DRIVING—SINGLE HARNESS.
[Sidenote: The start.] Before starting, always have a good look round,
and see that all the harness is put on correctly; then go to the off
side of the horse and take the reins in the right hand, the near rein
under the forefinger and the off rein under the third finger. [Sidenote:
Getting into dog-cart.] Get up into the cart and sit down immediately;
now transfer the reins into the left hand, the near rein over the
forefinger, and the off rein under the middle finger. Thus you have two
fingers between the reins (fig. 2). The reason for this is that it gives
much more scope [Sidenote: How to hold reins.] for play of the wrist on
the horse’s mouth than if you only have one finger between the reins.
The thumb should point straight to the right, and the forefinger be held
well out, pointing to the right rear. This will keep the near rein close
up to the knuckle, and the horse may easily be moved across the road to
either the left or right by turning the back of the hand up or down
respectively.
[Illustration: FIG. 2.—SINGLE HARNESS—POSITION OF THE HANDS.]
[Sidenote: Sit well up.] Sit well up; nothing looks so bad as to see the
driver leaning forward over the reins.
Finally, take the whip in the right hand at [Sidenote: How to start.]
the place where it balances most comfortably, and you are ready to
start. Then give the horse the office to start by feeling his mouth
gently and speaking to him; if he does not respond touch him gently with
the whip.
The moment he starts drop the hand slightly; jibbing is often caused by
neglect of the latter precaution.
[Sidenote: Elbows must be close to sides.] Keep your elbows close to
your sides, with the points almost touching the hips. The wrists should
be well bent, as by this means you are enabled to keep a perfectly
steady bearing on the horse’s mouth without any jerking. This is a very
important point.
[Sidenote: Fore arm horizontal.] The fore arm should be horizontal, and
the fingers from two to four inches from the centre of the body, with
the knuckles to the front.
[Sidenote: Lower fingers to grip the reins.] The thumb must not be
pressed down on the rein, except when a loop is taken up to turn a
corner to the right or left (see fig. 23), [Sidenote: How to turn.] when
the right hand is available for shortening the other rein to prevent the
horse turning too rapidly, or else to use the whip to bring him round.
The fingers which should grip the reins, (so tightly that they should
never slip), are the three lower ones. The forefinger should be held as
in fig. 2.
[Sidenote: Whip not to be used when hand on reins.] Never keep a large
amount of slack of the off rein in your right hand (fig. 3), as then you
cannot use the whip; and remember never to hit the horse while the right
hand is holding a rein.
The reason for this is obvious, because if you do try to hit him when
you have the off rein in the right hand, you must slack that rein off,
and the horse immediately dashes away to the left.
[Illustration: FIG. 3.—SINGLE HARNESS—RIGHT HAND IN WRONG POSITION.]
[Sidenote: Never move reins in left hand.] It cannot be too strongly
impressed on the beginner, that whether the right hand is on the reins
or not, they should always be of the same length in the hand, and never
be allowed to slip.
The right hand should never on any account take the off rein out of the
left hand. It is the first and most important law of driving, that the
reins, as held in the left hand, should be of such a length as to keep
the horse straight, and should remain at that length, whether the right
hand is being used on one or other of them or not.
No coachman who drives with a rein in each hand can be said to know his
business, and yet it is one of the commonest things to be seen in
London.
[Sidenote: Do not job horse’s mouth.] Never use the whip on the horse
unnecessarily, and never job him in the mouth except to punish him for
doing something wrong. Nevertheless, for a horse which is inclined to
kick, jobbing is very useful when applied at the right time, more
especially if accompanied by a sharp hit with the whip over his ears.
[Sidenote: Never hit a shier.] The whip should never be used on a shier,
it will only frighten him, and confirm him in the habit, which is caused
by nervousness and not by vice. Encourage him rather by [Sidenote: Use
the voice.] speaking to him, as there is nothing a horse learns to
understand quicker than his master’s voice.
Do not flap the reins on his back either to start him or to make him
increase his pace.
