaves the off draught-rein AM as slack as it was before, so that the coachman has to draw his hand back to bring it to bear upon the bit at A'. In so doing he draws back the coupling-rein CM and pulls the head of the near horse to the inside. To prevent this the coupling-rein CM must be let out on its draught-rein exactly as much as the other coupling-rein has been taken up, which is equivalent to pulling back the draught-rein, whereupon the coupling-reins will have the positions shown by the dotted lines with the buckle of C rein in the first hole, and all the reins will act evenly upon both horses, notwithstanding that the mouth and bit of the off horse is nearer to the coachman's hand than that of the near horse."—Fairman Rogers, "A Manual of Coaching."

The most common fault in adjusting coupling-reins, next to that of having one horse in advance of the other, is that of having the horses coupled too closely, or too loosely, together; in the first case the horses must go awkwardly, with their heads too close together, with a tendency to make them stumble, and in the other, with their heads yawing apart, and not under proper control. Some horses are greatly irritated by being made to go on one side of the bit only, and often enough a pair going all sorts of ways will settle down and go well enough where their coupling-reins are so adjusted that they can go level, with an equal pressure of the bit on both sides of the mouth.

The matter of bearing-reins has been discussed already, but it is worth repeating over and over again, especially in the case of pair-horse driving, that bearing-reins should never be omitted. The pole-end, or his mate's bridle, offer various opportunities to a nervous horse who throws his head about to catch his bit or some part of his bridle, and tear it off or break it; and a bitless and bridleless horse is an equine anarchist, beyond human power of judging or controlling. Where you have whiffletrees in front of you, it is easy to see which horse is doing too much or too little work; but when in heavy harness, with traces fixed to roller-bolts, the traces and reins must tell the story. The object in this form of driving is, of course, to make both horses do an equal amount of work, uphill and down, and to keep them going at an even pace.

In determining which horse to put on the near side and which on the off side, several things should be taken into consideration. First, in this country we turn to the right, and as most roads are made with a crown in the centre rather than absolutely level, the off horse or horse on the right-hand side has a little more work to do, in that he must do most of the pulling, when the carriage turns off to the right, and must then be pulled back again. Therefore the bigger or stronger horse of the two may go on that side. Second, if one of the horses is more nervous or more inclined to shy than the other, he is better off on the off side, where he is less in contact with passing horses, vehicles, automobiles, and the like. So far as the matter of punishment with the whip is concerned, in pair-horse driving it is as easy to get at one as the other, though some people prefer to have the less amenable animal of the pair on the off side and under their hand. It is much better for the horses, if other things are equal, to change them about, so that they go one day on one side and another day on the other. Horses, particularly in the city, where the tendency is to pole them up tightly,—too tightly,—so that they may be easily handled in the crowded streets, are apt to get into bad habits if driven always on the same side. They get one-sided mouths, hit themselves, but apparently brighten up, as though refreshed, when changed about.

It is generally accepted as an axiom, that horses should be as close to their work as possible. As a matter of fact, this makes little difference to the draught of the vehicle; but it does undoubtedly make a very great difference in backing, starting, turning, and the general management of the horses by the coachman, and on that account it is well to have your horses as close to the vehicle, and to your hand, as possible.

Before going into details as to the handling of the reins, one very important error should be noticed at the start. Driving is not knowledge of how to hold the reins, how to give the "offices" to make "points," etc., but real driving is the knowledge and practical experience of all those things which come before you get up on to your vehicle at all. The writer was seated beside the driver of an omnibus in London some ten years ago, at a time when everything pertaining to the handling of horses in harness was a keen interest. The heavy buss with its load of passengers was stopped and started and guided through the heavy traffic of Piccadilly without fuss or trouble and without jar to the passengers. When I complimented the Jehu on his work, he replied, "Well, you see, sir, there's plenty of drivers about, but there's not many of us coachmen left!" That is the gist of the matter. A coachman is one who, through knowledge, and experience, and natural ability, keeps his horses, passengers, and himself comfortable and safe while doing the best attainable work with least effort to all concerned. The driver is a mere steerer of horses by artificial shortening and lengthening of reins that he has been taught.

