“We are too apt,” said the late Lord Erskine, “to consider animals
under the domination of man in no view but that of property. We should
never forget that the animal over which we exercise our power has
all the organs which render it susceptible of pleasure and pain. It
sees, it hears, it smells, it tastes, it feels with acuteness. How
mercifully, then, ought we to exercise the dominion intrusted to our
care!”
Speaking to coach-horses from the box is now considered slow, but it is
not without its effect. Whipping, however, is sometimes indispensable.
The manufacture of four-horse whips has arrived at great perfection,
and affords employment to many hundred hands.
Refined management of the whip is not of many years’ birth; and even
now there are but few who execute this effectually and with grace.
There are as many ways of whipping coach-horses, says a clever writer
in the _Sporting Magazine_, as there are horses in the coach; and, as
there is a right and a wrong way of doing most things, a young beginner
may observe the following directions, beginning with the wheel-horses:--
Before a coachman hits a wheel-horse, he should twist his thong three
times round the crop of his whip, holding the crop at that moment
somewhat horizontally, by which means the thong will twist towards the
thin end of the crop, when the thong, being doubled, will not exceed
the length of a pair-horse thong, and in some measure resemble it.
Being double renders it of course more severe, as it falls more heavily
on the horse; and by the two ends of the thong not being spread, but
close together at the time of the blow, it falls with increased force.
When the off-side wheeler is struck, the coachman’s right arm should
be put out from his body in the same position in which he presents it
to his tailor to measure him for a coat, but the blow should proceed
entirely from the wrist. The part on which the horse should be struck
is about four inches behind his false belly-band, or somewhere near the
short rib on his right side. The stinging part of the blow is then
felt under the belly; and, unless he is quite beaten, or of a sulky
and bad disposition, he seldom fails to answer it. If he do not answer
it here, he must be struck before the belly-band, when the blow falls
just behind the fore-arm, on a part on which the skin is very thin.
In hitting a near-wheeler, the coachman brings his right hand exactly
opposite to his face, and, turning the crop three times around, as
before directed, he lets the thong fall sharply across the horse’s
loins three times in succession, if he do not answer sooner,--observing
that, after the third blow, he draws the thong obliquely across the
horse’s back, by which means his arm returns to a state of rest, and
the crop falls gently across his reins, just about his left hand, the
crop pointing a little upwards to prevent the thong getting under or
touching the near wheel-horse’s tail. Should the latter be the case, if
the driver lower his crop, the thong will almost always get released;
but should it not, he must let the thong loose, and draw it out from
the point. When it comes up from the tail, let the coachman throw back
his crop a little to his right hand, and the point of the thong will
fall across his fingers, when he catches it, and puts it back into his
hand. It must be observed, that, in striking the near wheel horse, the
wrist only, as in sword exercise, is at work: the body must be quite
at rest; and, after the whip is brought to bear, the arm must be quiet
also, until the third blow is struck.
There is only one other method of hitting a wheel-horse, which is
called pointing him. This is done by hitting him with the point of
the thong, when loose, just behind his shoulders, but it is not
considered neat execution. If there should be a free leader before
the bars it causes him to fret, and is only to be had recourse to in
emergencies--as, for instance, in turning round a corner, or into
a gateway, when a leader is to be hit, and before the coachman can
recover his thong a wheel-horse requires whipping also.
If a wheel-horse show symptoms of vice, as a disposition to kick, &c.,
or, in short, if he refuse to answer either of the other calls upon
his exertions, a blow with the double thong on his ears generally
brings him to his senses. Without great necessity, however, it is very
reprehensible to strike a coach-horse over the ears, the parts being
very sensible.
It is generally supposed it is in whipping a leader that neatness of
execution is more especially displayed. It is, however, quite a mistake
to suppose that it is in the power of a coachman to punish a leader
with the single, as he can a wheel-horse with the double thong. No
doubt, however, the blow from the loose thong falls very sharp, as it
falls on a tender part--the inside of the thigh.
As the off-leader presents himself more fully to the right hand of the
coachman than his partner does, the horse that is the less free of the
two is generally put on that side. There are but two ways of hitting
an off-leader: one, by letting the thong fall gently over his neck,
or just behind his pad, when his driver merely wishes to refresh his
memory, and let him know that he has a whip in his hand; and the other,
when he wants to hit him sharply, by striking him with the point of
the thong just under his bar. The hard hitters of the old school never
conceived they had done the latter effectually, unless they struck
their horse twice at least, if not three times, the last stroke always
ending in a draw.
As this word “draw” is peculiar to the road, it must be explained to
such as may not exactly comprehend it. Suppose a coachman to hit his
off-leader three times. The first two blows are given, as it were,
under-handed--that is to say, the hand is lowered so as to admit of the
thong going under the bar the first two strokes. When the third or last
is given, the point of the elbow is thrown outwards, so as to incline
the thong inwards, which brings it up to the coachman’s hand after the
stroke, it generally falling across his breast, which would not be the
case were it not for the draw. Another advantage also attends the draw:
a thong so thrown very seldom hangs in the bars, and nothing is more
uncoachman-like than to hit a leader above his bar. A horse’s mouth
should always be felt before his coachman hits him.
