DRIVING—DOUBLE HARNESS.
[Illustration: FIG. 7.—DOUBLE HARNESS ON HORSE.]
TO drive a pair well, that is, to be able to put-to and drive any two
horses, is not such an easy thing as at first sight it may appear to the
uninitiated. To drive a pair of good goers thoroughly accustomed to
their work, and harnessed up in the right manner, is such a very simple
matter that the merest tyro ought to be able to compete with it, with
fair success. But when he has two entirely different and unknown animals
to take in hand, it is quite another question.
[Sidenote: Belly-bands.] Double harness is fitted exactly the same way
as single, except that the belly-bands should be slightly looser, so as
to admit two or three fingers between them and the girths.
We will suppose that the harness has been put on the horses and
correctly fitted to them, and that they are standing in the stable ready
to be put-to; then the correct way of bringing them out would be as
follows:—
[Sidenote: How to lead horse out of stable.] The traces having been
placed across his back, the horse should be led out by the nose-band,
not by the rein or the bar of the bit, otherwise the groom is very apt
to job him in the mouth without intending to do so, a performance to
which he may object and run violently back, or rear up and fall over.
Great care should be exercised when leading out of the stable. It not
infrequently happens that horses hit their hips against the walls, which
is liable to chip them, and cause lameness, besides teaching them the
extremely bad habit of rushing out of the stable-door.
[Sidenote: Hooking in alongside of pole.] Bring the horse carefully up
alongside of the pole, so that he does not hit either the pole or the
bar, and at once insert the hook of the pole chain into the ring of the
kidney link of the hames, to prevent his running back on to the splinter
bar.
Now place the outside trace on the roller bolt, and afterwards fix the
inside one. The quicker the latter is done with uncertain horses or
kickers the better, as this operation renders it necessary to reach
right over behind their quarters. If only one horse is likely to kick,
he should be put in first, to avoid this danger. When taking out the
exact reverse should always be adhered to.
[Sidenote: Polling up.] Never pole up the horses too tightly, as it is
very uncomfortable for them, more especially with a team, when the pole
is a heavy one, because if the pole chains are tight the weight of the
pole will be always resting on their necks. See that the end of the hook
on the chain is pointing downwards, as otherwise a horse with a bar
across the bottom of his bit may get caught in it.
[Sidenote: Pole pieces.] For ordinary pair work leather pole pieces are
commonly used instead of chains. They do not require so much cleaning,
and are much less trouble. They must be made of strong leather and kept
soft with dubbing or salad oil, otherwise they may become rotten and
dangerous.
[Sidenote: Adjustment of coupling reins.] The correct adjustment of the
two short inside reins, called coupling reins, requires great care. They
should be so fitted that an even pressure is brought on both sides of
the horses’ mouths, and in such a way also that both horses shall go
straight and pull evenly on the traces (fig. 8).
[Illustration: FIG. 8.—COUPLING REINS PROPERLY FITTED—HORSES’ HEADS
STRAIGHT.]
With a view to this the outer reins have a number of holes punched in
them, up and down which the buckles of the coupling reins can be
shifted, thus enabling them to be shortened or lengthened to suit each
particular horse’s mouth.
[Sidenote: To prevent a horse carrying his head to one side.] For
instance, if the near horse carries his head to the near side, the
coupling rein on the off side should be taken up, when his head will be
straightened. At the same time it must be borne in mind that if a
coupling rein is let out the effect is also produced of shortening up
the outer rein on the same side, and thus bringing the horse on that
side further back than the other.
[Sidenote: To make horses which carry their heads in different ways pull
level.] Supposing we have two horses apparently well matched, but that
the near horse carries his head rather out to the front and has a light
mouth, while the off horse has a hard mouth and carries his head close
in to his chest. Now to get this pair to pull equally on the traces we
must obviously have the near horse’s reins considerably longer than
those of the off horse. If they have been put to with the coupling reins
of equal length, both buckled in the centre holes, there will then be
three or four holes on each side of the buckles, and the reins can
either be let out or taken up (fig. 9).
[Illustration: FIG. 9.—COUPLING REINS OF EQUAL LENGTH.]
