476 AUSTRIAN DRIVING CH. XX 



roads, is not a good coachman and does not know 

 his business ; so we are forced to the conclusion 

 that both methods must be more or less right. It 

 is undoubtedly true, however, that many persons 

 who have learned to drive four-in-hand with two 

 hands, have afterward taken to driving with one, 

 whereas no one who began with one hand, has ever 

 abandoned that method to take to two hands. 



It is interesting- to note that the Austrian method 

 of driving resembles the American. The reins are 

 buckled together (as shown in Fig. 113), the hind- 

 most buckle coming just behind the hand. The 

 near reins are held in the left hand, the off reins in 

 the right, and, in turning long corners, chopping is 

 usual ; that is, the near or the off reins are pulled 

 while held together, with the result of shaving the 

 corner closely with the hind wheel, the inside wheel 

 horse being sometimes touched with the whip to 

 keep him away from the corner. For sharp turns, 

 a point is made by drawing the lead-rein through 

 the fingers, behind which it makes a short loop, 

 owing to the buckle which holds it, and after the 

 movement is completed this loop is allowed to slip 

 out. For a very sharp turn, the outside wheel- 

 rein is looped in the same way, to make an opposi- 

 tion. 



The fingering is, in fact, almost identical with that 

 of the American method, but from the reins being- 

 fastened together it has the disadvantage of much 

 less flexibility. In the Austrian style, the wheel 



