THE LIFE OF A SPOiri SMAN 



said he, '■ can be measured to a mile. He may be veiy good 

 for seven or eight miles, but bad for ten or twelve. The 

 priming, indeed, is soon taken out of most of them, with a 

 heavy load, and they must be looked to. Wheelers liave the 

 liardest place everj'-thing considei-ed, as they are at work up 

 hill and down ; nevertheless, they must chieily regulate the 

 speed, by keeping them up to the leaders, instead of forcing 

 the leaders to get away from them ; in fact, if favour be 

 shown, it should be to the leaders. You may drag a tired 

 wheeler home, and he can shift a little in his work ; but if a 

 leader cuts it, you are planted — add to which, the wheel-horses 

 are generally the strongest of the team. Always put your 

 freest leader on the nearest side, as you will have him better in 

 hand than if he were on the other. If a leader is weak, and 

 cannot take his bar, tie up the wheeler that follows him, and it 

 will place him by the side of liis partner. Leaders should be 

 fast trotters ; when cantering or galloping, the bars are never at 

 rest, consequently, much of the draught is lost in the angles 

 they describe." ' 



Frank Rahy. — ' Do you like throat-latching coach-horses ? ' 

 JackWebher. — ' Not always. I think wheelers are better with 

 more liberty than they have when throat-latched, and many 

 horses will pull and fret in the throat-latch, but go quietly out 

 of it : they do not like the confinement of it. Dealing with 

 horses' mouths, in harness, to make them work pleasantly and 

 equably, is no easy task. Some will not face a curb ; on others 

 it appears to make very little impression. It is difficult to 

 handle a tender-mouthed leader. His coupling-rein must be at 



the cheek, or ' 



Frank Rahy. — ' Why not drive him in a snaffle, at once ? ' 

 Jack Webber. — ' A snaffle is not safe : in case of a bolt, or a 

 drop, you cannot be sure of catching a horse up quickly, at that 

 distance from the hand. He should have good liberty in his 

 bearing-rein, and his curb-chain should be slack. But, of all 

 mouths, a dead mouth is the worst. In this case, put tlie 

 bearing-rein to the top of the bit (not the cheek), and the 

 coupling-rein to the lowest loop in the bit, which creates a 

 counter-action : and not only makes the bit of more service, but 

 keeps the mouth in play. This appears a severe remedy, but 

 such is the danger attending dead-mouthed horses, that we 

 must not be too scrupulous on that head.' 



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