112 THE COMPLETE SPORTSMAN 



mounting the box of a carriage. A spirited 

 team will often start off as soon as they imagine 

 the coachman to be in his place, and nothing 

 looks sillier or is more dangerous than an at- 

 tempt to pilot a pair of mettlesome horses 

 through the streets of a crowded city with the 

 sole aid of a whip and a few cries of despair. 

 The reins must, of course, be held firmly in 

 one hand, so as to leave the other free to 

 manipulate whip and break, both of which 

 implements should be used as sparingly as 

 possible. 



At times a careless driver will allow one of 

 the reins to get underneath the tail of his horse. 

 Should such an accident occur, it is fatal to 

 attempt to disengage the rein by main force. 

 Guile is the only secret of success in such cir- 

 cumstances, and by tickling the horse gently 

 on the flank Avith the whip, at the same time 

 giving vent to a loud buzzing sound, it is occa- 

 sionally possible to deceive the animal into 

 believing that it is about to be stung by a gad- 

 fly. In the interests of self-protection it will 

 swish its tail in the direction from which the 

 attack is to be expected, and the rein can then 

 be hastily withdrawn before the misguided 

 animal finds out its mistake. 



A whole volume might easily be written upon 

 the proper use of the whip; and by the coachman 



