CH. XIX COACHMAN AND GUARD 447 



advantage to have them all of the same type, so 

 that however they may be shifted about, they will 

 look well together. The town-team should be the 

 best looking - , and made up of handy, quick, fear- 

 less horses ; a sluggish team, requiring the whip, is 

 neither pleasant nor safe in the streets. As soon as 

 possible the horses should be put out on the road 

 and exercised over the ground on which they are to 

 work. 



The men required will be : a professional coachman 

 and a guard, whose duties are described further on, 

 and if perfection is desired, two horse-keepers for 

 each change ; but one horse-keeper and a local hos- 

 tler at the change-place can do the work, provided 

 it can be so arranged that the latter will not be 

 called off by his other duties at the change-time. 

 If there are two horse-keepers, one of them must 

 decidedly out-rank the other and have authority 

 over him, or there will be endless friction between 

 the two ; and the chief man must have the entire 

 responsibility of the feeding. Their duties are ob- 

 viously those of ordinary stable-men, but they have 

 to be drilled in all the points of making a quick 

 and neat change so that the changes will be made 

 in the same way at all the stations. 



The material furnished to each stable, such as 

 buckets, sponges, forks (and, by the way, a steel 

 fork should never be allowed in a stable, only 

 wooden four-pronged forks being used), brushes, 

 halters, ruo^s, &c, should be entered in a book, in 



