152 STABLE MANUAL AND HORSE DOCTOR 



the false belly-band buckled up pretty tightly, so as to keep 

 the shafts steady. In four-wheeled carriages it should be 

 left tolerably loose when a breeching is used, to allow it 

 to have free play. The reins are untwisted from the terret, 

 and the horse is put to. For double harness, the first thing 

 is to bring the horse round by the side of the pole, and put 

 the pole-piece through the sliding ring of the hames, the 

 groom holding it, or else buckling it at the longest hole 

 while the traces are being put to ; as soon as this is done 

 the pole-piece is buckled up to its proper length, each 

 coupiing-rein buckled to the opposite horse's bit, the driving- 

 reins untwisted from the terret, and the two buckled 

 together, and the horses are ready. The leaders of a 

 tandem or four-in-hand are easily attached, and their reins 

 are passed through the rings on the heads of the wheelers, 

 and through the upper half of the pad terret. 



Driving a Pair has one grand leading principle, without 

 which the others are all but nil. It is the "putting" the 

 horses so well together that they may draw equally, and 

 step in time with each other. This latter, however, can 

 only be effectively done when the animals match in action 

 and temper, and in height of step. We note temper as an 

 important ingredient, because if one is a fast-goer and the 

 other a slug, the amount of whipcord necessary for the slug 

 will urge the free-goer to take all the work upon himself. 

 A partial remedy for this is giving more length to the 

 coupling-rein of the slow one. In watching the working 

 of the two horses, the pole-pieces should always be the 

 guide ; and if both are slack, with the end of the pole 

 steady, and neither horse shouldering it, the driver may 

 rest contented that his horses are each doing their share. 

 If, however, the pole is shouldered b}^ either, that horse is 

 a rogue, and is making the other do more than his share, 

 keeping the pole straight by tlie pressure of his shoulder, 

 instead of pulling at the traces. On the other hand, if 

 either horse is pulling away from the pole, and straining 

 at the pole-piece, he is doing more than his share, and his 

 coupling-rein must be taken in accordingly. Sometimes 

 both shoulder the pole, or spread from it, which are equally 

 unsightly habits, and may generally be cured by an altera- 

 tion of the coupling-reins of both horses, letting them out 

 when they " shoulder," and taking them up for straggling. 



In Driving a Single Horse, the near rein is passed over 



