29O STARTING CH. XIV 



opposite to the man who is at the wheeler's head ; 

 and as the back of the coach reaches them, both 

 men get up at the same time into the rumble. 



The start should be made as quietly as possible ; 

 the movement of the man from the leaders' heads, 

 combined with a slight yielding of the coachman's 

 hand, is generally a sufficient intimation to the 

 horses. If anything must be said to make them 

 start, a short exclamation should be used, such as 

 ' Right !' uttered sharply and only once. Some- 

 times ' Pull up !' is used, but this seems to be 

 hardly appropriate, since to pull up, means to stop. 



In giving a rule for starting a team, it would be 

 difficult to satisfy all coaching critics. Some au- 

 thorities prescribe dropping, or yielding, the hand, 

 to oive the horses the signal, others tighten the reins 

 slightly. ' Nimrod' [Northern Tour, p. 340), speak- 

 ing of a doubtful-looking team at a change, says : 

 ' But dropping my hand to them at starting, they 

 'all went away.' Beaufort (p. 10) says: 'An un- 

 ' workmanlike trick, which the coachman cannot be 

 ' too careful to avoid, is that of slackening his reins 

 'and pushing out his hands before him when he 

 'wants to start; a trick, however, which is much 

 ' affected by many men who find themselves on a 

 'driving-seat which they do not adorn.' Howlett 

 teaches that the hand should be dropped or yielded 

 at starting. 



Possibly, these differences are more imaginary 

 than real ; since the proper action depends a good 



