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E. HOWLETT 
 
 Driving Lessons 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 R. H. RUSSELL & SON 
 
 1894 
 
Copyright, 1804, by 
 R. H. RUSSELL & SON 
 
 Press of J. J. Little & Co. 
 Astor Place, New York 
 
I DEDICATE THIS BOOK 
 
 to W. G. Tiffany 
 
 MY OLDEST CLIENT AND FRIEND, 
 
 /;/ remembrance of pleasant times passed 
 together on a coach. 
 
 Ed WIN HOIVLETT 
 
TO MY PUPILS 
 
 My pupils have often asked me to write 
 a book of instructions on tJje management 
 of four horses. 
 
 I am not a practiced writer; but in order 
 to comply witJj titeir wishes, I will try to 
 explain here what I have been teaching for 
 a great many years. 
 
If tbey will permit me to commend tJjis 
 volume to their kind attention, it will he 
 the best recompense I can ask for niy work 
 in preparing it. 
 
 E. HOWLETT. 
 
 Paris, March, 1892. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 In Paris, London, and New York, the 
 art of Coach in.L;- has been remarkably de- 
 veloped. Many clubs have been formed 
 in order that amateurs of the sport might 
 congregate, and men of the highest social 
 position do not disdain driving the public 
 coaches which run daily. 
 
 If I employ the word art in speaking of 
 coaching, it is for the reason that only by 
 
lO DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 close attention to such lessons as are 
 taught in this volume can perfection, 
 which is the ideal of all art, be attained. 
 
 It is a luxurious pleasure, perhaps, to 
 display one of these turnouts, but it is 
 surely an elegant pastime. In order to 
 practice this sport in perfection, you should 
 be possessed of many qualities that can- 
 not be acquired by money alone, and one 
 cannot arrive at correctness or perfection 
 unless possessed of much tact and savoir- 
 faire. Once the tools are organized, the 
 coach built according to the best and 
 most sensible principles, and four well- 
 matched horses with good action have 
 been selected; then the owner must learn 
 how to drive them properly, for it is not 
 good form to be driven on a coach by 
 one's coachman. 
 
 Now begins the art of driving, which 
 
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PREFACE I I 
 
 Howlett has brought to the highest de- 
 gree of perfection, hi a book entitled 
 ''Paris an 'Bois," Crafty, the well-known 
 writer and authority on sporting subjects, 
 gives a sketch of Howlett so absolutely 
 true that I permit myself to quote it 
 here : 
 
 " In noting the rapid development of four-in-hand 
 ' driving, I would commit an unpardonable over- 
 ' sight and injustice if 1 did not speak of a man 
 ' who has done more than anyone else for its won- 
 ' derful progress. 1 refer to Howlett, the founder 
 ' of the dynasty. 
 
 " The art of driving four horses is not the result of 
 ' reflection. It is not a talent you can develop in 
 ' the retirement of your study ; you must study it 
 ' in the field, have the horses and carriage — in a 
 ' word, all the necessary tools. 
 
 " All these appliances Howlett has offered to the 
 ' young student, as well as his incomparable in- 
 ' structions, which are given with admirable 
 ' patience, marvellous perseverance and politeness, 
 ' together with imperturbable composure and a 
 ' presence of mind always on the alert. 
 
 " He has been the instructor of the majority of 
 " the skillful four-in-hand drivers, and there is not 
 
12 DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 ' one of his pupils who is not ready to attest that 
 ' he owes his knowledge to the untiring attention 
 ' of the professor who has given him the benefit 
 ' of his incomparable experiences. This man, who 
 ' plays with a four-in-hand as Paganini played on 
 ' the violin, calmly regards all the false notes made 
 ' by the neophytes, whom he assists with hiscoun- 
 ' sels, never interfering unless he is called upon for 
 ' help. Should his assistance not be called for, he 
 ' allows an accident to occur with a resignation 
 ' worthy of praise ; for, after all, his limbs are as 
 ' much in danger as those of his pupils. But when 
 ' the mishap has occurred, you should see with 
 ' what activity he remedies it. 
 
 " He has been known more than once to take off, 
 ' pick up and put to, by himself, all his horses 
 ' thrown down at once by the lack of skill of a 
 ' pupil. 
 
 " On these occasions he is of more value than a 
 ' detachment of grooms. Without seeming hurry 
 ' he touches at once the proper strap to be un- 
 ' buckled in order to loosen the harness, stepping 
 ' in the midst of the legs of the horses that are 
 ' down with a fearlessness that recognizes no 
 ' danger, he puts everything in order and mounts 
 ' to his seat beside the culprit as quietly as if noth- 
 ' ing had happened." 
 
 Another sporting writer and well - 
 known whip, the tlrst in France to 
 write a book on four -horse driving, 
 
PREFACE I 9 
 
 Monsieur Doiiatien Levesque, in the 
 '' Grandes Guides," speaks of Professor 
 Howlett as follows : 
 
 " His ability in driving is very great, and his way 
 " of teaching so precise, so clear and mild, that 
 " none of my many professors have left such agree- 
 " able impressions with me. 
 
 " In a few lessons, for which he supplies the team, 
 " he gives you precepts that you would never dis- 
 " cover yourself, even by long practice, and what is 
 " often missing in many coachmen — incontestable 
 " individual ability." 
 
 This is a portrait in its truest light of 
 the man whom all amateurs of four-horse 
 driving are able to appreciate, as much 
 for his talent as for his character. I will 
 now sketch a few lines of his life, which 
 will show that during his childhood 
 Howlett studied and practiced the art 
 discussed by him in this volume. 
 
 Edwin Howlett was born in Paris on 
 the tlfth day of May, 1835 ; he is one of 
 the seven sons of John Howlett, of Nor- 
 
14 DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 wich, (Norfolk), coachman to the Marquis 
 of Hereford. 
 
 From the age of eleven, Edwin Howlett 
 was able to look out for himself, having 
 in a way the intuition of his trade, being 
 skillful, careful, and devoted to his horses. 
 At sixteen he entered the service of the 
 Princess Bacciochi ; he afterwards served 
 as second coachman with Monsieur Alex- 
 andre Horvath ; and in i8s2 with Prince 
 Pericles Gikha, who took him to Vienna 
 and gave him the management of his 
 stable. Later, Howlett was trusted by 
 the Prince to bring the team back to 
 Paris by road. Leaving Vienna on the 
 twenty- seventh of October, 1852, he 
 arrived in Paris on the sixteenth of De- 
 cember, without any of the horses being 
 in the least tired, and without accident 
 of any kind. 
 
PREFACE 1 5 
 
 In 1853, Howlett was with Mr. Spencer 
 Cowper (who was setting up his es- 
 tablishment, having just married the 
 Countess d'Orsay,) as second coachman 
 under the orders of his father, whom he 
 succeeded in i8ss. 
 
 After nine years in this confidential 
 position, during which time the neatness 
 of the turnouts was remarked, Howlett 
 established himself in business; he started 
 with ten horses and seven carriages at 
 15 Rue Jean-Goujon, Paris, where he is 
 at the present time. 
 
 Only after long and sustained effort, 
 having gone through many hard times 
 with name and reputation unimpeached, 
 has he attained to the prosperity and 
 notoriety which his establishment now 
 possesses. 
 
