The Seat— The Whip. 381 



elementary hints* 



" A man may learn many things in riding and driving by observation and practice, but no 

 man can learn how to put four horses together, and drive them in the best English style, 

 without going to school under a really good coachman, strictly imitating his example, and 

 following his instructions. 



" A first-rate ' wagoner ' should have courage, decision, good eyesight, a flexible hand, and 

 strength in the arms and back. 



" It is assumed that the pupil knows how to drive a pair of horses. If he has only been 

 accustomed to drive a light modern mail phaeton, he must commence his first lessons by driving 

 a full-sized pair of horses with a heavy coach behind them, and he must practise with a coach 

 and pair, until he has it under complete command, before he has the leaders hooked on. 



" The mere exertion of holding four horses going freely for an hour is so great, that a 

 pupil who has not been in the habit of using the muscles of his left arm by sculling, practising 

 with dumb-bells or Indian clubs, or other gymnastic exercises, will find himself disabled before 

 he has taken a lesson of a quarter of an hour. This preparatory training of the muscles of 

 the left arm and side is particularly important in the case of slight, light men, who in this art 

 are at a disadvantage as compared with tall, muscular, or heavy men. 



"Indeed, the premature welter weight, who finds great difficulty in obtaining hunters up 

 to his weight, may find himself quite in his place on the coach-box. 



" The position of the coachman on the box is of more importance on a four-horse drag 

 than on any other kind of carriage. It is essential that he should be able, in the event of a 

 horse falling or the team attempting to bolt, to exert his utmost strength and weight at a 

 moment's notice. 



" This he cannot do if he is standing bolt upright against a sloping cushion, according to 

 a modern mistaken fashion. 



" The use of the whip may be learned in a great degree without the horses, sitting on any 

 sufficiently high place, and practising how to wield it in a workmanlike manner. 



" There is a proper position for the stick, and for every part of it down to the point, and 

 the proper way of using it at full length, double thonged for rousing the wheelers, or curled 

 round the shaft ready for immediate use either way. 



" You are not a coachman until you are so familiar with its use that you carry it as it 

 should be carried without thinking of it at all, and can use it, hold it, and curl it up as it 

 should be used and held. At the same time, a common fault of young coachmen is to devote 

 too much attention to the whip, endeavouring to employ it in a showy manner, curl and 

 uncurl it, touching leaders that want no touching, double-thonging steady working wheelers, or 

 letting the leaders get out of hand, do too much, wear themselves out, or at a sharp turn snap 

 off the end of the pole or bring the whole drag to grief. 



"The first few lessons will be well employed in sitting alongside the teacher, without 

 taking hold of the reins, and watching his every movement, and learning by heart his 

 instructions. Young men, especially young men of fortune, surrounded by humble toadies, are 

 often too conceited to listen, and too impatient to begin the second lesson before they have 

 learned the first. 



* These hints have been taken down from the mouth of Carter, best known as "Tim Carter" (the consuhing counsel 



of the younger members of the Driving Clubs) ; have been revised by the late Mr. Thomas Rice, of Kinnerton Street, and by some 

 distinguished members of the " Road Club." The drawings have been made from life, Mr. Rice having /«£■(/ for the purpose. 



