BEARING REINS, FAST COACHES, AND LINCH-P1NS. 231 



sitting, he would not have had such a fall. I had live 

 miles more to drive him, during which he took care to 

 have his feet before him, but bade adieu to gig work, for 

 the rest of his life. If he had not fallen on the horse's 

 back before he went to the ground, it might have gone hard 

 with him, as he was heavy and corpulent, and not made 

 for night work, in a gig. 



My opinion has frequently been asked as to the effect 

 of harness on hunters, or saddle-horses ; and whether it 

 injures them for their respective purposes ? My answer 

 has been, that I do not think it is fair play to a hunter to 

 put him into harness at all ; but that, barring legs and 

 feet, I do not conceive that light draught, such as that of 

 a gig, can alter his natural action, unless he is very often 

 at work. Heavy draught certainly renders horses unsafe 

 for the road, but not until they have been at it, every 

 dav, for some time, or their leQs or feet fail them — in- 

 stance the many riding horses in post-masters' stables, 

 who go as safely on the road as if they had never been in 

 harness. 



BEARING REINS, FAST COACHES, AND LINCH-PINS. 



Science has produced a new era in the coaching 

 world; and, assisted by the unerring result of experience, 

 has brought the conveyance of passengers and luggage 

 throughout his Majesty's dominions to a pitch of ex- 

 cellence that, it is pretty generally admitted, cannot well 

 be improved upon. We read that amongst the ancients 