 His five sons, worthy representatives of 
 
1 6 DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 their lather, work with him, give lessons, 
 and travel about wherever they may be 
 called, teaching the methods in which they 
 have been instructed by their fother. 
 
 We all saw at the ''Concours Hippi- 
 que," his youngest son, then aged seven 
 years, strapped to his seat while driving 
 four horses with ability and great cool- 
 ness, turning small figure eights on the 
 show grounds ; and we can certify that 
 neither of his daughters would be 
 in the least troubled to manage a drag 
 in the thronged thoroughfares of Paris. 
 
 It is, therefore, rare good luck for the 
 public to find in this volume the les- 
 sons of the professor who has taught 
 most of our drivers, among whom are 
 mentioned : 
 
 Mesdames, 
 
 M"*-' de BuFFiEREs. — M'"^- Barker. — M"^ L. 
 
PREFACE 1 7 
 
 EusTis. — M'"*^- Pedreno. — M'""' Prince. — M"*^ 
 Mabel Simpkins. — B""^ Zuylen de Nyfvelt. 
 
 Messieurs, 
 
 C'^^ d'ALSACE.— C'^' Ph. d'ALSACE. — O" d'AMlLLY. 
 
 — M'^ d'AuDiFFRET-PASQUiER. — Arnaud de I'Ariege. 
 
 — Adam. — Appleton. — Arbuthnot. — Puissant 
 d'Agimont. — C'*= de Berthier. — Bertin. — O. P. 
 H. Belmont. — 0*= de Barral. — Bronson. — E. 
 D. Beylard. — C''^ Ch. D. de Beauregard. — C"' 
 Costa de Beauregard. — B''" deCARAYON La Tour. — 
 Due Decazes. — Louis Cordonnier. — E. Cordon- 
 NiER. — Chanu. — Cruger. — Caner. — Dela- 
 garde. — Desgenetais. — W. B. Duncan. — B"" 
 d'EsTE. — W. C. EusTis. — D. English. — Fair- 
 man-Rogers. — V"' B. de Gironde. — O. Gallice. — 
 M'* de GuADALMiNA. — B'^'^ de la Grange OTard. — 
 GoocH. — Goffin. — C'<= de Gramont d'Aster. — 
 Gardener. — C'^^Jametel. — Foxhall Keene — B°" 
 Lejeune. — GuiUaume, Joseph, Louis and Lucien 
 Lavessiere, — Donatien Levesque. — Mayeur. — 
 Meurinne. — B°" de Neuflize. — Due de Lorges. — 
 C'^ de Pourtales. — V^^ Pernety. — de Ql'adra. — 
 
1 8 DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 B°" Edouard de Rothschild. — Henri Renard. — 
 John SiMPKiNs. — Paul Schneider, — H*^^*^ M. Sandys 
 
 — Simpson. — Screpel. — J. Stern. — Nathaniel, 
 E.-V.-R., John and Bayard Thayer. — W. G. 
 Tiffany. — Thorndyke. — B.-R. Winthrop. — 
 W.-S. Webb. — O^ H. d'YANviLLE. — P. Yturbe. 
 
 — B"" ZuYLEN de Nyevelt. — Prince Zurlo. 
 
 1 could continue this already long list 
 indefinitely, for Howlett gives twelve 
 hundred four-in-hand lessons a year. 
 
 Oe de CLERMONT-GALLERANDE. 
 
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Preliminary Advice 
 
 It is a mistake to say that one has bad hands. 
 The hand being an instrument directed by the will, 
 ought to execute instantly what the mind orders; 
 it may be more or- less clumsily done, according 
 to the intelligence and aptitude of the mind that 
 directs it. 
 
 When you drive four horses through large 
 towns, you must count only on yourself, for it is 
 seldom you are helped by the other drivers; on 
 the contrary, they will often get in your way. 
 
 Since coaching has so rapidly developed in 
 France and America, and above all in Paris, thanks 
 to the proprietor of the New York Herald and 
 
22 DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 several other coaching men, all these gentlemen 
 agree in saying that it is due to my teaching that 
 they are devotees of the sport. 
 
 All my pupils in their first ten lessons com- 
 plete the course which embraces the whole of 
 my teaching; 1 do not mean to say that in 
 that time they become perfect whips, but they 
 learn enough to surmount serious difficulties. 
 
 The first lesson is usually a mystification to 
 the pupil; he does not know which rein to touch, 
 and generally touches the wrong one. 
 
 Many coachmen have no idea of the sensibility 
 of a horse's mouth, pulling at it as though it were 
 a windlass. Some say: "I am very strong; lean 
 drive for two hours. Look at my arms ; I exercise 
 with dumb-bells," etc., etc. It is often these people 
 who are used up first; for it is not so much force 
 and power that you want as the knack of using it. 
 I will mention, as an example, an amateur who said 
 to me: "When 1 use my strength, 1 can pull my 
 four horses back on their hocks." One day, when 
 he should have shown his strength, he was so 
 
PRELIMINARY ADVICE 2^ 
 
 used up that if I had not been there and taken 
 the reins we would have gone straight into the 
 river. I own that one of the horses pulled, but 
 this Hercules believed too much in himself. 
 
 Another man who owns a coach and is well 
 known for his fine turnouts, in short a great ama- 
 teur, came to me for one lesson to improve his driv- 
 ing. In the lesson hour he saw so much new to 
 him that as he dismounted he said to me: "I 
 thought that 1 knew all. and 1 now see that 1 know 
 nothing." After that lesson he became one of my 
 best pupils. 
 
 To drive, you must know how to bit your 
 horses well. Nearly everyone has a way of his 
 own : but 1 must say here that it is not the zvay 
 only; each horse requires a different mouthpiece, 
 that which is good with one often being bad with 
 another, it is indispensable that you should use the 
 bit best suited to your horse, so you must find 
 which of many does suit him, and then tit it to him. 
 One dav one of mv clients, to whom I had lent a 
 very good bit that just fitted his pulling horse, came 
 
24 
 
 DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 to tell me that the bit did not prevent the horse 
 from nearly pulling his arms off. 1 saw that it was 
 not the fault of the bit, but of the way it was ad- 
 justed. 1 fitted and placed it where it ought to be, 
 and five minutes after the owner said: "I do not 
 recognize my horse, he is so light in hand." 
 
 I give here the shape of this ex- 
 cellent bit, and the way of using it. 
 
 It is an ordinary straight mouth- 
 piece with a port four and a half 
 inches high, which can be put to any 
 kind of cheek-piece. 
 
 The majority of old horses you buy, having 
 generally been driven by bad coachmen, have their 
 lower jaw absolutely insensible. To have them 
 light in hand, it is necessary to find a spot where 
 the surface is, as we say in France, virginal; my 
 bit precisely supplies this want. 
 
 The reins being placed under the centre of the 
 mouthpiece, at the moment when they begin their 
 pulling, the high port sways with the centre of the 
 mouthpiece and touches the horse's palate; that is 
 
PRELIMINARY ADVICE 25 
 
 on the condition that the curb chain is loose enough 
 for it to do so, and that the noseband is sufficiently 
 tight to prevent the horse from opening his mouth; 
 otherwise he avoids the contact of the port. As 
 you well know, the further the reins are from the 
 centre, the more considerable is the strength of 
 sway of the high port. In the chapter on harness, 
 I will explain how a noseband ought to be made in 
 order to shut a horse's mouth. 
 
