100 THE COACHING ERA 



eye between them," hy which he inferred that all four 

 horses were blind, and the task of keeping them on the 

 road depended entirely on himself; and keeping the 

 road on a dark night was none too easy at any time. 



The value of a picked team often ran into three figures, 

 but the average price of an ordinary coach horse was £2^, 

 and horses of all kinds, sorts, and conditions found their 

 way into the coachyards, without much reference as 

 to their adaptability for their new profession. Anything 

 that could hold back was considered satisfactory for a 

 wheeler, whilst an animal that would keep out of the way 

 of the bars did for a leader. Possessing either of these 

 qualifications, any horse could be made to run in a 

 coach, even if inclined to jib, shy, bolt, or otherwise 

 misbehave themselves. The new arrivals often objedled 

 strenuously to the service expedled of them, and showed 

 their disapproval, to the no little alarm of the passengers, 

 who watched with feelings of extreme apprehension the 

 trial of wills between horse and driver. Usually the man 

 won, for the old coachmen were first-rate whips, and 

 after a fierce struggle against overwhelming odds the 

 most refra6lory horse eventually settled down to his 

 work. 



There was one horse, however, who drove coachmen 

 and contra£lors innumerable to the verge of despair. 

 His method was one of dignified simplicity; he permitted 

 himself to be harnessed, went up to the coach like a lamb, 

 and then when the rugs were pulled off, the ostlers stood 

 away, and the coachmen gave him the office to start, he 

 deliberately lay down. Coachmen swore, guards raved, 