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It would be a trifling task to write a book on driving for those who only wish to become drivers; but it is no small matter even to hint at the variety of knowledge necessary to one who wishes to become even a moderately good coachman. Now that we have arrived at this subject of the handling and fingering of the reins, it must not be overlooked that this is literally the superficial part of the business, and if it is built upon a foundation of complete ignorance of the horse, his house, his harness, his history, and his physical make-up, it will always remain superficial and unsatisfactory. On the other hand, once these fundamental matters have been studied and understood, the handling of the reins becomes all-important to the coachman. First of all, spare no pains to get your reins in your left hand at the proper length, and once there they should be kept there. All the nicety of driving depends upon this. If the reins must be lengthened and shortened every few minutes, none of the directions to follow can be of much use. Such give and take as there must be between hand and bits should come wholly from the gentle give and take of the wrist. When the reins are to be shortened for going down hill, and lengthened again going up, the two methods for this operation have been described in the chapter on driving one horse. With a nicely bitted pair, the turn to the left and the turn to the right may be made by turning the hand as directed in the same chapter. Where more power is required, the turn to the left may be made by looping or making "points" to left or right as may be required. The point to the left is made by taking the upper or near rein with the thumb and index finger or with the little and fourth fingers of the right hand, pulling it back a few inches, according to the angle of the turn, and placing the bight of the rein under the thumb (see Plate XXX.). Close the thumb down on the reins and hold it there until your horses have fully responded, then lift the thumb and this near rein slips back into place of itself. Be careful to keep your point under the thumb until the turn is made, otherwise—and a common fault—the slackening of this rein will land you in the middle of the turn with the horses going exactly the other way. By thus looping your rein the left hand is kept steadily in its place, and the right hand is entirely free to be used in case the other horse is too quick or too sluggish. If the off horse is inclined to go round too fast and shove his mate over, the right hand is there to put on his rein and restrain him. If, on the other hand, he is too sluggish, and does not obey quickly enough, your right hand is there to touch him up with the whip and make him do what is required of him. In turning to the right, the under rein or off rein may be looped in the same way, but this time under the index finger, rather than the thumb, though the thumb may be used, and the turn made to the right in the same fashion and with the same methods as before. Although the making of points and opposition and so on are usually for four and tandem driving, it is much neater and quieter to use these methods on a much smaller scale for your pair. It is quieter and less conspicuous than pulling the reins and gets one in, and keeps one in, the valuable habit of fingering the reins accurately, quietly, and mechanically, leaving the eyes and attention for other and more important matters.

Whenever a loop is taken or any other indication attempted of what you want your horses to do, avoid confusion by giving a variety of signals at one and the same time. For example, in taking a loop, if you allow your left hand to slide forward to receive it under the thumb instead of letting the right hand bring it back, you slacken your reins and your horses start forward just when they should be well in hand. If a horse feels this tightening of the rein from the point you are making and then feels the pressure lessen, he will whip back again; hence the necessity for holding your point until the horses have responded fully. It is much better to hold a point too long than to let it go before its work is done. In pulling reins toward you, do not draw the rein to one side, thus drawing the hands apart, but pull directly toward the body—straight back, in short. Never let your right hand get so far away from the left that it cannot be used instantly when wanted. If you are a beginner, get a steady pair and keep at this fingering of the reins; the starting, with pressure of the right hand in front of the left just enough to feel their mouths; the stopping, with right hand properly grasping the reins; the points to the left and the right, and the shortening of the reins, until these matters are done quickly and automatically without the necessity of looking at your hands at all. And though this be a treatise on driving, let us be frank and say that a good teacher is better than any book. Sit beside a good coachman as often as you can and watch him like a lynx. Get a good coachman to sit beside you and tell you and explain to you; then go back to your book again, and you will get much more out of it than before. A brilliant Frenchman has said that he studied books while he was waiting to study men. The book-learning is far more valuable when supplemented by practice. On the other hand, it is only the very ignorant in these days who do not make what use they can of other men's experience and practice, by studying up in books any subject in which they are interested.

To read a good book on driving helps your teacher even more than it helps you, in that you have at least some inkling of the elementary principles of what he is to teach you. Even with one horse these manœuvres may be gone through with, and every turn, and start, and stop, made with the same nicety and care, as though one were driving his drag at a meet of the coaching-club.

Mr. Underhill's sumptuous book is entitled "Driving for Pleasure." There is an amusing chapter to be written on Driving for Punishment, with illustrations from life, if one cared to write it. The distortions of face, hands, and body, through trying to do simple things in an awkward and roundabout way; the mixing up of whip, hands, and reins, through not having toiled sufficiently over the elementary stages of the art of driving; the brake on or off when it should not be, and a complete loss of head, the horses any way, and their owner in roseate confusion, are phases of the driving for punishment one often sees. And be it said, driving is a punishment indeed, when bad bitting, ill-fitting harness, horses badly put to, and awkward handling of reins, whip, and brake, are of one and the same combination.

CHAPTER XIV

DRIVING FOUR

About the year 1840, with the advent of railways in England, coaching, for a time at least, practically came to an end. Before that time, all transportation of passengers, mail, and small merchandise was by coach. The mail-coaches were under government control, and as representing the Sovereign, had rights and privileges, and were entitled to respect. Many of the present-day usages are reminders of that time, and relics of ancient customs. That other vehicles should give way to the mail-coach, that the constables should salute as it passed, that other coachmen should recognize it by saluting, can be readily appreciated. In England to-day, the coaches running out of London with their loads of passengers, bent on a day's pleasant outing merely, are treated much in the same way. All but surly drivers make way for them, the police salute, many of the other coachmen salute, and the forms of what were once realities still obtain.