 If, while out driving, a horse pulls very badly 
 and you have no high port with vou, here is an 
 excellent way to stop him. Take off the curb on 
 one side and pass the end round the noseband (the 
 curb untwisted), and hook it up rather tight, so that 
 the curb finds a new bearing; it prevents the bit 
 from playing so easily and makes the horse lighter 
 in hand. 
 
 Men of all nationalities have told me that mv 
 horses are very agreeable to drive: it is solely be- 
 cause they are well bitted. But 1 often have horses 
 with nasty mouths, hard pullers, but 1 fit them so 
 that women can and do drive them. 
 
26 DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 A well-known lord once said to me: "I often 
 hire four or five teams to run out to the races when 
 at home, but 1 have never had such good ones as 
 yours, or so well bitted." That was a long time 
 ago, but it is satisfactory for me to know that I can 
 please Englishmen, although 1 live in Paris. 
 
 In driving four horses, the four reins ought to be 
 placed in the left hand, and rest there, firmly held. 
 
 It is indispensable that the reins should be well 
 adjusted, that is, they must be equally drawn up. I 
 call the left hand the pivot. You must put order in 
 all your commands, and give time to your horses to 
 execute them ; you must not hold your reins too 
 tight, for if you do it will provoke a stop at the first 
 command. 
 
 Many people believe that the horses ought to 
 obey them simply because they have in their minds 
 what they want the animals to do, and they are 
 •quite astonished that the poor horses do not comply. 
 
 If you want to make the letter L ^^^ only 
 make the perpendicular stroke, it will be | and not 
 L It is the same when you only order your horses 
 
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PRELIMINARY ADVICE 27 
 
 to do half what you wish of them — it is impossible 
 that thev can execute the whole. 
 
 Some say that my horses run on by themselves; 
 let anyone try to drive them and he will soon 
 change his opinion. 1 have never yet found horses, 
 even those the best trained, that could turn a figure 
 QQ bv themselves. 
 
 The reins always slipping out of the hands 
 proves that the fingers are not closed on them suf- 
 ficiently, and that the thumb is often closed in the 
 hand with the reins. 
 
 Suppose a person is drowning and you throw 
 him a rope : he will take hold of it instinctively with 
 a full hand, the thumb goes over the forefinger, 
 thus completing the closed hand, and is its padlock. 
 In all driving, the position of the fingers should be 
 the same as that of the drowning person's on the 
 rope. 
 
 It is the same for driving one or two horses; 
 very few amateur or professional drivers know 
 where the reins ought to be placed in the hands to 
 give them the most power with the least effort; for 
 
28 DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 the left hand, it is on the joint of the forefinger 
 nearest the hand ; for the right, under the joint 
 nearest the palm. 
 
 For four horses, the two fingers that hold the 
 reins are the little finger and the fourth or ring 
 finger of the left hand; therefore these two fingers 
 ought always to be shut. 
 
 Those who know, or think they know, how 
 to drive, will perhaps think that 1 have used many 
 words to say very little ; but 1 must answer that 
 I do not write for those who know, but for those 
 who want to learn or to become more skillful. 
 
 When I drive, 1 like to taste with my hand 
 what I am doing. Many persons do not know 
 what pleasure there is in touching or feeling a 
 horse's mouth; they think that when they jerk the 
 reins to the right or the left that the horse ought 
 to turn. Some do still worse, and jerk the rein 
 violently, which is sufficient to tear the skin from 
 the lower jaw; they could not stand one hundredth 
 part of such a pull on their own mouths. By this 
 brutal movement they tear the flesh and make 
 
PRELIMINARY ADVICE 2g 
 
 wounds which bring on suppuration. These 
 wounds are a long time in getting well, and, 
 when the bit comes in contact with them. 
 are very painful. All this happens when you 
 become angry because the horse does not under- 
 stand your idea. You blame the horse, but it 
 is you who are in the wiong. How many 
 times, too, when the horse does not do as 
 well as he might, comes the cut of the whip, 
 given badly and not at the right time. 1 have 
 very often said that it is the driver who ought 
 to have the thrashing — not the horse. 1 have 
 never liked to whip my horses, and by kind 
 treatment 1 have obtained what 1 wanted of 
 them better than by being brutal. From my 
 point of view, horses need the whip sometimes 
 when being driven by awkward places; then 1 
 hit hard once or twice, and in these cases 
 generally leave a wale. 
 
 Many believe that a horse's hide cannot be 
 cut with a four-horse whip; but 1 have made 
 a cut, about three inches long, through the skin 
 
30 DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 of a leader's flank, and the middle inch went 
 into the flesh. Another time, 1 was driving 
 with a pupil's horses; the off leader would not 
 turn to the left, and 1 gave him one stroke with 
 the whip when all the team excepting him were 
 coming to the left. My stroke carried him into 
 his place. 
 
 At another time a well-known amateur of my 
 acquaintance had, with me, a few quite lively 
 moments at the St. Dominique fountain. After 
 having tried unsuccessfully to turn the corners, in 
 consequence of the off leader being very stubborn, 
 1 tried an experiment. I laid a stroke on the 
 inside of his neck, from his ear along his back 
 to his tail ; 1 waled him, but we got through. 
 
 At the last " Concours Hippique," 1 had a near 
 leader who refused to go into the gateway of 
 the Champs Elysees, throwing himself to the 
 left. 1 gave him two strokes on the near side 
 and got through the first gate; but when 1 had 
 to stop to have the second doorway opened, 
 the same horse, frightened by the dark passage. 
 
PRELIMINARY ADVICE }l 
 
 attempted to mount the right staircase. Three or 
 four hundred people were around the carriage, 
 and a serious accident might have occurred. I 
 again had recourse to my whip and laid a stroke 
 on the inside of my near leader, which carried 
 us into the middle of the ring of the " Concours 
 Hippique." 
 
 The whip is indispensable, and those who 
 wish to learn to drive without it are very 
 wrong ; for later, when they wish to begin to 
 carry it, they find it so much in the way that 
 they put it back in the socket. 1 oblige my 
 pupils to carry the whip from the first, and 
 compel them to keep it ; 1 have no socket in 
 my carriage. 
 
 In the following chapter, 1 will endeavor to 
 explain many of the useful strokes which may 
 be given with the whip, showing how and when 
 they should be applied ; for there is not only 
 a time but a place for each stroke, and the 
 whip when used must be used intelligently in 
 order to obtain desired result from your horses. 
 
}2 DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 It is hardly necessary for me to add that the 
 unintelligent use of the whip is not only cruel, 
 but worse than useless, and has been the cause 
 of many an accident. 
 
The Four- Horse Whip 
 
 AND THE WAY TO USE IT 
 
 I will show the way to lay on a few 
 strokes; but how long should the whip be? 
 From the bottom of the ferrule to the knot 
 
 of the 
 
 leather 
 thong, five feet three inches; and from that knot 
 to the end of the thong point, twelve feet six 
 inches. 1 do not like the whipcord lashes, neither 
 silk ones; because they are too light and stick 
 when they are wet. 1 prefer the leather point 
 which is sold in England. 
 
