FOUR IN HAND. 



147 



and too-etlier is of the utmost importance whether driv- 

 ing through a park, country highway or bus^^ city 

 streets, you never can tell the moment something wiU 

 get in your way A person -might inadvertently at- 

 tempt to cross the road; a child may stray off the side- 

 walk; or in driving through the country cattle might 

 cross your path. Every one is liable to cause an ac- 

 cident if the reins are loose, because it requires more 

 length of pull to enable you to feel the horse's mouth, 

 and as generally happens to young coachmen who are 

 taken b}' surprise rhey forget at the moment what to 

 do — ^to shorten their reins. 



Most of tlie foregoing faults arise by gentle- 

 men taking lessons from wliat a stage coachman 

 would call ''park coachmen." I have repeatedly 

 been out with gentlemen in this city who have taken 

 lessons by the dozen. They know how to hold the 

 reins properly and how to make a turn, providing the 

 team is going moderately well ; but A^hen it comes to any 

 practical work — dri\dng ovei* rotigh roads with a coach 

 loaded and lots of other important points which is most 

 important a coachman should know something of, they 

 are entirely ignorant. It is a well-known fact to nearly 

 all those of my readers who have had any experience 

 in coaching that to become a proficient wiiip requires a 

 lot of practice and constant dri\4ng which can be more 



