CH. XV USE OF THE BRAKE 357 



faster than trotting, although it usually looks so ; 

 it is quite easy to gallop a team at a slower pace 

 than their best trot. 



Coachmen differ much in the use that they make 

 of the brake, and it would be difficult to lay down 

 positive rules about it. The brake should not be 

 used for stopping, except to avoid an accident under 

 some unexpected circumstances ; on a steep descent 

 it should be put on hard enough to take most of the 

 strain off of the pole-chains, and on a long hill which 

 is not steep (say about three per cent., that is, one 

 foot rise in thirty-three) it should be put on lightly, 

 so that the horses can go along at a good speed 

 without having to pull or to hold back ; toward the 

 foot of an incline the end of which turns, or cannot 

 be distinctly seen, it is well to have the brake a little 

 on, both to moderate the pace and to be prepared 

 for an emergency. 



It is a bad plan to use the brake so much that the 

 horses get out of the habit of holding - back, since 

 upon occasion it is of great importance that they 

 should be able and willing to do so. Many pro- 

 fessional four-horse coachmen on the Continent use 

 the brake to keep the traces tight in going down a 

 moderate hill, so that the horses shall be always at 

 the same distance from the hand ; but it is a bad 

 plan, both because it keeps them at work all the 

 time, and because it does not permit the collars to 

 lift from the necks, — a great relief to the wheelers 

 in warm weather. 



