270 MANAGEMENT OF ROAD AND DRIVING HORSES. 



long. Use judgment in this as in many other oases where it is 

 impossible for the wisest head to lay down infallible rules to 

 go by. If a man has no judgment in the use of a horse, he 

 should not be allowed to use one, but be forced to turn his at- 

 tention to other less responsible pursuits. 



Having described my way in treating a horse on a long dis- 

 tance I will say a few words regarding short-distance driving. 

 While at my time of life I like a " quaker trot " about as well 

 as any gait — both as to comfort and safety for me — still if I 

 have a good horse and the roads are good and I have only five 

 or ten miles to go, I see no particular necessity of spending too 

 much time*on the road. Time is money, and life is too short 

 to fool away too much of it unnecessarily. I contend that a 

 horse well able to do so and without a heavy load, had better 

 travel over a good, smooth ten-mile road in an hour and a half 

 and receive good treatment at the end, than to spend two and 

 a half hours on the road and receive no care at the end of the 

 route. 



Besides, the older I grow I more and more see the import- 

 ance of making each hour count to the best possible advan 

 tage ; for, as Longfellow has it : 



" Art is long and Time is fleeting; 



And our hearts, though stout and brave, 

 Still, like muffled drums, are beating 

 Funeral marches to the grave." 



Always, when driving on the road, have the reins well in 

 hand, always being "in touch" with the horse through his 

 mouth. Then, if through any cause your horse makes a mis- 

 step, or shies, or stumbles, you have him under your control at 

 once — as you otherwise could not do. 



I have driven horses full of life and spirit, whose action and 

 speed I could govern by the mouth alone, without a word or 

 single act on my part except just slight variations in the pull 

 or non-pull of the lines. 



