CH. XIV STARTING 29 1 



deal upon what has gone before it. I incline to the 

 opinion, that the proper way is, just before starting, 

 to feel all the horses' mouths by tightening the 

 reins very gradually, so as to not excite any one 

 of them, and thus to gather the horses, and indicate 

 that something is to be required of them ; then, at 

 the instant of starting, the hand should be yielded, 

 decidedly, but not too far, three or four inches, for 

 instance, to let the horses get off. It must be said, 

 however, that with another team, which has been 

 differently handled, a tightening of the reins will 

 have the same result ; and, in fact, no coachman can 

 exactly predict what a team entirely strange to him, 

 will do at the start ; and he may have to employ 

 both methods in rapid succession. 



Gathering the horses and then yielding the hand, 

 is more in accordance with the general rules of 

 horsemanship, and the coachman's own team should 

 be accustomed to that way of starting. The excla- 

 mation : ' Right !' or whatever word may be adopted, 

 will, usually, if heard by all the horses, make them 

 start ; the clucking noise frequently made for this 

 purpose is not always heard by the leaders, and it 

 excites other horses which may be near the coach. 

 The reins are, after all, the proper means of com- 

 munication between the coachman and his horses. 



The touch of the whip is too exciting to be used 

 in starting, unless a sluggish horse decidedly holds 

 back, and it is successful only in practised hands. 



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