 When not in use, always keep your whip 
 hung on a circle about five inches in diameter. 
 
34 
 
 DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 Never lengthen the curves of the thong, as there is 
 whalebone in the top, and it will bend or break 
 at the neck where the thong is joined to the 
 stick; if this is done, you lose the good fall of 
 the whip and cannot hit a horse well with it. 
 1 prefer a whip rather heavy than one too light, 
 because you can touch a horse lightly with a 
 heavy one, while it is impossible to strike hard 
 with a light one. A whip should be a tool and 
 not a plaything. 
 
 You hold your whip about three parts up 
 the leather handle, leaving the second ferrule 
 just above your right hand, taking the point end 
 of your thong in the left. You then deposit the 
 end of the thong in your, right hand, letting from 
 six inches to a foot hang below your hand. Now 
 comes the time to throw the double thong, or 
 catch it round the stick in the proper way. 
 
 1 find my way the easiest, for eight times 
 out of ten you get it right. 
 
 Following my method, all my pupils learn 
 it in five minutes, while many drivers do not 
 
THE FOUR-HORSE WHIP 
 
 35 
 
 know how after ten years of practice. All four- 
 horse drivers ought, when they drive, to have 
 their thong round the stick, as I will 
 explain: Holding your whip as I 
 have said, place it nearly horizon- 
 tally across the body, your right 
 hand level with the pit of the 
 stomach, at about four inches from 
 the body; we will call this position 
 number one. You carry the stick 
 without swinging, so as to keep 
 the thong hanging under it, to about the third 
 of a circle to the right, lifting 
 your arm all through the move- 
 ment — position number two. 
 Often you are a bit too high; 
 if so, lower the top of the 
 whip from eight to twelve 
 I inches. It all depends how the 
 
 1 '^''^^'^"top curve of the whip is. (See 
 -^-=s:L2fe cuts.) The next two move- 
 
 ments I am going to explain must be done 
 
36 
 
 DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 without a stop, and are really only one. You 
 drop your whip quickly, straight down about 
 three feet, which brings the stick nearly hori- 
 zontal; at that instant you strike the thong as 
 it hangs on the right, carrying it towards the 
 left until you stop at position 
 one. This is position three, or 
 move three. The whip may be 
 a bit low, but you can raise 
 it to an oblique position, point- 
 ing a bit away from you, and 
 you will have a whip nicely 
 carried. If well thrown, the 
 double thong ought to be about ^*^s§£ 
 three feet long; the exact length depending some- 
 what upon the length of the thong. To be 
 properly caught, the double thong ought to be 
 on the threads of the mounting. 
 
 When you have thrown the thong two or 
 three hundred times at different intervals, as 1 
 have said, the wrist becomes more pliable, 
 which enables you to obtain the double thong 
 
THE FOUR-HORSE WHIP )'] 
 
 passing from position one to position two. 
 
 It is a rule not to leave the thrown thong 
 twisted in the two ways. Once the double 
 thong is made, you take hold of it with the left 
 hand where the twists change: you pull at the 
 part that is in vour right hand, which comes out; 
 then you put it back in the right. In this way 
 it is quite correct; the thong being curled round 
 the stick in one way, facilitates its unfurling when 
 you want it for your leaders. 
 
 Now that you have a good double thong, 
 you can touch either of your wheelers. For the 
 near side you have only to throw your double 
 thong on his left shoulder; for the off horse, 
 start from position one, make half a circle to the 
 right and let all the thong fall on his right 
 shoulder. The inside shoulders can be touched 
 by the same movements. Take great care never 
 to strike with the bow of the thong, or with 
 the stick, on the ferrets of pads or collar; for in 
 that way you may break your stick. 
 
 To touch up your off leader you pass your 
 
38 DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 whip from left to right, and then untwist. As 
 you get to the last twist, open your fingers and 
 the thong point will fly out. You then circle the 
 thong backward in the opposite direction to that 
 in which the wheels are turning; as you come 
 forward, come quickly and stop short, with the 
 bow at the level of the wheeler's pad, and about 
 two or two-and-a-half feet away from it. The 
 thong, carried forward with the force of the stroke, 
 continues its movement and strikes the leader on 
 the legs, under the bars. 
 
 Always direct your strokes further than you 
 mean to go, for it is impossible to go too far. 
 
 When the whip has touched the horse, if 
 you want to bring the thong back, carry it away 
 a bit from your horses and place the stick across 
 your left arm, giving time for the thong to fall 
 first. Never be in a hurry to pick it up, nor to 
 make use of it. 
 
 For your near leader you untwist or unfurl 
 your whip on the right side, as for the off horse, 
 but, as the point flies out, carry your thong over 
 
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THE FOUR-HORSE WHIP 39 
 
 all your horses so that it falls on the left side of 
 the box seat; then turn your thong backwards in 
 a large circle, parallel with the wheels, and as you 
 are coming forward, come a bit sharply and stop 
 short; and when the bow of the whip is level 
 with the pad of your near wheeler, give time to 
 vour thong to touch vour horse on the hind leg 
 under the bars. This time the bow of the whip 
 will be only about a foot from the pad. and at 
 its level. 
 
 To bring the whip back to position one, 
 throw it out strongly enough to pass above all 
 the horses' heads, carrying the point, say twelve 
 feet above the leaders' heads; keep it going round 
 to the right so until nearly to you; then lay the 
 stick across your arm, giving time for the thong 
 to get there first, as in position one. Remember, 
 in this move, that once started you must not 
 stop, for you would cause a deviation of your 
 thong, and it would not reach your arm. 
 
 If you wish to strike your near leader, re- 
 member that in this back circle with your whip 
 
40 DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 the thong must turn on its axle like a wheel on 
 the axle-tree. Make the circle with your whip 
 well in front of your neighbor, in order to keep 
 from hitting him in the face. Never crack your 
 whip in bringing it from the back; give it time 
 to turn around and it will not crack. 
 
 Two strokes can be combined for the off 
 and near leaders. You touch your off leader as 
 aforesaid, and, when the stroke is delivered, 
 bring your thong strongly enough to keep it 
 extended while it circles above the coach high 
 enough not to touch the people on top, and 
 finish with the bow of your thong one foot from, 
 and level with, the near wheeler's pad. 
 
 I seldom strike a horse twice in the same 
 place, for that is almost asking him to kick. 
 
 When my whip is unfurled and open (posi- 
 tion one), and my thong is hanging extended on 
 the left side, I make a big circle forward in the 
 direction the wheels are turning, and as that 
 circle is finishing, I bring my arm to the right, 
 and the lash or point strikes the off leader on 
 
THE FOUR-HORSE WHIP 4 1 
 
 the neck, or between the pad and collar, inside; 
 without stopping, I bring back the thong, circling 
 it backwards, and finish with a throw forward, 
 as I have said, either under the bars, or, if a 
 .broadside stroke is desired, I finish a bit higher 
 in the flank. 
 
 In these strokes 1 have seen the thong run 
 around the hind leg of one of the leaders, but 
 that fault will soon be remedied by practice. 
 