[Sidenote: Pace should be steady.] Learn to drive at a steady and even
pace. From eight to nine miles an hour will usually be found most
suitable to average horses, but do not on any account drive sometimes at
six miles and sometimes at ten. Nothing tires a horse so much as
constantly changing the pace.
[Sidenote: Start slow.] It is usually better to start a little slower,
especially if you have a long way to go.
Once fairly started, keep your eyes well fixed in front of you, and
watch exactly what other vehicles are doing, so that you may never have
to pull up suddenly. You should be able to see from a distance whether
you can get through or not, and if you see that you cannot, begin to
slow down at once.
[Sidenote: Jerky pace very bad.] Never increase your pace, or check it,
suddenly. Nothing is more uncomfortable for the passengers or more
wearying to the horse.
It is far better for the beginner to slow down at once, if he is not
sure of getting through a tight place, than to go fast up to it, and
then have to pull up quite suddenly, if he can pull up at all. This
cannot always be done at the last moment, and an accident is the result.
[Sidenote: Shortening reins.] As a rule, when it is necessary to pull up
in a hurry, the reins cannot be shortened except by throwing up the
hands, which, to say the least of it, looks very unbusinesslike. The
proper course to pursue is to catch hold of the reins with the first
finger and thumb of the right hand just behind the left, and shorten
them as much as necessary by pulling them through (fig. 4).
[Illustration: FIG. 4.—SHORTENING REINS.]
It is far better on such an occasion to have the reins rather too short
than too long, but if only a small amount of shortening is required the
right hand can be placed on the reins in front of the left and the left
hand slid up to the right (fig. 5).
[Sidenote: Signal with whip to carriage behind.] When driving in a town,
it is the rule to swing the whip stick round once or twice as an
indication to the drivers of vehicles behind you that you are going to
slow down or turn a corner.
[Sidenote: Turn corners carefully.] Before coming to the turn the pace
must always be checked, particularly in a town, where the streets are
generally slippery and there is nearly always a curbstone. Many an
accident occurs daily through corners being negotiated carelessly. This
advice appears almost superfluous, but the reader will find that to
drive, even fairly broken horses, collectedly round sharp turns requires
great care and precaution.
[Sidenote: Starting a jibber.] In conclusion, it is worth pointing out,
that a horse which is inclined to jib, may often be started either by
turning him to one side with the rein, or if this fails, by getting some
one to push him over. The reason is that he is thus made to move before
the pull comes on his shoulders.
[Illustration: FIG. 5.—SHORTENING REINS BY SLIDING LEFT HAND UP TO
RIGHT.]
[Sidenote: Fit of gloves.] The fit of the gloves may seem a very trivial
matter to the uninitiated, but it is not considered such by the expert
coachman.
Any one attempting to drive with tight “masher” gloves will find his
hand cramped in a very short time. All his power is taken up in trying
to keep his hand shut and wrestling with his gloves, and not as it
should be in holding the reins tight.
It is difficult in fact to have them too large.
They should be made of dogskin, and when new, at least one inch longer
than the fingers, and rather larger, also very loose indeed across the
palm of the hand and wrist. They will very soon shrink down and become
the right size, after the hand has got damp in them once or twice.
It is a good plan to punch a few round holes in the back of the gloves
to keep the hand cool.
The leather should be hard and tough, but not too thick. Strapping
inside is apt to make gloves clumsy and very awkward for driving,
especially with four reins.
[Sidenote: Woollen gloves.] Woollen gloves should always be carried, as
they are the most comfortable in wet weather, and the reins do not slip
through them.
[Sidenote: Carriage rugs.] Never drive without a rug or apron of some
kind. A light cloth or cotton one may be used in summer, but for the
winter it is far better to have a thick one of box cloth warmly lined.
When choosing an apron, remember to get one with a V-shaped piece let in
at the top; this adds greatly to one’s comfort if there are two people
in the cart, as it allows of the sides being tucked under, and thus
keeps out both cold and wet very much better than one without the V let
into it.
