DEIYIXG. 65 



liberty; indeed, the whip should always lie in this 

 transverse position, whether in the right or the left 

 hand, unless w^hen in use for correction. Many horses 

 are very clever at watching the whip over the blinkers, 

 and careless pointing forward with it may keep a high- 

 spirited animal in a continual fret. 



To ascertain how each horse is doing his work, judge 

 not only by the test of the willing horse bearing more 

 on your hand ; see also how each, horse keeps his 

 traces. In whichever case they are slack, you may 

 depend that that horse has no draught upon him; if 

 tight, he is doing his share of the work, or more. A 

 good whip will correct the defaulter so as to avoid an- 

 noying the other horse. There is no better criterion of 

 skill in the use of the whip than this. 



With the leaders in tandem and four-in-hand, and in 

 low-seated carriages, unless the dash-board be very high, 

 the reins are apt to get under the horses' tails. In such 

 cases, to avoid a kicking match, no immediate attempt 

 should be made to replace the reins while they are con- 

 fined ; but a very light lash of the whip on the leg will 

 engage the attention of the animal, and while the tail 

 is switched up on the touch of the lash, the reins may 

 be released. Horses should always be kept well in hand, 

 unless that, upon a long and tiresome journey, some 

 consideration may be shown for what they have to go 

 through. Under such circumstances, attention may well 

 be directed to the manner the billets are placed in the 

 bit (page 61). 



On the level a fair pace can be maintained, but up 

 hill no merciful man will ever press his beasts. When 

 a heavy load has to be drawn up a sharp short hill, it 

 is not a bad plan to cheat the horse out of the first half 



E 



