THE TROTTING-HORSE OF AMERICA. 395 



with his head forward. Neither should he lean back, with 

 his bodily weight on the reins, which, in that case, are made 

 a sort of stay for him. He should be upright ; and what 

 pulling he must do should be done by the muscular force of 

 the arms. The head and the arms are what a good driver 

 uses ; but some have their arms straight out, and pull by 

 means of putting the dead weight of their bodies on the 

 reins. If, instead of lying back, and putting their bodily 

 weight on the reins, with which latter they take a turn 

 round their hands, drivers would depend upon their muscular 

 strength, they could let up on the pull, graduate it, and so 

 ease the horse from time to time instantaneously. The 

 driver who depends upon the arms has command of the 

 horse : he who substitutes bodily weight with the reins 

 wrapped round his hands, has not half command of the 

 horse, or of himself either ; and, if the horse is a puller, he 

 will soon take command of the driver. The reason of it is, 

 that there is no intermission of the exertion, no let up, 

 either for man or horse. Besides, in that way of driving, 

 it is impossible to give those movements to the bit which 

 seem to refresh and stimulate the horse so much. When 

 a horse has been taught the significance of this move- 

 ment of the bit, the shift by the turn of the wrist, he 

 will never fail to answer it, even though he should seem to 

 be at the top of his speed. The moment he feels this little 

 move of the bit in his sensitive mouth, he will collect him- 

 self, and make another spurt ; and the value of this way of 

 driving is, that the horse is not likely to break when thus 

 called upon, while a high-strung, generous horse, if called 

 upon for a final effort with a whip, is as likely to break the 

 moment it falls on him as not. I have won many a very 

 close heat by practising this movement, and therefore I have 

 no hesitation in recommending it. It is not difficult to 

 acquire, and the horse soon comes to know what it means. 

 Let us come now to the way of taking hold of the reins. 

 A wrap around the hand, such as running-horse riders take, 



