RIDING AND DRIVING 257 



the buttons on your waistcoat, will make two par- 

 allel lines up and down with the hand three or 

 four inches from the body. The reins should be 

 clasped, or held by the two lower, or fourth and 

 fifth fingers; the second finger should point 

 straight across and upward enough to keep the 

 near rein over the knuckle of that finger and the 

 thumb pointing in the same direction, but not so 

 much upward. The reins are held not by squeez- 

 ing them on their flat surfaces, but by pressure on 

 their edges. The edges, in a word, being held be- 

 tween the two last fingers and the root of the 

 thumb. This arrangement makes a flexible joint 

 of the wrist, for the reins and for the bit to play 

 upon. This suppleness of wrist, just enough and 

 not too much, is what is called ' hands.' It means 

 that your wrist gives just enough play to the 

 horse's mouth to enable him to feel your influ- 

 ence, without being either confused or hampered 

 by it. As this is the key to perfection in all driv- 

 ing, everybody claims to possess it; only the elect 

 few have it." 



In leaving the stable or starting out from any 

 other place, you should go quietly. Nothing is 



