80 THE FAMILY HORSE. 



coUax, the crupper put in place and buckled to the back-strap, and 

 the inner girth drawn not too snugly, and also buckled. If a breast- 

 collar is used, the operations around the neck are much simplified. 



DRIVING FOR BUSINESS OR PLEASURE. 



The horse should never be started on a full stomach for a long 

 or hard drive . A portion of the ordinary hay ration may be with- 

 held and the grain slightly increased. To drive well is an accom- 

 pUshment which requires observation, steady nerves and practice. 

 A good driver will never start the horse with a shout and a blow, or 

 even a crack of the whip. But gathering the reins firmly in hand, he 

 will start off quietly with a word or a chirrup. He will allow the 

 horse to go very moderately at first, gradually increasing the pace, 

 as the animal becomes warmed to the work. He will hold the reins 

 just tight enough to feel the horse's mouth, but not to bruise and 

 saw it with the bits. He will sit straight, keeping a constant alert 

 lookout on the horse, at the same time observing the road ahead so 

 as to avoid every serious obstacle, and turn out at the proper time 

 for those he meets. It is essential that the horse shall have what is 

 called a good mouth, sensitive to the slightest pressui'e of the bit. 

 The driver needs to maintain a steady, even tension of the reins. 

 Jerking one rein and then the other, slapping the horse's back with 

 them, and keeping up a constant volley of words, are all bad prac- 

 tices which worry and irritate the horse. 



On a drive of any considerable length, it is far better to maintain 

 a good steady pace after the horse is fairly warmed to the work, than 

 to go by fits and starts, spurting for a time at the utmost speed 

 which can be got out of the horse, and then jogging along at a walk. 

 When driving for pleasure or business with a light wagon, and a 

 fairly good horse, an average gait of eight miles an hour may be 

 kept up for a long time, with less wear to the horse than a jerky 

 and fitful pace. But to quote again from Herbert: " In speaking of 

 driving at an equal pace, we would not, of course, be understood to 

 mean that horses should be driven at the same gait and speed over 

 all roads, and over ground of all natures. Far from it. A good 

 driver will never, perhaps, have his horse going at exactly the same 

 rate for any two consecutive twenty minutes. Over a dead level, the 

 hardest of all things except a long continuous ascent of miles, he 

 will spare his horses. Over a rolling road he will hold them hai'd 

 in hand as he crosses the top and descends the first steep pitch of a 

 down-grade, will swing them down the remainder at a pace which 

 will carry them across the intervening flat and half way up the sue- 



