IN TROD UCTION. \ I 



As a rule, a beginner may take it pretty well for granted that 

 when once he gets under way with good horses, even though 

 he has never driven four horses before, he is pretty safe bar- 

 ring, of course, mishaps which cannot be foreseen until he 

 wishes to pull up ; and it may be said that almost all the acci- 

 dents which occur, though fortunately in coaching these are 

 rare, take place either in starting or in pulling up. 



We have not alluded, either when talking of driving one 

 horse or driving two horses, to the pace at which it is advisable 

 to go. This must of course depend very much upon a variety 

 of circumstances. If anyone is going to catch a train, and has 

 only fifty minutes to do ten miles in, he must necessarily gallop 

 if his horses cannot trot fast enough ; but until the gentleman 

 has driven some years, and is quite master of the business, we 

 should recommend him to restrict himself to a trot. If he has 

 naturally fast horses, they would be not unlikely to trot at the 

 rate of ten miles an hour with greater ease to themselves than 

 at the rate of eight miles ; but a good principle to observe 

 through life is to save your cattle as much as you carr^ and if 

 you have very fine free horses, well bred, and naturally fast, 

 not to allow them to go at the top of their speed, though at 

 the same time to take them at such a pace that they will not 

 be wearied and annoyed by efforts at holding them back. 

 With the generality of horses, coachmen will find that about 

 nine miles an hour is as much as they care to do, though, 

 as we said before, the pace must necessarily be adjusted to 

 the requirements of the moment. 



Many people -will be apt to say, ' How do you know at 

 what pace you are going ? ' And it must be admitted that the 

 speed of horses is very deceptive to the eye ; it will often seem 

 to the observer that a big team of sixteen-hand horses are 

 apparently going along very slowly, but with their long stride 

 they will in reality be going a good ten miles an hour when 

 they look as if they were not travelling more than eight miles. 

 The converse is often equally the case : small quick-stepping 

 horses will induce the driver to fancy that they are going at a 