 For the double stroke to your near leader, 
 untwist your whip on the right, and as you drop 
 the thong bring your hand across to the left, 
 aiming for his neck or inside shoulder; the cut 
 delivered, bring your whip backwards on the 
 left side of the carriage, make a circle backwards 
 without stopping, and stop as before at the level 
 of the near wheeler's pad; the lash or point of 
 the whip continues running its course with the 
 impulse given, and will touch his legs under the 
 bars; be sure to bring back the thong as soon 
 as the stroke is delivered, and throw your double 
 thong. 
 
42 DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 When the weather is wet and the road muddy, 
 I do not make use of the stroke under the bars, 
 because the thong becomes wet and dirty, and 
 then my coat, gloves and reins are soiled by it. 
 
 For giving a stroke to your near leader under 
 the bars, passing between the off wheeler's chest 
 and off leader's thighs, place your whip on the 
 right side, thong unfurled at forty-five degrees 
 (never letting the thong drag on the ground), 
 about the middle between the pole-head and the 
 hub of the off side wheel. 
 
 ^■...\ Make with your thong on that 
 
 :,/ \ angle a circle to the right, and bring 
 
 'I your whip smartly back towards 
 
 your wheeler as if you were going to strike him 
 with the stick on the shoulder, but stop short 
 when the bow is three feet from the shoulder 
 point; the thong, through its momentum, continues 
 the movement, runs between the chest of your 
 off wheeler and the off leader's hocks, under the 
 bars, and perhaps twists around the near leader's 
 off leg. 
 
THE FOUR-HORSE WHIP 43 
 
 This Stroke is indispensable when an obstacle 
 of any sort prevents your striking the near leader 
 on the left side. 
 
 You can give the same stroke to the off leader, 
 passing between the near wheeler's chest and the 
 hocks of the near leader; this stroke is rather more 
 difficult and requires much practice. 
 
 An excellent exercise, in order to learn how 
 to give a vigorous cut of the whip or a silent 
 snap to the leaders just above their ears, is the 
 following: 
 
 imagine you have in front of you at the level 
 of your chin a figure eight laying 
 horizontally. Follow the outlines ^^^ 
 with the hand, wrist, elbow, arm, shoulder, all 
 working. The thong, well extended, will describe 
 in the air an enormous eight. Make with your 
 wrist a light stop, each time you come to the in- 
 tersection of the two circles, the thong then runs 
 out in front of you as if you were really striking, 
 and you hear a low snap, if you make your stop 
 right and wait for the snap. Remember not to 
 
44 DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 Stop the movement as the snap is delivered, but 
 keep the thong going. 
 
 To hit a horse hard without a noise, you must 
 begin slowly, and gradually increase the pace up to 
 the sharp, sudden stop of the stick; the greater 
 you have made the pace at the time you stop, the 
 harder the thong hits. 
 
 If sometimes you want to strike your leader 
 inside, send out your thong straight between your 
 wheelers' heads, aiming for either one or the other, 
 and bring back your thong gently to prevent its 
 running around the wheelers' couplings, then throw 
 it out to the right so that it shall not be trampled 
 upon, catch it on your arm, and double the thong 
 at your ease. Always carry your whip high and 
 at right angles to your body, so that the thong 
 will not catch in the wheel or get dirty. 
 
 For the thong to be easily thrown, it must be 
 kept in good condition by wiping it with a soapy 
 sponge, which makes it soft and mellow; now and 
 then it may be greased, especially for a wet day's 
 work. 
 
THE FOUR-HORSE WHIP 
 
 45 
 
The Reins 
 
 Always pay attention to your reins; for if 
 you be a little embarrassed with the whip and 
 have trouble to get your thong in its place, 
 the horses, not feeling themselves driven, will 
 go where they like, which is sometimes un- 
 pleasant. 
 
 All new reins are stiff, hard and disagree- 
 able, but in working they acquire the softness 
 which is necessary in order for them to be 
 agreeable in use. 
 
 The length of the couplings for the coach 
 wheel reins from the ends of the buckles, should be 
 seven feet four inches. If you have them longer, 
 
THE REINS 47 
 
 the buckles of the couplings come into vour 
 hands when you want to stop, or in using 
 opposition. For the reins of a break, these 
 couplings can be eight feet ten inches. 
 
 You should have the reins made to suit 
 the size of your hand. One inch broad is 
 generally convenient for everybody ; but some 
 ladies like them less than an inch, and some 
 men like them an inch and an eighth, or wider. 
 Do not have them too small, because they slip 
 through the fingers. You can hold on a rope 
 more firmly than to a piece of string. 
 
 It is necessary to have on your leaders' 
 reins, on the coupling in front of the coupling 
 buckle, a crossbar stop similar to the stops 
 for a ring-martingale on a saddle bridle ; but 
 with a piece of whalebone to keep it stiff, 
 sewn between the two leather pieces, so as to 
 prevent the coupling from running through the 
 pad terrets. 
 
 While this buckle runs through your terret 
 easily passing to the horse's head, it often hooks 
 
48 DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 itself on as it comes back, and in that case a 
 serious accident might be the result, for the reason 
 that the buckle, when caught, prevents any com- 
 munication with the leaders' mouths on the side 
 on which it is hooked ; being held only on one 
 side, the leaders run round that way, and naturally 
 keep running round. If you are in a wide 
 street, or in a big square, or if you are on a 
 road, they go on against your will into a ditch 
 or over a precipice. The best stop is a leather 
 one with rounded corners, as they are apt to 
 strike the leaders when trotting, and the brass 
 stops are heavier and hit harder. 
 
 Nearly all English drivers start their horses 
 too much by their mouths rather than their 
 collars, which often causes a fussy start, if not 
 to the degree of jibbing, especially if the horses 
 are bitted sharp. 1 generally bit sharp, and yet 
 all my pupils, even beginners, start easily as 
 long as they give rein enough. 
 
 Many amateurs in Paris drive one or a pair 
 of horses with four reins; but they must not 
 
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THE REINS 49 
 
 think that it prepares them to drive four horses. 
 On the contrary, I have noticed that these very 
 amateurs have the most difficulty in getting at 
 the right method, being in the habit of letting 
 the reins run through their fingers to have them 
 alternately tight or loose in order to be able, 
 as they call it, to play with the horse's mouth. 
 
 The coachman who drives one horse with 
 four reins believes he is above the average, and 
 whether his horse wants four reins or not he 
 puts them on. Very often not one of the reins 
 is in touch with the horse's mouth. It would 
 be very amusing to see one of these coachmen 
 drive four horses with eight reins. If you want 
 to use two sets of reins, the safety reins should 
 be buckled in the lower bar of the bit and 
 the others in the check; this is the best 
 way. 
 
 The reins ought always to be of the same 
 width, for although it is customary to make 
 safety reins narrower than other driving reins, 
 it is nevertheless wrong, for it is impossible to 
 
^O DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 hold or grasp them firmly; consequently they 
 always slip out of your hand. For four-horse 
 reins the same rule applies — they should always 
 be exactly equal in width. Never have your 
 hand-pieces stitched, for they do not play as 
 well as the unstitched leather. 
 
