4IO 'HOLD AND HIT' CH. XVII 



stroke ; one is almost certain to touch a wheeler in 

 bringing the thong back, or to get the point caught 

 in the harness or on the pole-head. 



In touching any horse, and especially a leader, 

 the maxim 'hold and hit' must be remembered, 

 which means that the coachman must have a hold 

 on the horse's mouth, because if the horse is hit 

 while his rein is loose, he will rush forward before 

 he can be properly restrained. No crack or whistle 

 must be made with the whip ; only that horse alone 

 which is hit should know anything about it. 



After a stroke the thong must be brought back by 

 lifting the point of the stick, so that the thong will 

 fall on the inside of the right arm, whence it can be 

 allowed to slip down to the hand. There will be 

 several feet of thong- hanoqno- down behind the 

 hand, and this must be pulled through the right 

 hand by the left thumb, until only a few inches 

 remain under the right thumb, when a double-thong 

 can be caught. 



In brincrino- the thono- back, it must not touch 

 any horse, or trail on the ground so as to get 

 muddy. 



In striking an off wheeler, the loop of the double- 

 thong may catch either in the point of the trace or 

 in the point-strap which is buckled into the false 

 belly-band, and it will be difficult to get it out ; it 

 may sometimes be released by letting the point of 

 the thong go entirely off of the stick, and then 

 pulling it through single. 



