CH. XIV 28 ! 



CHAPTER XIV 



DRIVING 



Getting up. — The horses having been put-to (as 

 described in Chapter XII.) and the coach driven to 

 the door, or ready in the stable yard, the coachman 

 is prepared to start. 



Before getting up to his seat, he should walk 

 round his coach and horses, beginning- on the off 

 side, going behind the coach and coming forward on 

 the near side, then in front of the horses, and to a 

 position abreast of the off wheeler. While doing 

 this, he should make a rapid but thorough inspection 

 of coach, horses, and harness, to see that every- 

 thing is right, especially noting whether the reins 

 are buckled to the bits in the places where he in- 

 tends to have them, and whether the draught-reins 

 are outside, since sometimes the reins are turned 

 over, and the coupling-reins are put outside. If the 

 horses are in for the first time, or have had their 

 places changed, or if the harness is new, this in- 

 spection is all the more necessary. 



Then, standing opposite to the pad of the off 

 wheeler, he draws the reins from above the tug- 

 buckle (see Fig. 127), where they have been looped 

 by the man who has brought the coach round, or, 

 if the coach is still in the stable yard, by the groom 



