123 DRIVING. 



chain, 1 but the greater number of the coachmen of the present 

 day are content to let each leader do his own work from his own 

 bar. The length of the reins must, of course, be regulated by 

 the size of the team and the coach they have to draw. Nothing 

 is more dangerous than to have them too short behind your 

 hands, as one of them might easily be dropped, while nc thing 

 looks so clumsy as to have a few feet dangling about your legs. 

 It may generally be taken as a safe length for the leaders' 

 coupling reins if the buckle comes back as nearly as possible 

 to within about six inches in front of tops of their tails, which 

 gives plenty of room to let them out or take them up, quite 

 as much as can ever be needed ; if they come farther back, 

 should a horse get his tail over, then the buckle will keep it 

 there, and the bars, and the wheeler's teeth behind him, will 

 be in danger ; if the couplings are shorter the buckles are con- 

 tinually liable to run through the terrets should a horse hang 

 back or plunge forward, one of the most dangerous positions 

 a coachman, however experienced, can possibly find himself in, 

 the command of his leaders being entirely lost. There is only 

 one remedy for this that I know of viz. running a short piece 

 of wood or metal through the buckles ; but it is very unsightly, 

 and if the couplings are measured as above described an acci- 

 dent of this description is almost impossible. The buckles of 

 the wheelers' reins should come up, when the horses are in 

 work, to about eight or ten inches from the left hand ; this 

 will give room enough to shorten them going downhill or in 

 case of sudden emergency, and they will not be too far away 

 to reach if the couplings require alteration. 2 



The leaders' reins are generally passed through terrets on 



1 This is a most foolish practice. It does no good, and if a leader kicks and 

 gets his leg through between the bars, one of them must be sawn through, and 

 the pole may be broken before that is accomplished. A strap is better because 

 it can be quickly cut, but there being no useful object in it the bars are better 

 left free. B. 



2 It is essential to have the spare length of the crupper strap short enough 

 to go only just through the end loop, otherwise it will constantly happen that 

 the reins get under it, and one leader hanging back will bring the coach to 

 grief. B. 



