Hints on Driving Horses (Harness, Carriage, Etc)

Captain C. Morley Knight

• Publisher: Read Country Books
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9781846641008, 9781443738583
• eBook ISBN: 9781528769556
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Technology & Engineering Research & Skills
• Index: Technology & Engineering

Originally published in 1884, this extremely scarce early work on driving horses is both expensive and hard to find in its first edition. This excellent little book was written in an era when "handling the ribbons" was not only a pleasurable pastime but was almost the sole means of transport - hence any hints on making driving simpler, and consequently, safer, were of inestimable value. In view of the steadily growing interest in this pastime and the constant demand for information on harnessing and driving, this book will prove of great value with its detailed wisdom aimed at both tyro and expert. The book consists of twelve Comprehensive Chapters, each illustrated with explanatory line drawings: Harness. Driving-Single Harness. Driving-Double Harness. Curricle and Cape Cart. Driving Four Horses-Position of Coachman. Four Horses-The Reins. Four in Hand. The Whip. Starting. Pulling Up. Turning. Useful Hints. Tandem Driving. Tandem Harness. Breaking to Harness. Etc. This is a fascinating read for any driving enthusiast or historian of this mode of transport, but also contains much information and advice that is still extremely useful and practical today. Many of the early equestrian titles, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing many of these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

CHAPTER IX.

FOUR-IN-HAND. VARIOUS USEFUL HINTS—WHAT SPARE ARTICLES TO CARRY, ETC.

THE beginner must not suppose that a team, or for that matter even one horse, can be driven with the left hand only; even the very best of whips is obliged to have constant recourse to the right hand, especially when passing through traffic.

At the same time, he must remember to resist the temptation of keeping the right hand permanently on the reins, nor should it ever be employed like the coachman’s hand in fig. 3, in holding on to a bight of the off reins in order to keep the horses straight.

The team ought to run perfectly straight at any time with the reins in the left hand only; and as a continuous pressure of the right hand is very liable to cause any one of the reins to slip, especially the near wheel when the horses are pulling, this practice is objectionable. Of course if the left hand gets tired, the right must come to its assistance, and then it should be placed either on three or all four reins (see figs. 18 and 35).

Always keep a steady pressure on reins.

Reins slipping a common fault.

Mind and keep a good steady pressure on the reins at all times, and keep the horses up to that pressure with the whip. The most common fault among amateurs is that they do not hold their horses nearly tight enough by the head. Always have a good hold of them, and above all things remember never to let the reins slip through the fingers. This is a constant cause of horses getting out of hand, and pulling for a long way, when they would otherwise have gone quite comfortably after the first mile or so.

Resin or wax on gloves.

To prevent the reins from slipping, if the horses are pulling, and especially with new gloves, it will be found very convenient to put a little powdered resin or beeswax on the fingers and palm of the hand.

Start slow.

If you have time, always start slowly (at first six or seven miles an hour); by adopting this plan the horses will go more kindly, and after a bit your arm and fingers will feel much less tired than if you had started at a rapid pace.

Right wrist well rounded when right hand on reins, back inclined downwards.

It is very important to keep the right wrist well rounded when pulling the reins on either side, and the back of the hand rather inclined downwards.

Point of whip to be kept well up and to the front.

By keeping the hand in this position it will be found that the point of the whip is kept well to the front and high up. If the back of the hand is turned up at all, the whip is sure either to cause considerable inconvenience to the person on the box seat (fig. 26), or else to hit the near wheeler close to his tail. This will most probably make him swish it, and if it should by any chance get over the thong, the result may be disastrous to the boot.

Team boring to one side—how to remedy.

If the horses are all boring to the left, it is no use simply pulling at the two off-side reins with the right hand, but at once shorten these reins in the left.

This can be done either by shortening them singly, or by catching hold of the two off-side reins as usual, placing the forefinger over the near lead, and the middle finger over the near wheel, and then allowing the near-side reins to slide a little through the fingers of both hands, while still retaining a firm grip of the off-side reins. Of course, however, only a very little can be got out at a time by this method.

Another plan is to grip the reins tightly with the right hand, the first two fingers over the near-side reins, the lower fingers over the off, and then to open the fingers of the left hand, when the off-side reins can be pushed through them by turning the lower part of the right hand towards the left (see figs. 18 and 35).

Never remove left hand from reins.

Taking leaders’ reins out with right hand.

Lead reins should seldom be removed from left hand.

Never on any account take the left hand out of the reins, even though the right may be holding them firmly in front, as it is very difficult to get the left hand back into its place again with the reins in the right places. Of course, if your fingers are numbed from cold or from hard pulling, it will be necessary to take the hand out and slap the fingers on the thigh. But if the horses seem to be going all anyhow, take the leaders out with the right hand, the little finger over the off lead, and the first or second finger over the near lead (fig. 32); then adjust the wheelers by letting the rein which is too short slide gently through the left hand, and replace the leaders If the reins are found to be too long, shorten them all from behind. This plan should be rarely resorted to, as it is a very bad habit to perpetually fiddle with the lead reins.

Keep an eye always on horses.