Both there and here many people forget, that these coaches must take out a license, and are bound by the laws governing other vehicles employed for the transportation of passengers. The coach put on each season by the Coaching-club of New York, and which has run latterly from the Holland House to Ardsley on the Hudson and return, although it may be done primarily for sport, is none the less governed by the terms of its license. Hence it is that a good sportsman, in undertaking such a duty, goes rain or shine, makes a point of being on time, insists upon promptness, not as a fad of his own, but because these are the implied articles of agreement between him and the city when he takes out his license. Like all other good sport, there is an element of hard work and tyranny in it. The coachman must at all times obey the laws of the sport.

To buy, train, and drive the horses, and carry out a successful schedule for six weeks or so, with the innumerable details involved, is a task requiring knowledge, experience, tact, and patience. The man who can do this may be said to have passed his postgraduate examination as a first-class coachman.

There are not many men who can do that, but there is plenty of sport to be had in driving four horses, this side of that supreme ability. Men who lack the time, money, knowledge, and experience to put a coach on the road may still, with benefit to themselves, and to the inmates of their stables, drive four horses. Although there was coaching in a sense in this country, from Revolutionary times and before (see Chapter III.), the first regular English coach sent to this country to be used for pleasure driving was imported in 1860 by Mr. Lawrence of Boston. The first public coach was put on the road in 1876 by Colonel Delancey Kane, and ran from the Brunswick Hotel, New York, to Pelham.

Monotony probably destroys more people than any one form of dissipation. Humanity wearies of the round of duties day after day, and attempts by drink, or dissipation, or by running away from duty, to break in upon it or to break away from it. It takes the very highest qualities to stick it out, whatever may be the duty. Plato maintained that change is rest. Many men work all the time; their only rest is change of work. He is a diplomat in life who remembers this dangerous quality of monotony, and in his own life, and the life about him, seeks to diversify it.

This principle can be applied to the subject of driving as well, if not better, than to most others. To drive one horse, over one road, day in and day out, becomes a weariness to the flesh, instead of a refreshment. If you have only one horse, you can at least both ride him and drive him. If you have two, you can drive them abreast as a pair, or one in front of the other as a tandem, and both can be ridden. As soon as your stable enlarges to four, you can have no end of variety if care and patience are exercised. Strange to say, too, the horses join in the fun. A horse likes a new road and enjoys going in a new way. It will take time and trouble to teach your horses to go tandem, and in a four; but once they are taught, they enjoy it quite as much as you do. Of course we are writing now of those who wish to get practice and pleasure out of their stables, not merely for those who use their horses for purposes of transportation only. Do not start out with the notion that the only way to drive a tandem, or a four, is to have exactly the proper vehicle, the right harness to the shape of a buckle, and horses of just such and such a character. The show ring is one thing; driving for sport and pleasure is quite another.

Practically any man who will spend enough money can win prizes in the show ring; and it is only occasionally nowadays, when so much money is spent for show-ring horses and equipages, that a man of moderate means can hope to win in these tournaments. He may by good judgment, in buying and training, bring out a winner now and then; but he has little chance against those who are willing to pay any price for a ready-made winner.

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It is a good thing to know how horses and vehicle should be turned out, even down to minute details; but a book, a coach-builder, a harnessmaker and a bank-account never yet made a sportsman, at this, or any other game. As has been said before in another chapter, "form" is only rational when it is the proper clothing of an idea; it is ridiculous and unworthy when it is merely an idea of proper clothing.

Of tandem driving we have written in another chapter. If you cannot have a four, costing, with coach, horses, and harness, $15,000 or more, why not have just as much sport, and far more valuable experience, by a more economical arrangement? Buy your horses with a purpose, to begin with. Let the saddle-horses serve as leaders, the blockier, heavier harness horses in the wheel. Or if you run to smaller sizes, two of 15.1 in the wheel and your polo ponies 14.2 in the lead, with a pony break behind them, make a capital four. If a second-hand harness is not procurable, terrets on your wheelers' saddles and bridles make any stout double harness serviceable; and an extra pair of long reins and long traces fit out your leaders, and there you are. Any man who can afford to keep four horses can, if he will give the problem time and trouble, have the practice of driving four.

Be it said at once that the best practice is that of driving different teams every day, and that can only be obtained where there is a good deal of road coaching, and you are of an ability to be permitted to drive. Next to that, probably, comes the experience and knowledge to be derived from getting together, harnessing, bitting, and getting to go, a four out of your own stable. Most books and most teachers deal with the subject of driving four as though appearances counted ninety-seven per cent, and your own pleasure and profit three per cent.

We are dealing with four-in-hand driving here as a pastime, as an opportunity for variety in your own driving, and as a refreshing change in their way of going for your horses. Remember always that it is not hard on, but good for, your horses to give them variety of work. Horses that are well housed, carefully fed and watered, comfortably harnessed, and discreetly driven are much better for change of scene and change of work. This is not intended to mean that a light, high-strung lady's saddle-horse is improved by being put to work in the wheel of a break; or that, of any horse, too much work or the kind of work to which he is palpably unsuited should be required of him. What is maintained here is that very few owners of horses get all the fun out of them that there is to be had.