 While giving a lesson one day, I met, about 
 three-quarters of the way up the Champs- 
 Elysees, a team going toward the Arc-de- 
 Triomphe ; just before reaching the Rue Bel- 
 Respiro, all the horses started jibbing. The 
 people on the coach tried in vain to start 
 them ; finally, they sent down for me. As 1 
 reached them, the team was standing across the 
 avenue. Having no room to turn around and 
 come down the hill, 1 was obliged to go up. 
 1 looked at all the horses, knowing none of 
 them, and, after picking up the reins, 1 politely 
 asked them to move on ; they responded one 
 after another, two of them running back when 
 they felt the collar pull ; but I was so polite 
 that they finally all started away together, and 
 
THE REINS 51 
 
 a little while after 1 could stop and go on with 
 them as 1 pleased. 1 suppose that 1 must have 
 appealed to their better judgment. 
 
 It is often disagreeable to drive four horses 
 belonging to some one who tells you the 
 opposite of the truth, not wittingly, but because 
 he knows no better. 
 
 I have often contradicted a beginner by telling 
 him his four horses only weighed tivo ounces 
 in my hands, when he had found them nearly 
 two tons; but some time after, when he knew 
 a bit more, he said, showing me the reins: 
 "Mr. Howlett, one ounce and a half." 
 
 One man, coming from the other side of the 
 ocean, found the refuges, which they were just 
 putting up in the Champs-Elysees, very tire- 
 some, and always in the way of his leaders. 
 So 1 promised that I would see to it and have 
 them taken away ; but after a few lessons my 
 pupil asked me to withdraw the complaint: the 
 refuges were no longer in his way. 
 
 How often am I told, " I can manage any 
 
52 DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 sort of horses, no matter if they are mad ; I 
 have driven wild ones six-in-hand in the moun- 
 tains." That is possible, but in the mountains 
 there are no cabs, hand-carts, gateways, or acute 
 angles. Generally, these self-proclaimed won- 
 derful drivers cannot drive four well-broken 
 horses across the city of Paris, and when they 
 see some of my routes they say: "It is not 
 possible to pass there; 1 do not want to smash 
 up." But I insist that they shall do as 1 tell 
 them, and they pass, and are astonished after 
 six lessons to find themselves driving in the 
 most crowded quarters of Paris. 
 
 The turn into my yard is difficult, and yet 
 all my pupils get in easily. A stranger said 
 to me: "That is all very well; your horses 
 are so well bitted, but mine are stupid and 
 disagreeable." 
 
 When he had gone home and had put to in 
 my way, he saw, with astonishment, that his 
 horses obeyed him the first time as well as mine, 
 simply because he knew how to order them. 
 
THE REINS 
 
 I was at a coach-meeting on a race-course 
 one day. One of the coaches was filled with 
 people, and the owner was on his driving 
 cushion with whip and reins in his hands; you 
 should have seen him leave the race-course. It 
 was something inconceivable; one man stood at 
 the head of each horse while the driver was 
 giving orders to everyone at once: "Go on, 
 William, pull to the left ! John, don't go so 
 fast ! Robert, hit your horse up ! Joseph, pull 
 to the right ! " and all sorts of orders creating 
 the greatest confusion. It is astonishing to see 
 people with courage enough to get on a coach 
 and be driven in such style, for it is a miracle 
 if they get in without an accident. Of course 
 the owner of the coach, when he gets in safely, 
 receives the usual compliments. 
 
 it annoys me to see a man pass for a good 
 driver who, if he were asked what use he was 
 on the driving cushion, would answer: "To 
 tell my men what to do, as I cannot do it 
 mvself." 
 
54 DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 It is not difficult to say you are a coach- 
 man, for to be able to drive four horses on 
 the high-road, you must go through with your 
 team where others pass with a pair of horses, 
 as the following anecdotes will prove: 
 
 I have often been with my coach to a 
 certain carriage builder's yard, where it is rather 
 difficult to get in, turn around, and come out 
 again. One day, one of my clients, having to 
 go into the very same place, told his coachman 
 to drive in with the brougham and pair ; he 
 was not able to turn and come out even by 
 backing round, and they were obliged to lift 
 the back part of the carriage. The coachman 
 was very angry, but was to blame for not 
 knowing how to do it. 
 
 One day, at the Restaurant Madrid, in the 
 Bois de Boulogne, a stranger pretended he knew 
 how to drive four horses, and proposed to the 
 owner of a coach to drive out of the yard, 
 pass through the right-hand gate, come in by 
 the left-hand gate, turn around in the yard and 
 

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THE REINS 55 
 
 come back to the starting point. The owner 
 offered to bet one thousand francs to five that 
 he could not do it, and the bet was taken. 
 I was on the box seat ; we passed through all 
 the gates and turned round in the yard — how, 
 and by what good fortune, I really do not 
 know ; for the reins were so mixed up in the 
 poor man's hands that he was not able to stop 
 until his leaders' heads were in the doorway 
 of the room at the left of the gateway. Con- 
 sequently he lost the bet, and would have done 
 so much sooner had it not been for his won- 
 derful luck. The moral of this little story is, 
 that many drivers think themselves handy enough 
 because they have driven on a highway, but are 
 quite incapable of driving into or out of yards 
 in Paris. 
 
 But let us return to a more serious subject. 
 If. on an unlucky day, you have a horse 
 that cannot continue his route and you must 
 nevertheless get home, make up a unicorn, two 
 horses at the wheel and one leader. Take off 
 
56 DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 the two small bars from the main bar and put 
 your horse to it ; let out two or three holes 
 in your leader's traces so that he can get a 
 little further from the pole ; put your other 
 leader's rein as if you had the pair, only put 
 the draft reins through the bit and the couplings 
 on the noseband, unless you can slip your 
 hand-pieces through the coupling buckle and 
 loops. In this case you would have a pair of 
 reins similar to tandem leaders'. Be sure that 
 in starting you have these two reins quite even; 
 to accomplish this, look for the stitchings of 
 your hand-pieces as though you had your team. 
 Be careful to have the off-rein stitching just 
 the length of the stitching nearer to you than 
 the near side one, as this rein is on at an 
 oblique angle, and the off-rein is on a straight 
 
 line. 
 
 Observe your reins carefully when you take 
 them from the person who has held them while 
 you got down from your seat, as he may have 
 let them slip; this, when you started, would 
 
THE REINS S7 
 
 cause some of the horses to turn around. Be 
 sure to look at the stitchings of your leaders' 
 handpieces, to see if they are even; also see if 
 the wearing or rubbing of the ferrets on the reins 
 is on the further side from you. You will then 
 either give some rein or take some up, whichever 
 may be necessary, so that the rubbing or working 
 of the reins is in front of the ferrets. These obser- 
 vations are for daylight, but at night you must 
 depend on the feeling. 
 
 If you want to know how much rein your 
 leaders have got out, or if they are too far out, 
 take the lead-reins out of your left hand from in 
 front, and put them in again from behind; keep 
 doing this until you hear the bars rattle on the 
 pole-end; you are then certain that the leaders 
 are not pulling on the end of the pole. Then 
 give them the proper amount of room necessary 
 to permit them to run into their collars and 
 carry the bars. 
 
 In coming down-hill it is quite necessary that 
 the leaders should be held back; the bars being 
 
S8 
 
 DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 loose, cause a continual rattle, which is called the 
 music of the road. 
 
