DRIVING. 69 



to a carriage, wlietlier to feed or for any other purpose. 

 AVant of caution in this respect has been a fertile source 

 of most serious accidents. 



Whe?i a horse falls irretrievably in harness, the 

 driver should avoid leaving his seat till some assistant 

 can go to the animal's head, who, placing his coat or 

 some soft substance between it and the road, to prevent 

 injury to the eyes, presses one or both knees lightly on 

 the neck, but so as to prevent the beast from rising ; 

 which done, the driver can get down from his seat, and, 

 availing of all the aid he can jjrocure, frees all the har- 

 ness as rapidly as possible, and, running back the car- 

 riage from the horse, assists him to rise. To disengage 

 buckles easily in such cases, instead of dragging at the 

 point of the strap in the usual way, force both ends of 

 it to the centre of the buckle, which will cause the 

 tongue to turn back, and so free the strap. 



When a fall in harness occurs on slii3pery pavement 

 such as some of the London streets, or in frosty weather, 

 before the horse is permitted to make any effort to rise, 

 some ashes, dry clay, sand, sawdust, hay or straw, or 

 even any old rug or piece of cloth or carpet, should be 

 so placed as to prevent him from slipping in his in- 

 effectual and distressing endeavours to recover his legs. 



Backing. — When a horse takes to backing, and dan- 

 ger is threatened, if you cannot get him forward, and 

 have no assistant to take him by the head, the more 

 rapidly you bring the brute's head to the point where 

 he aims at bringing his tail the better. It is a bad 

 habit, however, to give an animal, to allow of his being 

 taken by the head when he is obstreperous, and should 

 only be resorted to when quite unavoidable. 



Kicking in Harness. — When there is no kicking-strap 



