144 DRIVING. 



we race up the High Street we might do something to be talked 

 about.' No sooner said than done ; he ran her up the bank, 

 we both fell on our backs into the road, not in the least hurting 

 ourselves, but getting rather dirty. The strange thing was that 

 the mare came down again off the bank, the gig righted itself, 

 she galloped into the town, and was stopped by some men who 

 spread across the road, checked her, and led her back, no 

 damage being done. 



I have generally found that well-bred horses, if kindly treated, 

 are less likely to kick, and give less trouble in harness, than 

 under-bred ones. A friend of mine who lived in a very hilly 

 part of Wales received a letter one morning, informing him that 

 a horse which he had long wished to buy was for sale ; but that 

 he must come at once, or it would be gone. The distance was 

 forty miles ; the only horse that he then had was a thoroughbred 

 four-year-old, who had never been in harness ; but he wished 

 to drive, instead of riding, as he would otherwise have done, 

 so that he might take a lad with him to bring his purchase 

 home. He put the four-year-old into his gig, and drove 

 him twenty-five miles without stopping, in a plain snaffle. He 

 then stopped at the door of an inn for ten minutes, but did 

 not take the horse out of the gig ; and after that finished the 

 journey. Now I consider this to have been a marvellous per- 

 formance, especially in a hilly country, as horses newly put into 

 harness are generally very shy and awkward when first going 

 down steep hills, and have no notion of holding back. I bought 

 this horse later, but never harnessed him ; he was a charming 

 hunter, with a sweet temper, mouth and manners. 



If you put a violent horse into single harness without much 

 help, I would advise the use of two sets of reins. You could 

 then drive him at the check at starting ; but if he pulled hard, 

 or seemed likely to break away, you could seize hold of the 

 safety reins, which should be fixed to the middle or lower bar, 

 and the horse should be stopped at once. 



Even in single harness, in all my long forty-mile drives, I 

 always used a bearing-rein, as I found that it steadied a horse ; 