These questions of pole-chains or leather pole-pieces, this or that shape of bit,—so long as the bit fits the inside of the horse's mouth,—housings or no housings, stable-clothes or breeches and boots, are all matters that come after, not before, driving. The study of appearances comes after the knowledge of essentials, not before. Appearances as the result of knowledge take care of themselves; but the mere study of appearances teaches nothing. When you have learned to harness and put to your horses, start, stop, turn them, and keep them going evenly, at a proper pace; and when your thong is as easily handled as a walking-stick, then will be time enough to investigate matters of buttons, hat brims, curve of bit-shanks, whiphandles, cut of greatcoats, and methods of saluting with the whip.

A certain amount of strength is the first requisite in driving four horses. It is calculated that the weight on the hand of the four reins, averages from six to ten pounds for a light, well-bitted team, less perhaps for a perfect team, and running up as high as twenty-five, to even more, pounds in holding a team going down hill. The writer remembers the painful numbness of the left forearm when he first drove four, years ago. It is well to invigorate the arms, and to begin a very little at a time at this exercise, or an overdose at a first lesson may put the forearm out of commission for some days. Pulleys, dumb-bells, Indian clubs, or carrying a loaded walking-stick will muscle up the arm and put it in condition.

The use of the four-in-hand whip is so all-important that it should not be left to the last, but practised persistently from the start. Many teams, bitted and trained by professionals and only driven in the park by their owners, require almost no use of the thong; and as a result many drivers of four horses can hardly put up a thong, let alone use it with any success.

Place the point of the thong under the fingers, grasping the stick, not at the end, but at the point where the ferrule encircles it (Plate XXXI.). Swing the point of the stick from left to right with a slight downward movement, then make a quick half circle from left to right and upward, and your thong will curl around your stick three or four times and hold there. The lower part of the thong will curl around the handle the opposite way. Between the upper and lower coil will hang a bight of the thong (Plate XXXI.). Move your stick over to the left or driving hand, pull out the lower coil with the thumb and forefinger of that hand, and place the point of your thong again under your right hand, the thong now going around the stick in the same direction all the way down so that it is easily unwound when wanted (Plate XXXI.). The point of the thong is more secure in your right hand if it is wrapped a couple of times around the handle, though there is high authority against this practice, on the ground that it is not so easy to unwind your thong when wanted. If you are a beginner, you will find it safer to make the couple of turns around the handle. Mr. Bronson, who was one of the very best of our American whips, held, and with justice, that the point of the thong should not be wrapped around the stick, maintaining that just when the hands were needed it required two hands to undo it. The whip should be held pointing upward and to the left. When the thong hangs over the middle of the back of the near wheeler, your whip will be in about the right position.

The way usually recommended for putting up the thong is to make a large S on the wall and follow this with the point of the whip, beginning at the bottom and moving across from left to right. To do this, start slowly from left to right, and let the upper curve be made with a turn of the wrist which will bring the fingers uppermost at the finish.

It is exasperatingly easy, and exasperatingly difficult. Once you get the knack, it is like skating and swimming, you wonder how you were ever puzzled. If these directions are not clear, get some one to pound it into you by persistent instruction; for, of all awkward things, none is more so than the confusion arising from a dangling thong, that cannot be made to go up, and stay up, where it belongs. Nothing but constant practice makes one comfortable with the whip. If you are driving in the country, unwind and put up your thong constantly; even take out your four-in-hand whip with one or two horses, and practise, practise, practise. Some day, in a crowded street or in the park, when a cut of the whip is imperatively necessary and a quick return of the thong to its place as necessary, you will not regret a moment of the time spent in this way. Do not trust to luck in this matter. What is usually called "luck" is, after all, the happy way ability and opportunity have of often meeting. Keep your thong pliable, otherwise it will not stay in its place and be difficult to put up.

In using your whip, make as little fuss and noise as possible; each horse should be hit so that the other three hear nothing and know nothing. Do not flick a horse, but hit and draw the thong at the same time, then it means something. In putting up your thong, do not make a flourish with the arm. It is just as easy to put the thong up with the right elbow at the side.

The wheelers should be hit in front of the pad, down the shoulder; it is better to hit the off wheeler on the off shoulder if his mate is restive.

If there is kicking, the best punishment is a cut over the ears. In hitting the off leader, swing the point of your stick out to the right; once the thong is unwound, make a turn, and bring the stick forward quickly, when the thong will travel forward under the stick. Always aim to hit a leader under his traces, and when you hit him let him know that he has been hit. Always aim farther ahead than you mean to hit. You cannot go too far, and you may be short. To catch the thong again, take it back, away from your horses, and point the stick over your left arm, allowing the thong to fall first, or point your stick up, and let the thong slide down the inside of it to your hand. Pull the thong through with the finger and thumb of the left hand till the point is within a few inches of the right hand, then put up the thong as directed.

