2 88 GETTING UP CH. XIV 



The moment that he reaches the foot-board he 

 should sit down, but, if he is driving a public-coach, 

 before doing- so, and while he is partly facing his 

 passengers, he should raise his hat slightly to them. 

 It is awkward to remain standing while shifting the 

 reins to the left hand, and there is a risk of being 

 thrown off of the box. On a public-coach, the coach- 

 man should not get up until within a minute of the 

 time of starting-. 



As soon as he takes his seat on the cushion, he 

 passes the reins to his left hand in the same order 

 in which he had them in his right. He catches up 

 his whip, if it has become unwound, and arranges 

 the driving-apron. He then adjusts the reins to the 

 proper length. The man at the leaders' heads 

 should keep the horses far enough forward to have 

 their traces nearly as tight as if they were pulling, 

 otherwise the coachman cannot readily judge how 

 long his lead-reins should be. The reins should be 

 taken in the hand at such a point that all the horses 

 when they are started shall have their traces equally 

 tight. 



Many authorities think that the wheelers alone 

 should start the coach, the traces of the leaders 

 being slack, but there does not seem to be any 

 good reason for this. 



Certainly, the leaders alone should not start the 

 coach while the wheelers' traces are slack, but when 

 the team starts, the leaders should feel their traces 

 before they tighten their reins, or from the sudden 