In this case we should begin by letting out the off side coupling rein
two holes, and taking up the near-side rein the same number (fig. 10).
Then as the near horse has a light mouth, he should be put on the cheek,
and the hard-mouthed pulling off horse on the middle bar. This fitting
will probably suit the horses, and the pull on all four traces will be
even.
The reins will now be adjusted like those in fig. 10, which shows how
the near horse is able to hold his head well in front of the other,
while the collars are brought level.
[Sidenote: Coupling reins must not be too tight.] The most general fault
is coupling up both reins too tightly, which makes the horses carry
their heads in towards the pole, instead of going quite straight, as
they should do. To prevent horses acquiring this habit, it is a good
plan occasionally to change their positions, instead of always driving
them on the same side of the pole.
[Illustration: FIG. 10.—OFF-SIDE COUPLING REIN FITTED FOR HORSE
WHICH POKES HIS NOSE, NEAR COUPLING REIN FITTED FOR HORSE WHICH
CARRIES HEAD IN CHEST.]
This fault is very often to be seen in the leaders of a team, keeping
them close together, and causing them to rub up against each other to
such an extent that they sometimes chafe.
[Sidenote: To alter length of rein without interfering with coupling
rein.] It is a convenience, particularly when breaking young horses, to
have more than one hole in the billets for buckling the reins on the
bits, so that a horse can be pulled back or let out a hole on either
side without altering the coupling rein.
[Sidenote: To prevent horses leaning against the pole.] Horses in a pair
sometimes get into the trick of leaning in against the pole,
particularly when going down hill.
It is a difficult habit to cure them of, and perhaps the best preventive
is a good cut with the whip when they first attempt it, though a little
furze or a bit of hedgehog skin on the pole is sometimes effective.
[Sidenote: Reins must not be allowed to slip.] The reins must never be
allowed to slip through the fingers of the left hand, nor under any
circumstances should the off rein be taken [Sidenote: Right rein never
be taken out of left hand.] out of the left hand in order to turn to the
right or pull across the road.
The right hand should pull the rein towards the centre of the body, and
not out to the side to which you wish to go.
[Sidenote: To prevent collar galling the wither.] Sometimes a horse gets
galled by the collar, from being continually pulled up, or from holding
back down steep hills; this can be remedied by having a tinned iron
plate fitted on under the top of the collar, without taking the horse
out of work.
[Sidenote: Length of traces.] It will be found that traces usually
stretch and become of unequal length; when this occurs, the shorter
trace should be put on the inside, and should be marked, so that it
shall not be put on the outside by mistake. With some horses it will be
found necessary to have the inside trace half a hole or even one hole
shorter than the outer one, so as to obtain an equal pressure on both
sides of the collar.
[Sidenote: Bearing straps.] If bearing straps for the traces are used
they should be just long enough to keep them in a straight line; if
longer, they will jump up when the horse goes into his collar.
Further instructions for his guidance in driving a pair the reader will
find in the chapter on driving four horses.
Breaks are so commonly used in India, that a few hints may prove useful.
As a rule those in use are so low that the horses’ quarters are in front
of the footboard instead of being under it, and the driver is
consequently too far from his work. In modern breaks the driving seat
and boot are built almost exactly like those of a coach, where the
footboard is well over the horses’ quarters. That portion of the
footboard which comes over the roller bolts should be about five feet
from the ground, which gives room for the horses underneath.
The inside seats should be at least six feet long, so as to take four
people comfortably on each side; a second seat behind the driving seat
as on a coach can be added, and if necessary can be made removable. This
gives three extra seats looking to the front, the occupants of which
will not suffer so much from the dust as if they were inside.
The body can be hung on four elliptical springs, with a cross spring on
the hind axle, or on two elliptical springs in front with two side
springs and a cross spring behind. The latter method is to be preferred.
[Sidenote: Break measurements.] The approximate dimensions are as
follows (see fig. 40): height of body from ground, 3 ft. 6 in.; driving
seat without cushions, 7 ft.; front wheels, 3 ft. 2 in.; hind wheels, 4
ft. 6 in.; length of pole, 10 ft. 6 in.; weight about 12 cwt.; track, 5
ft.
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