To hit the near leader is a little more difficult, and a good reason, by the way, for putting the lazier leader on the off side. Untwist your thong as before on the right side of you, swing the thong over all your horses so that it hangs on the left side of the coach, then with a turn of the stick shoot your thong as before, stopping the point of the stick at about the pad of the near wheeler, when the point of the thong will hit the near leader's hocks. In getting your thong back from this position, swing it from left to right over all your horses, and point the stick again over the left arm, when the thong will fall over the reins near the hand or, if well done, into the hand. Then proceed as before. The near wheeler may be hit on the quarters also, by throwing the lash between the heads of the wheelers, though this is condemned by many as a bad practice. This needs practice, particularly in getting your thong back to your hand.

Never attempt to use the whip while the right hand is on the reins or holding a rein. First, because you cannot use the whip with any effect, and second, because you are sure to jab one of your horses in the mouth by a jerk on the rein you happen to be handling. See that your thong is all clear before attempting to put it up. You will find that it has a disconcerting way of catching on the rein buckles, the handles of the foot-board, or even on the lamps. If in using your thong it catches in any part of the harness, treat it gently; do not pull at it, which only makes it hold faster; and if it will not come loose by these measures, send the servant down to loosen it. If your thong catches in boughs of trees or the like, do not hang on to the stick, but let the whole thing go and send back for it.

In saluting, drop your whip into your left hand and take off your hat if it be a lady you would recognize. Few things are more parochial in these matters than to see a man making a conspicuous sword salute with his whip to a lady who is either in another vehicle or on the road. In saluting others, a movement of the whip from left to right with the forearm is enough. It has the merit of not taking the right hand far from the reins, and is less conspicuous than the use of the whip as a sword, by bringing the handle up to your chin.

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It is an old-time custom among the drivers of road-coaches in England to take off the hat to a chimney-sweep. Just why it is supposed to bring luck, like killing spiders in the morning and letting them live in the evening, and fifty other fancies of a like kind, the writer cannot explain. In approaching trouble, where you are likely to need your thong, unwind it and hold only the point under your thumb. A cut in time may save a whole side of harness!

Four horses with a heavy vehicle behind them—a drag weighs from twenty-one to twenty-four hundred pounds, a public coach from twenty-four hundred to three thousand pounds—and loaded with passengers occupies a good deal of space, gathers a good deal of momentum, and needs a good deal of skill in its governor. The very assumption of the task of driving is a great responsibility. No man should undertake it lightly.

To know the whole game, and to do it supremely well, requires many, many months of constant and studious practice. The easier it looks, the more capable is the man who makes it look easy to you. Do not for a moment be deceived into thinking that it is really easy. The consequences of thinking so may contain, not only disasters of the most awkward kind, but death also.

Begin at the very beginning, with the harnessing and putting to of your horses. Depend only upon a good and trustworthy builder for your vehicle. If you buy a second-hand one, choose it with a friend who knows what such a vehicle should be, and then have it gone over thoroughly by your carriage builder.

Of the harnessing of the horses we have already written. It needs to be added, that in harnessing four all the details of fit and stoutness of leather and proper bitting should be more than ever looked after. Before your horses are brought out have the pole in its place and the lead-bars hung on the pole-hook. Have a look yourself to see that the pole-pin is securely in its place. Bring out your wheelers, hook the pole-chains to the kidney-link ring, giving ample room to back them so that the traces may be put over the roller-bolts,—outside trace first, then the inside one,—then tighten the pole-chains by passing the hook through the kidney-link ring from the inside out so that it will come out away from the pole. The length of this chain must depend upon the good or bad roads you are proposing to drive over, and upon other things already discussed (Chapter XIII.). When your horses are poled up, they are drawn toward the pole, and you will notice that the inside trace is therefore shorter than the outside trace. This difference should be taken up by enlarging the inside roller-bolt by wrapping it, never by punching holes in the trace, and thus weakening it. Then fasten the coupling-reins to their bits, and fasten your reins over your off wheeler's pad-terret, or let them be drawn through above the trace and tug-buckle from the front, back.

Then bring out your leaders and fasten their traces to their bars. The leaders may be put to with their traces on their own bars; with the traces crossed on the inside, each horse working off his mate's bar; with the traces crossed, but each horse working off his own bar. The first is best for well-trained, evenly working horses. The second is advocated by those who consider that this method makes the work more even, and keeps the lazy horse up to his work. The third is mainly to keep the leaders more together. The bars of the leaders may be fastened together with a strap for the same reason. Never use a chain for this purpose as, in case of a leg over the trace or any similar accident, a chain cannot be cut and promptly undone.

This lapping of the traces is a matter each man should work out for himself, after noticing how his particular leaders go most comfortably. This lapping of the traces also keeps the traces away from the horses' sides, and in hot or muddy weather this is a consideration.

