CH. XIX CHANGES 463 



should be abreast of the place which they are to take 

 in the coach, and standing on the side of the road 

 away from the stable, so that they will not be in the 

 way when the old leaders come from their places. 



For a three-minute change, the horses may stand 

 in a row, with their heads out, on whichever side of 

 the road is the more convenient, usually on the off 

 side, and in such a position that the coach will stop 

 alongside of them. In a narrow road, with vehicles 

 going passing by, they must stand in front. In 

 some confined places they may have to wait in the 

 stable yard, but this will obviously add to the time 

 of makinof the chancre. 



Accounts are given in coaching books, of changes 

 made in old times in less than a minute on very 

 fast coaches like the 'Wonder.' ' Nimrod' [North- 

 em Tour, p. 338) says that on Captain Barclay's 

 famous coach, the 'Defiance,' one of the changes 

 was made in a minute, and that the average did not 

 exceed a minute and a half. In a public-coach com- 

 petition at the New York Horse-Show in 1897, two 

 contestants made a change of horses in the rincr 

 in 58 seconds ; there were two grooms with the 

 change team, and a guard and a groom on the 

 coach. With a fast coach, no time must be lost at 

 the changes ; as will be seen by the Table on p. 446, 

 the pace has to be very much increased to make up 

 such loss, especially on short stages. 



If there is only one horse-keeper, as was fre- 

 quently the case with the old coaches, the coachman 



