314 DRIVING. 



driven and putting-to for driving from the box. Both hand- 

 horses at wheel and leader were put to and the wheel-horse 

 poled up as for driving ; but the wheel riding-horse had his 

 traces a couple of holes longer than his partner, and his pole- 

 piece a hole slacker, while the leading riding-horse had his 

 traces a hole or two longer. This gave both boys more com- 

 mand over the hand-horse and enabled the wheel-boy to keep 

 away from the pole. He rode with an iron guard on his right 

 leg and along the outside of his right foot, to prevent the limb 

 from being crushed or broken by the riding-horse leaning on 

 the pole. Even with this, observant travellers must often have 

 wondered, when they have seen the wheel-boy's foot bent or 

 caught under the pole, how it was he did not get more hurt. 

 Fortunately for the postboys all carriages were built with 

 perches, so that the pole rode steady. Had they driven with 

 the modern carriages without perches, every time they went over 

 a crossing or gutter they would have stood a good chance of 

 having their knee-cap or thigh fractured. It is a matter for 

 speculation how many horses' teeth are knocked out by the 

 flying up and down of the pole in the present day. 



A word must be said about the postboys' characters. All 

 those who have tried know how difficult it is to drive a pair or 

 four horses to one's own satisfaction, and it is seldom that one 

 pulls up at the end of a stage, or gets off a coach-box, without 

 feeling that the horses might have been driven better ; that one 

 horse or the other did too much or too little work, and that more 

 justice might have been done them. Now knowledge, the use 

 of the hands, patience and temper, are all wanted to enable 

 driving to be well done. If gentlemen of education who have 

 had the latter qualifications instilled into them, and who have 

 been taught by the best and most experienced coachmen, find 

 so much difficulty in putting that which they have been taught 

 into practice from the driving-box, how much more difficulty 

 would there be in driving well from the saddle ! From the box 

 each horse ought to be made to do his fair share, but in riding 

 and driving the two near-side horses have to carry a man, 