Buckle your coupling-reins to the bits, run them through their terrets, and, together with the wheel-reins, push them through from in front above the trace and tug-buckle of the off leader.

Put up your thong, lay the whip over the wheelers' backs, and as a precaution push the end of it between the back-strap. If your whip is in the socket, it is in your way in getting up, it may be broken by your passengers, or it may be played with by an ignorant passenger and dropped, or at any rate, the thong loosened. If the whip is placed across the toe-board no one can mount to the box-seat while it is there. If you are driving alone and studying your team, the whip is better on the toe-board, where it is not easily displaced and does not annoy the wheelers; otherwise the best place is across the backs of the wheelers. A piece of steel covered with leather on the lead-reins (Fownes of London used ivory) just in front of the coupling-buckle prevents these slipping through the lead-terrets, as may easily happen if either horse plunges or hangs back.

If no bearing-reins are used, the throat-latches should be snug, since they alone hold the bridle on the horse's head. In breaking in a team, bearing-reins properly adjusted do no harm and are a safeguard. If necessary, start with them very loose and shorten them when the horse is warmed up, and his neck muscles are more pliable. If the bearing-reins are fastened up before the start, there will be backing, rearing, and jibbing, all of which may be obviated by tightening the bearing-reins after the start.

If you are to drive over good level roads, your wheelers may be placed as near the coach as will enable them to go at a good gait without hitting the splinter-bar or wheels. The length of wheel-traces should be about ninety-seven inches, of the lead-traces about ninety inches. With smaller horses the traces are, of course, proportionately shorter. A long drawn out team is hard on the arm and hand, not so easily manœuvred, and, being farther from their work and from you, not so likely to be easily handled.

On Western roads in this country, the four horses are put much farther from the coach and from one another, and given plenty of leeway as to traces and pole-chains. Driving over their heavy, rough roads necessitates this. If one of our compactly harnessed teams attempted to work over their roads, the coach, passengers, and horses' shoulders would be badly racked. Indeed, it is to be doubted whether closely harnessed horses would not pull one another down. The experienced coachman from the East does not sneer at the long drawn out teams in the West; nor does the Westerner sneer at the closely coupled teams of the East. Each is adapted to do its own work. It is only the neophyte who sneers here or elsewhere, and a stupid neophyte at that; for to sneer at ignorance is stupid, and to sneer at stupidity, ignorant.

Now that you have your horses harnessed to your vehicle, have another look round, for at this business a quiet start is more than half the battle, and it is worth while to see to it that you may get away without at once stopping, to arrange something about the harness that has been neglected.

Now step back to the off wheeler's quarter, and with the right hand take hold of the leaders' reins and place them in the left hand where they belong, with the forefinger between them; then take the wheelers' reins, and place them in the left hand with the middle finger between them. You will then have: near leader's rein over forefinger, off leader's rein under forefinger and on top of the near wheeler's rein; the near wheeler's rein over the middle finger, and under the off leader's rein, and the off wheeler's rein under the middle finger. Then with your right hand pull out twelve to eighteen inches of both off reins; see that the buckles of the wheel-reins and the stitchings of the lead-reins are at an even distance from the left hand, so that when you are seated on the box the reins will be level. It saves time, trouble, and embarrassment to be able to do this quickly and accurately. If you are beginning or out of practice, it is well to get up and down with the reins until they are the proper length in your hand.

Then put the reins in the right hand exactly as they were in the left (or one finger lower down, so that the forefinger is free to hold on in getting up; this is advised by some coachmen, but is not necessary), throw the ends of the reins over your right arm, take your whip in your right hand, and you are ready to mount. To do this, put your left foot on the hub of the wheel, right foot on the roller-bolt, left foot on the step, and right foot on the foot-board, using your left hand to hold on with and leaving the right hanging down. Sit down at once, for, having climbed so high, it would be humiliating to tumble off if a horse started. Then put the reins back in the left hand, where you should find them all of about the proper length (Plate XXXII.). If they are not, get them level without touching the mouths of the horses. In taking the reins from their place to put them in the hand, it is usual to drop the ends on the ground. If, however, you are on a muddy street or wet pavement, put the ends of the reins over the little finger of the right hand, which will keep them out of the mud and wet while you are arranging them in your hand to mount.

Another way of taking up the reins is, instead of drawing out the two off reins before mounting, to allow the two off reins to run through the fingers as you mount to the box, which has, to be sure, the advantage of keeping control of all four horses from the moment you take up the reins. It is rare that a man drives four without men at his horses' heads when he gets up, and for the beginner, at any rate, the first-mentioned method is the simpler of the two.

