VI] 



DRIVING AND HARNESS 



67 



wind now and then, and therefore he should 

 not be trotted too far without being allowed to 

 walk for a short distance. The driver should 

 watch tile horse's breathing, by watching his 

 nostrils or flanks, and rest him when he is seen 

 to be breathing abnormally. The reason that so 

 many horses are so badly treated is that the 

 drivers do not have to purchase the horses them- 

 selves, so they do not care how soon they wear 

 them out so long as they can finish their work 

 early. A driver should be continually placing 

 himself in his horse's place, and realising, if he 

 can, that the animal in front of him is alive and 

 has feeling and is probably doing his best. 



262. Very often a horse does not understand 

 what is required of him, and gets thrashed or 

 hit over the head, when it is the fault of the 

 man in the cart. Heavy draught horses should 

 not be trotted ; their work is heavy and slow, 

 and trotting shortens their lives and ruins their 

 legs. The time gained does not compensate for 

 the money lost. 



If a horse is frightened and moves away from 

 where he is left standing, he should not be 

 shouted at, because this will probably make 

 him more frightened. Of course, if he is not 

 frightened and is shouted at to stop, he will 

 probably obey. If the horse is very susceptible 

 to fear, he must be made to realise that he is 

 not going to be hurt ; shouting at him will make 

 him think that he is going to be hurt, and he 

 will probably continue to run away. We must 

 oalm him, and then show him that he is not 

 going to be hurt. When a horse shies at an 

 object, the opposite rein should be felt slightly 

 stronger than the rein next to the object in order 

 to attract his attention away from it and relieve 

 him of the idea that he is being drawn on to 

 it. {See Chapter III.) 



A horse must be blanketed in cold weather 

 when left standing, and rubbed down when 

 brought in ; he must always be watered and cared 

 for before the driver has his meal. The horse 

 should be looked upon as the driver's own pro- 

 perty ; he should be proud to have charge of 

 it, and take the greatest interest in keeping it 

 in the best of condition. A horse is much 

 encouraged by being spoken to kindly and 

 quietly now and then ; he should never be 

 shouted at. The brutal and useless method of 

 trying to accelerate a horse's speed by jerking 

 the reins should never be allowed. It is the 

 surest and commonest form of ignorance of the 

 correct methods of driving. If the reins cannot 

 be made better use of, they had better be left 

 alone ; they are there to guide the horse, to 

 collect him or to stop him, but not to jerk him 

 on. His speed should be accelerated by the 

 voice or by a touch with the whip, which does 

 not mean a thrashing. 



263. Whips. — The best kind of whip to use 

 is one with a long lash. (See P. 47.) The kind 



used in buggies, as in P. 39rf, is a good one in the 

 hands of the unskilled. The chief use of the 

 whip is as an indicator, and not as an in- 

 strument for punishment. A horse must be 

 made to be accustomed to being stroked with it ; 

 he should only be hit with it when he requires 

 punishment, when the whip must be used on 

 the back or sides, and never underneath, 

 especially between the hindlegs. The whip if 

 used between the hindlegs may cause consider- 

 able harm, and, to say the least of it, is a 

 brutal practice. When used to urge a lazy horse 

 on, it should be brought down on to the horse, 

 and drawn away after the lash has touched the 

 horse, and not before, because if it is it may 

 "crack" on the horse's back. 



264. Reins.— P. 33c shows the method of 

 holding the reins and whip for driving a single 

 or pair ; P. 336 for driving a tandem or four- 

 in-hand. Horses that are well fed and not 

 worked too hard are generally driven " up to 

 the bit " — that is, with the driver having a gentle 

 feeling on the horse's mouth all the time. This 

 method would not be practicable or at all advis- 

 able with commercial horses ; such horses last 

 longest if allowed to go along at their own speed, 

 not being interfered with by the reins. But the 

 driver must be careful that the horse does not 

 get into a lazy way of going along. I emphasise 

 the importance of drivers refraining from jerk- 

 ing their horses' mouths ; men who do this 

 should have a bar of steel put into their mouths 

 and violently jerked. I have seen a horse's 

 tongue cut almost through by the abuse of the 

 bit. When driving, the traces must be watched ; 

 when they become loose, the brakes must be 

 applied, and, upon reaching the bottom of the 

 hill, the brakes must not be removed until the 

 traces have become tight again. In driving a 

 pair or four-in-hand, care must be taken that 

 all the traces are kept equally tight. A long 

 whip is necessary for this to encourage the 

 leaders to increase their speed. WelMrained 

 leaders will understand a " click " from the 

 driver's mouth. 



265. Hints on Tandem and Four-in-Eand 

 Driving. — It is most advantageous to teach the 

 leader to go forward or to increase his speed when 

 the driver chirrups or clicks with his mouth. 

 The oldest horse, or, rather, the steadiest and 

 most trustworthy, should be placed as the near 

 wheeler. The driver should sit high up, so that 

 he is well above the horses, as thereby he will 

 have greater control over them. The wheelers 

 must always be allowed to start a vehicle ; if 

 the leaders are allowed to start first, the traces 

 may break, or, in the case of a tandem, the 

 leader is very apt to turn round upon finding 

 that the vehicle does not move. The wheelers, 

 too, must be made to stop the vehicle when draw- 

 ing up. Three to four feet should be allowed 

 between the wheeler's nose and leader's tail ; a 