[Sidenote: Hints on building dog-cart.] A dog-cart is the handiest of
two-wheeled carts for all-round purposes, and therefore the one in most
general use; so that a few hints on the selection or building of such a
vehicle may be of use to those who have not had much practical
experience in that line. At the same time I would strongly recommend
that when buying a carriage of any kind professional advice should, if
possible, be obtained, since no one without experience can possibly find
out faulty workmanship or detect defects in the material.
The following would be built for horses about 15.2 in height:—
[Sidenote: Height of wheels.] The wheels should be fairly high, say
about five feet, as this enables the horse to pull the cart over any
small obstruction with greater ease than with low wheels.
[Sidenote: Track of wheels.] The track should be from five to five feet
three inches wide. This gives plenty of room inside, and makes the cart
less likely to upset.
[Illustration: FIG. 6.—DOG-CART.]
[Sidenote: Bent shafts.] Bent shafts are the most convenient for driving
horses of different heights, and should be pivoted on the front part of
the cart and adjustable behind. A cart so constructed will easily admit
of horses from 14.2 to 16 hands being driven in the same vehicle.
[Sidenote: Body of cart should be wide and low.] The body should be as
wide as possible, because nothing is more uncomfortable than being
cramped on a narrow seat. It also ought to be low on the axle, thus
rendering the cart far more safe and also more comfortable.
A fixed body is better than one that moves backwards and forwards on the
shafts, because it always remains the same distance from the horse, and
enables the cart to be built lighter.
[Sidenote: Seat of cart.] The seat should be low enough to prevent the
driver from feeling he is in want of a footstool or that he is half
standing, and should slide in a groove out of which it cannot come if
the horse falls down. Many men have been thrown out and had bad
accidents simply because of the seat coming away. It is moreover more
comfortable if slightly below the top of the sides of the cart. The back
and front seats should be so arranged that the cart will balance equally
well with one person or four—a result which can be arrived at by having
the seats to slide backwards and forwards when more than two people are
in the cart. [Sidenote: Heath’s patent seat the best.] I consider
Heath’s patent the best for this purpose; it is very light and
effective.
[Sidenote: Adjustable foot-rest necessary.] If the seat is a sliding
one, the driver must have an adjustable foot-rest, and this can easily
be managed by having about half-a-dozen pairs of holes in the floor of
the cart for the foot-rest to fit into. It should be a plain board
covered with indiarubber to prevent the feet slipping, and tilted at an
incline which will keep the feet at right angles to the legs. [Sidenote:
Bar foot-rest dangerous.] A bar foot-rest is most dangerous, as the feet
may be easily caught under it in getting out of the cart. [Sidenote:
Position of lamps.] The lamps should be fixed between the wheels and the
sides of the cart, care being taken that there is plenty of room for
them, so that should they get bent by any accident they will not
interfere with the wheels. This position is much the best for tandem
driving; in any other position they are continually catching the lash of
the whip, and are consequently a perpetual source of annoyance.
[Sidenote: Best trace attachment.] The best system of draught for a
dog-cart is that in which the traces are attached to a swingle-tree,
from the centre of which two chains pass down to loops fixed to the axle
close to the inside of the wheels.
[Sidenote: Swingle-tree.] The swingle-tree is held up by two straps
which pass through metal loops in the front part of the cart. These
straps should be pretty strong; were they to break, the bar would fall
on the horse’s hocks and cause an accident.
[Sidenote: Chains on swingle-tree not to be too long.] Be careful that
the chains are not too long, and that the pull is really on them, and
not as is frequently the case entirely on the straps. In the latter case
of course the swingle-tree ceases to be of any use.
[Sidenote: Advantages of swingle-tree attachment.] The swingle-tree
attachment enables the horse to pull directly from the axle-tree by
means of the chains, and in this way the best line of draught is
obtained; moreover a certain amount of play is given to the horses’
shoulders and the chance of their galling is less than with the ordinary
method.
------------------------------------------------------------------------