 Sometimes one's gloves are a great nuisance 
 when driving, because worn too tight. This 
 causes cramps in the hands. I have often lent 
 my gloves to pupils who thought that they only 
 needed to wear them to drive well, but, unluckily 
 for them, they could not keep up illusion. To 
 drive comfortably, you must have your gloves 
 two sizes larger than for general use. 
 
The Lamps 
 
 The lamps ought onlv to be put on the coach 
 at night, for, by daylight they risk being broken, 
 and get soiled with mud in wet weather. They 
 can never be put too low on a carriage, for they 
 are meant to light the ground and not the sky. 
 
 1 always use wax candles in my lamps, 
 finding that with oil there is always something 
 going wrong; the oil becomes thick, the wicks 
 run down, etc. The large reflectors give a lot 
 of light, and as these lamps cross their lights 
 fo.rward, they show you that the road is all right 
 ahead, although you are in the dark. 
 
6o 
 
 DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 A third lamp, under the footboard, is very- 
 useful, as it shines between the horses, showing 
 you the pole, the bars, and the ground you are 
 traveling on. Be sure to place this lamp so that 
 it does not touch the wheelers when you turn. 
 I don't think five lamps are necessary ; the two 
 extra ones are often in the way. 
 
The Brake 
 
 The best sort of brake is the one in which 
 the crank is pushed forward in applying, for 
 in that way the heavier the pressure becomes, 
 the position you assume allows you to use 
 greater strength. The one you draw towards 
 you, on the contrary, becomes more difficult 
 to apply as the tension increases, as the position 
 you assume prevents your using all your strength. 
 When you push the brake forward, the left 
 shoulder comes back ; when, on the contrary, 
 you pull it backward, the left shoulder goes 
 forward ; this makes you give rein to the horses, 
 
62 DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 which they answer by running on, which is 
 quite contrary to what you wish them to do. 
 
 Here is a case: We were stopping, one 
 day, at Bougival, on our w^iy to St. Germain, 
 when the gentleman who was driving said to 
 me: "How tiresome your horses are. Hewlett; 
 the leaders are all on one side." 1 had seen 
 it all along, but an observation, on that account, 
 would not have been well received. Naturally, 
 I profited by his remark to make him under- 
 stand it was his own fault, and that by giving 
 his near leader one foot of rein all would be 
 quite straight. "Do you think so .^^ " he asked 
 me. He soon saw that I had advised him 
 correctly, as everything went smoothly while 
 we were doing the second part of our journey. 
 
 Put the brake on each time you stop to 
 let anybody get up or down, or for yourself, 
 if you have to do so. But do not forget to 
 take it off before starting, and that always 
 without noise. 1 have often seen horses start 
 on hearing the lever rub against the cranks, if 
 
THE BRAKE 
 
 63 
 
 they were standing still, or run on if they 
 were already eoino;. 
 
The Skid 
 
 Many coach-builders put the hook to hang 
 the shoe or skid on, behind the arms of the brake, 
 so that you have to pass your arm through the 
 spokes of the wheel to hang it up. That is very 
 inconvenient and dangerous; for if at that moment 
 the horses move on, you risk having your arm 
 broken or your hands bruised. This hook ought 
 to be quite deep, open at the top and away from 
 the carriage, and placed between the iron bar of 
 the brake and the steps. 
 
The Bridle 
 
 The model 1 prefer is the English one, with 
 the buckle on top of the winker, so as to allow 
 it to play on the horse's cheek 
 easily, having no fixtures to pre- 
 vent it spreading away from the 
 horse's head as wide as the eye- 
 bone requires. In the French 
 model they often have the bad 
 habit of sewing the top buckle 
 so that the upper part of it is English model. 
 even with the top of the winker; the winker 
 being fixed in this way does not give easily to 
 
66 
 
 DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 '-.^"'fc^.'V,-.^*.'^ 
 
 the horse's head ; this causes hard rubbing, 
 which is continually wounding the bony part 
 and making sores. 
 
 FRENCH MODKL. 
 

 
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The Terrets of the Wheelers' 
 
 Bridle 
 
 The bridle terrets of the wheelers ought to be 
 round and sewed on to the throat latches, just 
 about where the bearing rein terrets are sewed. 
 Placed at this point they play easily when the 
 wheelers shake their heads up and down, and so 
 prevent the leaders' mouths from receiving a jerk. 
 On the contrary, when the terrets are between the 
 wheelers' ears, or on the cockades, every time the 
 wheeler shakes his head it gives a jerk or a dis- 
 agreeable pull to the leader's mouth. Nevertheless, 
 if you have a leader that is always putting his tail 
 over the rein, 1 would advise you to run the rein 
 through a head terret, but this is hardly ever 
 necessary. 
 
 Should you want a bearing rein on your 
 wheeler, it can be done by having a bar across 
 the terret, like a tandem wheeler's pad terret, the 
 bearing rein running below and the draft rein above. 
 
The Noseband 
 
 The best noseband is made as one strap 
 (see cut of English bridle). On one side the 
 bit billet of the winker runs through it, which 
 prevents it -turning around ; on the other side 
 it runs through the said billet ; a loop sewed 
 on the billet about one inch-and-a-half from its 
 buckle allows the parts of the billet to be held 
 together when it is buckled ; it is then more 
 stylish. 
 
 The noseband should be short enough to 
 be able, in case of need, to entirely shut the 
 horse's mouth, which renders useless the strap 
 generally used for that purpose. 
 
 The place for a noseband is just above 
 the bit. 
 
THE NOSEBAND 69 
 
 Nearly all harness-makers make their nose- 
 bands too long, particularly in the buckle-end, 
 under the jaw. If the noseband be in two 
 pieces, you should so arrange it that you can 
 shut your horse's mouth if you need to do so. 
 
 Many people do not know the use of a 
 noseband. It is indispensable for shutting the 
 horse's mouth when you use the big high 
 port bit. 
 
The Traces 
 
 When the horses are put to, and you see 
 an angle in your traces and hame-tug from the 
 collar to the splinter bar, just at the pad, it is 
 because the trace-bearer is too tight, which 
 tends to make sore backs and carry part of 
 the weight of the coach on the backs of the 
 horses. 
 
The Pole Chains 
 
 In France, pole chains are generally put on 
 too tight, which prevents the collar carrying 
 on the shoulder point. 
 
 You must have a horse at his ease when 
 put to, for he has work to do. Do not cause 
 him any uneasiness in his work. 
 
 In team work, pole chains ought to be 
 loose enough to allow the wheelers to gallop if 
 it be necessary. 
 
The Cruppers 
 
 Crupper straps must not pass any further 
 back than the last loop for your leaders, or 
 the couplings will catch in them and very 
 likely cause trouble. 
 
 The best cruppers for leaders ought to be 
 made like the strap part of a bearing rein, as 
 in this figure. 
 
 The sewed crupper docks are better than 
 those with buckles ; they are softer and mark 
 the horse less, having no heavy parts anywhere. 
 

 n 
 
 C/3 
 
 O 
 
 a 
 
 -4— » 
 
 c 
 c 
 
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 H 
 
The Collar 
 
 The collar should be thick and well stuffed 
 inside, in order to fit the horse's shoulders. A 
 collar that is too small chokes him, and one 
 too large wounds his shoulders and his withers. 
 
