234 TOUGH WORK. 



display, and even in that respect is generally delusive, as no man 

 will be very successftil at it unless he has a leader that can be 

 trusted to give him very little trouble — a free, bold, docile 

 animal that~will keep well otit of the way, that knows his work, 

 and that will turn round at notliing. It is true that such a horse 

 would not be kept good long, unless driven with some judgment, 

 but the best of tandem drivers would cut a poor figure with a 

 leader that turned round to look at him. 



557. — With four horses, two abreast, one leader counteracts 

 the other, so that neither of them could turn short round so 

 suddenly as a tandem leader may do. Still the off-side leader 

 should be, and generally is, a bold animal, well inured to the 

 sights, sounds, and scenes he will have to pass. 



558. — Driving a fast four-horse team safely and well is a 

 work of very considerable skill, and one that is not learned in a 

 day. It also demands at least a good average amount of weight 

 and strength. It is not merely that you have to deal with four 

 mouths instead of one or two. That would by no means 

 represent the difi^erence in the power required. Each mouth 

 will demand far more than a proportionate force upon it to enforce 

 obedience. Four horses excite each other very much at any fast 

 pace, and as no one horse can either guide or stop without his mates 

 it would be quite unsafe to teach them to stop suddenly to any 

 signal, even if you could do so. But each horse soon finds 

 out that he cannot stop suddenly without some unpleasant 

 consequence, and hence the long, strong pull that is wanted to 

 stop, or to restrain a four-horse team, and the severe bits that are 

 so generally used to do it. 



559. — No man has any business to take four horses in hand 

 until he has well learned to drive one or two, and then he should 

 begin with an experienced driver at his side, who can relieve his 

 arms occasionally, and take the reins down hill, round turnings, 

 or through cities. At our j)loughing matches we generally find 

 that the youngest boys have the oldest horses. So it should be 

 with a coachman. If he has his business to learn, he must take 

 care to begin with horses that have well learned their work. No 

 unpractised hand can be either strong or skilful enough to drive 