Start quietly. Feel your horses' mouths gently as a reminder that something is coming, give the word, let them have sufficient rein, let the wheelers into their collars first, and go off quietly at a walk. If you are driving a green team, or a mean team, or a team you are making, always start from the stable yourself. Even if your coachman is a better coachman than you are, it is best to get away with them yourself, and to keep them amenable from the start. Although it is advised here to let the wheelers start the coach, the ideal way is to let all four horses feel their traces at the same moment; but it is only under ideal circumstances and with an ideal team that all four horses will dip into their collars at the same instant, and walk off with the coach, without so much as a flurry or a shake of the head at starting. Such horses are too good to be true, and need very little driving.

Let the rugs or quarter-blankets be taken off quietly, not grabbed off as a sort of "get-up" signal, and if your horses are at all inclined to waver, let the grooms run ahead a few steps so that the horses can see them and be tempted to go on with them, and then, the team fairly started, they can drop back and take their places on the coach. Let them have their heads at the start and get them in hand after they are all in the traces. By checking a horse suddenly at the start, with a too tight rein, or jabbing a leader under the tail with the pole, or, worst of all, forgetting to take the brake off and jerking the whole team back on their haunches at the start, you may, you will indeed, so irritate your horses that it will take your gentlest and most skilful behavior to get them right and going pleasantly.

The writer knows one mare at least who behaves perfectly if everything goes smoothly at the start, but if she is upset at the start, the whole drive is spoilt by her behavior; nor is she appeased till safely back in the stable. So, by all means, use every endeavor, every artifice even, to get a good start.

As was duly emphasized in Chapter XIII., by far the greater part of the comfort and skill in driving depends upon the give and take of the left hand from the wrist, or with a slight movement forward or backward of the hand itself. Turning the left hand up or down with a movement to the right or left will, if your horses are well in hand, guide them to the right or left. In starting, you are usually on one side or the other of the road. To bring your horses over, two small points to the left with the near lead-rein under the thumb, the near wheel-rein under the forefinger; or if to the right, the off lead-rein under the forefinger and the off wheel-rein under the middle finger will give the direction, and, once they are where you want them, the reins slip out, and you have had the right hand free to be used if necessary. Or, turning the left hand down with the knuckles toward the horses, bringing the hand at the same time back to the left hip, will take them to the right; while turning the left over, the knuckles toward you, and the hand moved toward the body, will turn them to the left. This movement of the left hand up or down shortens or lengthens the near lead-rein.

There is an objection to moving the left hand about much, and turns to the left and right are best made by "points" or "loops." Before turning anywhere, always have your leaders well in hand. If they have hold of the pole-end, the wheelers are helpless to turn the coach. To turn to the left, take the near lead-rein with the three lower fingers of the right hand and draw it back, catching it under the left thumb, holding it fast till your team has responded (see Plate XXXII.). To turn to the right, do the same thing with your off lead-rein, holding it either under the thumb or under the forefinger of the left hand (see Plate XXXII.). Under the forefinger is better, since the rein is then in its proper place to run out, just as in the former case under the thumb is better for the same reason. Never pull a rein off to the side, but always straight back toward you, so that the hands may never get too far away from one another. Do not spoil your point by letting the left hand go forward to meet it, but bring the point back with the right hand, keeping the left hand in its place.

As soon as horses go much together as four, they get to know the signals of the reins and sometimes respond too quickly. This is especially so of the wheel horses. As soon as they feel the lead-rein moving in their head terret, they begin to turn toward it. In going round corners this results in the wheelers going round too quickly, and perhaps running the coach on the curb or against a post or pillar. An easy way to avoid this is by making an "opposition point" so called. Before giving the office to your near leader, and making the point with your near lead-rein to turn to the left, take up the off-wheel rein and hold it over the forefinger of the left hand (Plate XXXII.), then make your point, and with one hand your leader is going round to the left, your wheelers are kept away from the corner, and you have your right hand to use on the reins, or with the whip to urge the wheelers round.

In turning to the right, the same thing may be done by taking the near wheeler's rein and passing it over the thumb of the left hand, then point to the right (Plate XXXII.), and again you have your whole team in one hand and doing your bidding. In turning a team off to the left, in order to pass another vehicle, or in any case where the turn is a slight one and to be made quickly, put the right hand on the two near reins with the middle finger between them, and as you draw them toward you let the left hand advance. Place the right hand on the two off reins with the fourth finger between them, and repeat the same manœuvre to go to the right. Put the right hand well in advance of the left in doing this, and pull directly toward you, otherwise you will pull the reins out of the left hand and spoil the whole movement by contradictory instructions to the horses' mouths. In pulling up to the left, you may place both near-reins well over the thumb, and then use the right hand as usual in stopping; this will bring your team over, and stop them at the same time (Plate XXXII.).

It is obvious that all these "oppositions" may be made by using the right hand on the reins. In most road driving this is done. There are from time to time turns to be made round sharp corners, into gateways, through narrow streets, coming down hill, or with a dip down hill immediately after turning a corner, when the right hand is imperatively needed. It is at such times that to know how to make these "points" and their "opposition" is very useful. The best way, therefore, is in times of peace to prepare for war by using these "points" and "oppositions" frequently where they can be made easily and without looking at the hands; then when you really need them you know how without fumbling and flurrying to do what is necessary.

