254 PUTTING-TO CH. XII 



is, with both his traces to his own bar, — and the 

 inside trace of the other horse is passed inside of 

 the first horse's trace and hooked to its proper bar 

 (Fig. 126, C). Lapping serves two purposes: it 

 prevents the leaders from pulling apart, and it keeps 

 the inside traces away from the sides of the horses, 

 so that in muddy weather they will not chafe ; on the 

 other hand, if a leader kicks over his inside trace he 

 gets his leg over both traces, or if one horse falls it 

 is more difficult to disentangle the pair. 



For park driving it looks better to have the traces 

 straight ; neither crossed nor lapped. 



After all the reins are on the off side, they should 

 be pulled through the terrets to about the right 

 length, straightened, so that there are no twists in 

 them, the ends buckled, and the loop, or bight, 

 drawn through above the trace and tug-buckle from 

 the front toward the back, leaving the points in front 

 (Fig. 127). 



The whip should then be caught up with a double- 

 thong, and laid across the backs of the wheelers, 

 behind the pads and quite well over toward the 

 near side, so that the weight of the handpiece of the 

 whip will not cause it to fall off. It is a good plan 

 to pull the butt of the whip backward between the 

 two parts of the back-strap, which will keep it in 

 place. 



If the thong of the whip, by touching his side, 

 worries the near wheeler, the whip may be laid from 

 front to back across the roof-seats on the off side, 



