382 The Book of the Horse. 



" The pupil, when he first takes hold of the reins, should not, out of natural pride, hold 

 them after his arm is tired ; there is not nearly so much to be learned by persevering in pain 

 as by a series of short lessons. 



" In a four-in-hand coach the wheelers should start it, and turn it round, without the 

 leaders ever feeling their traces ; and of course they must stop it with the traces of the 

 leaders slack. 



" Having carefully satisfied yourself that every horse is properly harnessed and bitted, 

 mount the box deliberately, your grooms being at the horses' heads, and mind that they stand 

 still until you give the word to start. 



"This is an essential part of the breaking of a gentleman's team (often neglected), and 

 should be insisted on. Take your seat, adjust your apron and the reins, taking care to have 

 the leaders so in hand that when they do move they will be out of the collars and clear of 

 the splinter-bars. 



" I repeat that it is essential for the comfort of the driver that a team, however high- 

 couraged, should wait until he tells them to go. 



" On starting, the reins must be placed, and throughout the drive retained, at such a length, 

 and the right hand in such place, that you can pull up your team at any moment. 



" Unless you can do this you cannot have proper control of your horses. If I get 

 alongside a young gentleman who has great conceit of his own driving, the first thing I ask 

 him to do is to stop, and that suddenly, when he least expects such a request." 



The first lessons should be devoted to learning how to start, how to stop, and how to 

 turn on either hand. Day after day should be devoted to .this practice for successive weeks, 

 until the pupil performs the requisite motions instantaneously and mechanically. Practice may 

 fairly be commenced with an old team, that have learned to obey the slightest indication and 

 do half the driver's work for him ; but a man is not a coachman until he can hold, turn, and 

 stop fresh, fiery horses, not all of the same temperament. 



All the first lessons should be on level ground, in roads clear of traffic, and not until the 

 pupil has thoroughly mastered the elementary lessons should he be trusted in crowded streets 

 or market-places. As people generally get out of the way of a four-horse coach, he may 

 delude himself into the idea that he is driving when he is only clearing the road. 



When starting, going straight on level ground, turning right and left, and stopping have 

 been performed in a satisfactory manner, then descending steep hills may be carefully practised, 

 remembering to always go slowly over the tops of hills, whether big or small. 



All this sounds easy enough ; but how the wheelers are to do their work, when to run 

 down without, when to put on the patent drags, how regulate the pace — these are material 

 points which can only be acquired by long practice under judicious instruction. 



Great care must be taken not to acquire slovenly habits, as nothing is so difficult to cure 

 as a bad style. 



FOUR-IN-HAND HORSES AND CARRIAGES. 



The character of the horses for a four-in-hand will depend on the kind of carriage used 

 and the purse of the owner. 



As before observed, all the real work is done by the wheelers ; therefore, if the carriage 

 is heavy the wheelers must be able to start it up-hill and hold it down-hill. As to pace : If 

 the team is meant for work and distance, the wheelers should be able to trot at the rate of 

 fourteen miles an hour, which will allow the leaders to gallop. To try such horses, singly or 



