USE OF THE WHIP. 333 



admit of the thong going- Mnc { er £/ lc fi ar t] le fi rs t two 

 strokes. When the third or last is given, the point of the 

 elbow is thrown outwards, so as to incline the thong in- 

 wards, which brings it up to the coachman's hand after 

 the stroke, it generally falling across his breast, but which 

 would not be the case were it not for the draw. Another 

 advantage also attends the draw. A thong so thrown 

 very seldom hangs in the bars, and nothing is more un- 

 coachmanlike than to hit a leader above his bar. A 

 horse's mouth should also always be felt before his coach- 

 man hits him. 



Hitting a near-leader with neatness and effect is con- 

 sidered — as it certainly is — the most difficult part of the 

 use of the whip. There are two ways of doing it : one, 

 by two common strokes and the draw, and the other, by 

 a sort of back- handed stroke, which is a very neat one, 

 and sufficiently severe ; but it does not bring the thong- 

 so immediately up to the coachman's hand as the draw 

 stroke does. In the back-handed stroke, the wrist 

 describes an exact figure of eight, and the arm cannot be 

 kept, as before, quite still. In the other method of hit- 

 ting him, the coachman's arm is brought about opposite 

 his chin, the two first blows proceeding from the wrist 

 alone ; but in the third, or the draw, the hand descends, 

 the elbow is thrown outwards, and, by two jerks of the 

 arm, which it is impossible to describe on paper, the draw 

 is effected, and the thong comes, as before stated, across 

 the coachman's breast, so as to enable him to catch it 

 instantly. 



There is one other way of hitting a leader, and 