When you wish to shorten your lead-reins, take them clean out of the left hand, bring them back the required length, and replace them. It is better and safer, however, so far as possible, to push these, and other reins when possible, back from behind. To shorten the wheel-reins, push them back one at a time—an awkward way—or pull them both through from behind. The near wheel-rein, being the most awkward rein to get at, should be shortened by pulling it from behind. To shorten any other of the three separately, take it in the lower fingers of the right hand and push it back the required distance. To shorten all the reins, put the right hand on all four reins, little and fourth fingers over both off reins, middle finger between, and forefinger and thumb over the near reins, and push them back a little at a time. As has been said before, if in a hurry pull all four reins back from behind.

As the two reins together, the off-lead and near-wheel, are the most troublesome to the beginner, it is well to remember that if your leaders are straggling to the left and your wheelers to the right, pushing these two centre reins back a little will put things straight. For the opposite trouble, pulling them forward a little will solve the problem. The leaders of a team are there to help over heavy roads and in going up hill; but as they have no pole to support them, their position is the more tiring one, and they should be cared for accordingly and not allowed to pull all the time. In crossing gutters or hollow places, be particularly careful to have your leaders in hand, otherwise if they are straining on the pole, the lift and jerk may break it. This is not an uncommon accident, and a very awkward one.

Remember that because you are driving four horses you have no peculiar rights and privileges over other American citizens, though they be driving only one horse or a donkey. The courtesy of the road will usually give the heavy load a chance, but you can only ask, you may not demand it. On a public coach, making time and carrying passengers for fare, the horn is both a safeguard and a proper signal; but the tooting of a horn on all occasions in park, village, and ordinary road driving is almost an impertinence. Cessante ratione, cessat et ipsa lex. If you must have a horn for protection, drive up and down your own back road until that necessity is passed.

In stopping, get ready in advance and slow down gradually. Get your leaders back a little, put your right hand on the reins as already described, lift the left hand, push the right toward you, and come to a stop with the horses as nearly as possible in their bits and collars ready to start again (Plate XXXII.). The man who can stop and start without a jerk is a good workman already.

Before getting down, put on your brake, always quietly, then shift the reins into the right hand with the whip, step down, put the reins into the tug-bearer as they were when you took them out, lay your whip across the backs of the horses, and your task is done.

If there is to be a change of horses, or you are in your own stable yard at the end of the journey, have your reins unbuckled, let the leaders' reins be pulled through your hands by the grooms, then throw down the wheel-reins, one on either side, or, as circumstances of space demand, retain the wheel-reins, and drive your coach where it is to stand by the wheelers alone, after the leaders are out. Above all things, do nothing in a hurry; remember that you are captain of the ship and should not leave it until everything is shipshape and in order.

Where you have but one man at your service, he should stand at the heads of the wheelers where he can hold them by their heads and the leaders by their reins. Never attempt to hold or to stop a team by running to the heads of the leaders. They cannot stop if they would, with a coach and the two wheelers pushing them from behind. Get to the heads of the wheelers and stop them, and thus, if it is not too late to do it at all, stop the whole four.

Keeping four horses up to their work, or well in hand, does not mean that they should be all, all the time, tugging at their traces. They should be kept up to their bits all the time, otherwise you have no control over them and no way of signifying your wishes to them. If you have fenced, you know how absolutely essential it is to keep in constant touch with your opponent's sword. You feel him by feeling his sword. I have seen a skilful French officer fence blindfolded with an inferior opponent, he demanding only that he should be allowed to feel his opponent's weapon at all times, except when he thrust, or parried. He could apparently divine what was coming by the feel of his opponent's rapier on his own. The feel of the bit in the horse's mouth is as important. You can guess what the horse intends to do, and the horse knows what you wish him to do. If the bit is not on his bars with a gentle pressure all the time you are driving him, you are cut off from any quick connection with him. This is what it means to have your team in hand, that is, to be in constant communication with your horses' mouths. Most beginners, owing to the weight of reins in their hands, and because their leaders are so far away, either lug on the reins, mistaking this for firmness, or they allow the reins to dangle. You should feel each horse's mouth lightly, but all the time. The lugging soon makes a puller; while the latter carelessness produces what is known as a "nigger-broke" horse, or one that is lazy and never quickly obedient to the bit.

If you are getting together a team for yourself and by yourself, therefore, it is far better to drive each horse single until you know his mouth, and then in pairs until you are quite familiar with the way they like to go best as to bits, coupling-reins, and the like. There are two classes of people who have accidents: the beginners who are rash, and the old hands who are over-confident, and hence careless. When your driving has gone smoothly for some time you take less pains, a mistake is made, and trouble follows. But even if carelessness does not result actually in accident, remember that it is bad for the horses not to be kept strictly up to the mark whenever they are driven. The horses become slovenly in their work all too quickly, if you are careless in yours.

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