Hitting the near leader with neatness and effect is the most difficult
part of the use of the whip. There are two ways of doing it: one, by
two common strokes and the draw; and the other by a sort of back-handed
stroke, which is a very neat one, and sufficiently severe, but it does
not bring the thong so immediately up to the coachman’s hand as the
drawn stroke does. In the back-handed stroke, the wrist describes an
exact figure of eight, and the arm cannot be kept, as before, quite
still. In the other method of hitting, the coachman’s arm is brought
about opposite his chin, the first two blows proceeding from the wrist
alone; but in the third, or the draw, the hand descends, the elbow is
thrown outwards, and by two jerks of the arm, which it is difficult to
describe on paper, the draw is effected, and the thong comes, as before
stated, across the coachman’s breast, so as to enable him to catch it
instantly.
There is one other way of hitting a leader; and that is, by what is
called the chop. This is done by throwing out the right arm rather
forward, and with it, of course, the thong, and then bringing it back
sharply with the wrist inclined downwards. The thong falls severely
on the horse’s thigh, and comes up to the hand again, as in the draw.
This is a very useful blow in a narrow confined place, or when it is
necessary to lose no time before a leader is hit; and, when neatly
done, has a very workman-like appearance. This blow generally falls
above the bar, particularly if a horse is not at work at the time.
It has been said that leaders should always be hit under their bar.
This, however, cannot always be done; for if a horse hang back from his
collar, his bar is so low that it may be difficult to get under it.
In this case, however, the blow is made to tell smartly, as it is in
the coachman’s power to throw his whip into the flank, which is a very
sensible part. When a leader is well up to his collar, he always can,
and always should, be hit under his bar.
Should the point of the thong catch, or, as they say on the road, “get
hanged,” in the bars or the pole-pieces--neither of which it will do
when properly drawn after the last stroke, as the inclination of the
hand in the act of drawing enables it to clear them--no violence should
be used to loosen it, or a broken crop will be the consequence. On
the contrary, the arm should be thrown forward, and the thong lightly
moved, when in a minute or two it will shake out. If it be fast between
the eye of the main bar and the pole-hook, the leaders should be eased
a little, and it will get released. Sometimes, however, on a wet day,
a thong will lap round some of these things so fast as to make it
necessary for the guard or some person to get down to untie it. This is
technically called having a bite. The double thong will also sometimes
hitch in the ends of the wheelers’ traces, as also in the point of the
false belly-band. To obviate this, in gentlemen’s harness, these parts
are always covered, or piped, as it is called.
A free leader should not be hit in a short turn, or he may break his
bar, perhaps the pole-hook, or even the main-bar. Neither should
leaders be hit in going over a small bridge which is much raised, or
when the pole points upwards, as their draught on the end of it may
snap it in the futchels. Some drivers perpetually whip or fan their
horses, which first irritates and afterwards injures them, by rendering
them insensible to the proper aids or correction. It must be observed
that the whip should never be used but in case of necessity. Indeed,
one of the best proofs of a good coachman is to see his right arm
still; and although, for the safety of his coach, he ought to be able
to punish a horse when he requires punishment, yet he should, on all
accounts, be as sparing of it as he can. Horses may be whipped till
they become callous to whipping, and therefore slow. In the condition
in which coach-horses are now kept, a pound of Nottingham whipcord
will last a good coachman his lifetime. The very act of throwing the
point of the thong over the leaders’ heads, or letting it fall on their
backs, as a fisherman throws his fly upon the stream, will set half the
coach-horses in England, in these days, into a gallop.
THOROUGHFARES, PASSING, &c.
The driver should avoid passing through the great thoroughfares, and
prefer the widest of the less frequented streets which run parallel to
them. In London, he should never go into the City through the Strand,
Fleet-street, and Cheapside, between twelve and five o’clock, if he can
possibly avoid it, as these streets are then crowded with every kind
of vehicle. He should also avoid going into the City about mid-day, on
Mondays and Fridays, on account of the droves of oxen passing through
the principal streets.
The middle of the road is safest, especially for a loaded coach, except
under peculiar circumstances.
In driving four horses, to keep them well in hand is a most material
point, both as regards their work and for the safety of the coach. The
track made by a coach in descending a hill shows whether the horses are
properly held together or not. Accidents from horses taking fright,
and bolting across the road, happen only to clumsy fellows, of whom
the list is considerable. The rules for passing and meeting carriages
on the road have already been given, yet there are times when they
need not be strictly adhered to, and a little accommodation becomes
expedient. Thus, if one coachman has the hill in his favour--that
is, if he be going down, and a loaded coach be coming up at the same
time--he who is descending, if he can do it with safety, ought to give
the hardest side of the road to the other coachman.
As to narrow spaces, it is evident that where the bars can go the coach
can go, as they are wider than the wheels; and consequently, if they
are cleared, all is safe. The swing-bar is an excellent invention, as
a horse works in it from either shoulder, and therefore quite at his
ease. A sharp and experienced driver may calculate exactly the space
sufficient to pass between two bodies at rest, and may therefore pass
with confidence and at ease. As, however, in streets, he must meet many
carriages driven by inexperienced or intoxicated fellows, who do not
for a moment move in any direct line, he should allow them ample room,
and proceed with the utmost caution. A driver must be incessantly on
the look-out, must watch every vehicle that approaches, and give it
more room than it may seem to require.