HOLDING THE REINS. 305 



case of a sudden jolt of the carriage. The legs and hips 

 should be as firm and immovable, and the upper part of the 

 bodj should be as free and flexible, as possible, the princi- 

 ple being borne in mind, as in the case of riding on horse- 

 back, that while the seat should be perfectly secure, thid 

 security should not imply the least support from the reins, 

 nor the least inability to do whatever may be necessary 

 with the head or arms. 



The eyes of the driver should be always on his horses, 

 yet always about him. While he should see every strap 

 and buckle within eye-shot, every movement of the horses' 

 ears, every toss or shake of their heads, and every step 

 that they take, he should also see every vehicle coming 

 toward him, every object by the roadside, or elsewhere, 

 which can possibly frighten his team, and every stone oi 

 uneven place in the road on which they are likely to step, 

 or which may come in the way of the wheels. To sit in 

 this manner, and to be thus watchful while driving a pair 

 of lively horses, and at the same time to appear perfectly 

 at ease, is no small accomplishment ; still it may be attained 

 by practice, and is essential to elegance in driving. 



The manner of holding the reins should depend on cir- 

 cumstances. They may be both held in the left hand in 

 either of the following ways, the hand being held with the 

 thumb upward : — 



First. Let the off rein pass over the fore finger, and 

 the near rein between the fore and middle fingers, the 

 thumb pressing on the off rein to keep it in place, and both 

 reins passing out between the ring and little fingers, aa 

 shown in fig. 41; in this way they can be held veiy 

 securely. 



Second, Let the near rein pass under the little finger, 

 and the off rein between the ring-finger and little finger, 

 both ends being brought out between the thumb and fore 