Always keep an eye on the position of the horses, and see that they are in their right places, and that each is doing his fair share of work.

If any horse is out of his place, find out the cause, and adjust the rein or use the whip accordingly.

Grip tightly with third and little fingers to prevent reins slipping.

Always keep the left hand and elbow in their proper positions, and keep a firm grip of the reins with the third and little fingers never on any account allowing one to slip. This cannot be too strongly insisted on, although it will be found very tiring at first, even if the horses are not pulling.

Do not drop left hand.

When catching or attending to the whip, beginners are very apt to drop the left hand. This leads to horses getting out of hand, and makes them pull.

FIG. 32.—TAKING LEADERS’ REINS OUT OF LEFT HAND WITH RIGHT HAND.

When looping do not alter position of left hand.

Do not allow the left hand to go moving across the body from side to side, or to move to the front to pick up the reins; except occasionally when turning to the left, when it may be useful to loop thus:—

Hold the off-side reins under little and third fingers of the right hand; then take hold of the near-lead rein with the forefinger some three inches away from left hand; and holding it tight bring it up as much as possible towards the body, at the same time quickly passing the left hand down so as to catch the near-lead rein in front of the right forefinger with the left thumb; then bring the left hand back to its original position, and you have a good loop, and the wheelers are checked from rushing the corner by the lower part of the right hand pressing on the off reins.

Leader’s tail over reins.

If one of the leaders gets his tail over the reins, never pull at it, but, on the contrary, slack it out. Pull the wheelers across to that side on which the offender is running; then hit the wheeler on the opposite side, on his neck, when the movement of the wheelers to one side will probably clear the rein.

Loosen rein fixed under tail by hitting horse.

Another plan for getting the rein out is to slack it a good deal, and give the horse a sharp hit with the whip behind the pad; this will nearly always cause him to swish his tail, when you can pull the rein quickly away.

If both the above methods fail, stop the coach at once, when a man must get down and release the rein by lifting up the leader’s tail, and not by pulling the rein away from under it.

To prevent leader getting tail over a rein.

With a horse that habitually gets his tail over the reins and then kicks, it is a good plan to run the lead rein either through the throat lash, or the inside loop of the bearing rein of the wheeler which is on the opposite side of the coach to the kicking leader.

The reins can also be run through the head terrets or loops on the top of the wheelers’ heads, but if this is done it is better to use a bearing-rein, because, if the horse shakes his head up and down, he will inevitably jerk the leader in the mouth.

Objection to lead reins passing through head terrets.

These terrets have been almost entirely done away with, as, if the leaders pull, they put a great strain on the wheelers’ heads, and if the latter throw their heads up and down to any great extent, they continually jerk the leader’s mouths, whereas by passing the lead reins through the ring on the throat lash of the wheeler there is almost a straight pull from the leaders’ mouths to the terrets on the pads of the wheelers.

Side reins.

Side reins are sometimes useful on leaders, and have a good effect on hard-mouthed horses.

If on the outside, they should be fixed to the buckle of the horse’s own trace, but on the inside to that of the other horse.

A very useful kind of side rein has a brass ring sewn into one end of it instead of a buckle; a short strap or loop is passed through this ring and buckled to each side of the bit, while the other end of the rein is buckled to the inside trace of the other horse.

The ordinary rein used by the Artillery Driver on his off horse will do equally well. This consists of a long rein buckled to the outside of the bit, and a short coupling piece to the inside. If a horse pulls very hard and tries to get in front of the other horse, either of these reins will bring all the pull on to his bit and keep him in his place.

Fitting coupling reins.

The leaders’ coupling reins should not be made too long or else the horses’ tails may get fixed in them—a position from which it will be found that they are extricated with difficulty. The buckles should come to within six or eight inches of the top of the leaders’ tails, which allows plenty of room for taking up or letting out these reins.

To prevent buckle of coupling rein getting fixed in terret.

Have a runner fixed about a foot below the buckle on the rein, through which the coupling should be passed; this will prevent any chance of the buckle getting through the terret. Messrs. Whippy and Steggall of London have invented another simple device to prevent this danger occurring. They place a short steel plate, about five inches long, covered with leather, and the same width as the reins, between the rein and the coupling. One end has a hole which passes through the tongue of the buckle, and the other has a runner on it, through which the coupling passes, so as to admit of this rein being altered. They also place two keepers on the rein just below the buckle. By this means the steel plate would be drawn across the terret and the buckle could not possibly get through. For the fitting of coupling reins the reader must refer to Chapter III.

To prevent wheelers cutting corners.

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Table of contents

• Cover
• Half title
• Title
• Contents.
• List of Illustrations.
• Introduction.
• I. Harness
• II. Driving—Single Harness
• III. Driving—Double Harness
• IV. Curricle and Cape-cart
• V. Driving Four Horses—Position of Coachman
• VI. Four Horses—The Reins
• VII. Four-in-Hand—The Whip
• VIII. Four-in-Hand. Starting—Pulling up—Turning
• IX. Four-in-Hand. Various Useful Hints—What Spare Articles to Carry, etc.
• X. Tandem Driving
• XI. Tandem Harness
• XII. Breaking to Harness