508 ACCIDENTS CH. XXIII 



wheelers, which keeps the reins together, and away 

 from the tails. This ring must be lashed tightly to 

 one of the reins or else it will slip out of place. 



Another way is to run the rein of the horse that 

 whisks his tail, through the throat-latch of the 

 wheeler diagonally behind him ; but this is obviously 

 desirable for a short distance only, in an emergency, 

 since it is apt to interfere with the wheeler's work. 



A not uncommon accident, which cannot happen 

 if the reins are properly made, is that of catching 

 the fork of the lead-reins on a leader's tail. 



Should a leader shy violently, he may pull his 

 coupling-buckle through the pad-terret of his part- 

 ner. For the means of preventing both of these 

 accidents, see the article on ' Reins' in the Chapter 

 on ' Harness.' 



Driving too fast round a turn, and striking the 

 wheel against a stone, is perhaps the most common 

 cause of serious accidents, since by the shock the 

 coachman may be thrown off the coach. 



A horse standing unattended, by the side of the 

 road, should, in passing, be watched ; he may turn 

 suddenly into the road and throw down a leader. 



To have a horse balk, or jib, and refuse to go, 

 can be, perhaps, hardly called an accident, but it is 

 desperately annoying and very difficult to manage. 

 Every horseman has his own method of inducing 

 the horse to move, which he considers infallible 

 until he tries to put it in practice, when it usually 

 fails. 