The Pole 
 
 Nearly all poles are made too long, par- 
 ticularly the ones made for four horses. 
 
 I have often been obliged to have them cut 
 one foot shorter, of course at the hook end, 
 to bring the leaders nearer to me. 
 
 The screw hooks on pole heads are very 
 dangerous, having only four turns round to the 
 screw to hold it, the worms are quickly worn 
 out, the hook gets loose, and finishes by falling 
 right or left. Many have what they call a safety 
 hook, but it is so small (something like the 
 
THE POLE 75 
 
 safety reins used here in Paris), and being bored 
 with holes for the bolt, it leaves hardly any 
 iron — so no more strength. 
 
 What is wanted is one good hook, strong 
 enough to stand all the jerks and kicks it 
 may get. 
 
 I went to a place called Robinson, one day, 
 with a new coach. All the iron mountings of 
 the pole and bars stretched on going u^ the 
 hills. They should have been of steel. This 
 showed that the builder of the coach wanted 
 it to look light and elegant in the coach-house, 
 but neglected to make it strong enough to be 
 used out of doors. 
 
The Bars 
 
 The bars should be strong enough to stand 
 the various strains they are sometimes called 
 upon to bear. The hooks should have springs, 
 to keep the traces from falling off. The main 
 bar's shackle wants to be of good material, also 
 the pole-hook, as the working of the two wears 
 them very much. 
 
Martingale 
 and Hame Straps 
 
 The billet of the wheelers' martingales ought 
 to be one foot long from the heel of the buckle 
 to the point, with three or four holes in it, so 
 as to go around the collar and through the kidney 
 link; this prevents the harness from coming off the 
 collar at a sudden jerk or a rough stop. Another 
 very essential thing, to which the harness- 
 makers do not pay enough attention, is that 
 the tongues of the buckles do not carry enough 
 on the roller, and particularly so with covered 
 buckles. If the point of the tongue only carries 
 on the roller's edge, or on the leather covering, 
 without resting over the middle, the resistance 
 is very poor, and the harness may fall down on 
 
78 DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 the horses' legs and cause a mishap. These 
 hame straps play a more important part than 
 one thinks, for the two tongues of the buckles 
 have to support all the weight the wheelers use 
 when asked to hold back. So, remember to 
 have these straps strong, and mounted with 
 good and well-made buckles. 
 
f 
 
 The Horn 
 
 It is usual for the guard of a coach to be 
 able to blow the horn, to clear the road. In 
 olden times the horn was about three feet long, 
 and one could only get three or four notes out; 
 only virtuosos could get five notes out, as it 
 was very hard to do. 
 
 Nowadays they make horns over fifty inches 
 long, which easily give five notes and sound 
 more mellow. 
 
 These long ones being easier to blow, some 
 men get six notes from them, but they have 
 the drawback of being cumbersome and too frail. 
 
8o 
 
 DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 The sound of the short horns is more sharp 
 and shrill than that of the long ones. 
 
 They were formerly made of copper, but 
 are now generally made of brass. 
 
 The gutta-percha-covered mouthpiece is less 
 cold to the lips than the silver or silver-plated 
 one. 
 
The ''Guard's Bag" 
 
 The guard's bag, used for road coaches, is 
 to carry his way-bill, the keys of the coach, 
 and a watch. This watch is to enable him to 
 see that the coachman keeps time on the road, 
 and gets to each change on time. 
 
The Basket 
 
 It is indispensable to have a basket to put 
 sticks, umbrellas, parasols, and the guard's horn 
 in. The depth of the basket varies from two 
 feet and a half to three feet, one foot broad 
 (if one side is flat), and ten inches across. It 
 ought to be hung on the left side of the coach, 
 on the back-seat over the body; if it is strapped 
 only to the top railing, it will give should you 
 catch as you go by a branch of a tree or the 
 post of a gateway. 
 

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The Driving-Cushion 
 
 The driving-cushion should be tlat enough 
 so that the shaking or jolting of the carriage 
 will not make you slip forward, and should be 
 long enough to reach nearly to the back of the 
 knees. 
 
 Driving-cushions, as they generally make 
 them, are high and have too much incline, 
 putting all the weight of the body on the legs, 
 which is very fatiguing on a long journey. 
 Moreover, the jerks of the carriage cause you 
 to slip forward, which obliges you to be con- 
 tinually pushing yourself into your place. With 
 the high cushions a man may easilv be pulled 
 off the box by his horses ; with the tlrst men- 
 tioned, on the contrary, he has a tlrm seat and 
 can resist. 
 
The Driving-Seat 
 
 The driving-seats of nearly all French car- 
 riages are made rather too far back, a mistake 
 akin to having the pole too long, as it puts 
 the driver too far away from his horses. 
 
 Coach builders have, without doubt, good 
 reasons for making them so, but it is not handy 
 for the one who has to drive ; the nearer you 
 are to the horses the better off you are. The 
 reason the coach builders give for placing the 
 seat back is, that otherwise the footboards would 
 touch the wheelers' tails and make them kick. 
 To avoid this they have only to make the foot- 
 board higher. 
 
DRIVING SEAT 85 
 
 Last year a pupil bought from me a set of 
 four-horse reins to drive an ordinary break, but 
 the driving-seat was so far behind his horses, 
 and his pole of such an unreasonable length, 
 that my reins, although long ones, were so much 
 too short for him that he was unable to use 
 them. 
 
 The nearer the horses are to the driver the 
 more enjoyable is the driving ; consequently, it 
 is best to emplov every means to diminish the 
 length of the turnout — a short pole and pole- 
 hook, and main shackle only long enough to 
 run in its place easily, with the hooks of the 
 bars short, but the traces long enough to pre- 
 vent the bars from touching the leaders' quarters 
 or hocks. 
 
THE LESSON 
 
THE LESSON 
 
 HOW TO TAKE THE REINS. AND GET ON 
 THE BOX. 
 
 When the horses are put to, walk around 
 them and make sure that everything is in its 
 place ; notice, above all, how your horses are 
 bitted, in order to know what to do when 
 driving them — either to give or take holes in 
 the couplings; to tighten or loosen the curbs; to 
 let down or take up the bits; to tighten or 
 loosen the nosebands, etc., etc. 
 
 Always get up on the right with a team 
 put to, and your passengers up, otherwise you 
 
.92 DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 would have to pass in front of the person on 
 the box seat, for the driver gets up last. 
 
 To pick up the reins you stand even with 
 the off wheeler's pad, about a foot and a half 
 from him, with the body slightly turned toward 
 the leaders. You take the hand-pieces out of 
 their place, they are generally run through the 
 pad terret, or between the pad and the hame 
 tug strap, letting them fall in front of you. 
 With the left hand you take hold of the rein 
 that is running through the middle terret of the 
 near wheeler's pad ; draw it to you, watching it 
 as it comes through the ferrets of the near 
 leader. Mind not to move your feet. Draw 
 this rein to you until you feel your leaders' 
 mouths, but draw delicately so as not to make 
 them run back. Then loosen your hold and 
 run your hand down the rein, so that your 
 arm hangs naturally in front of you, but do not 
 bend. At this moment tighten your hand on 
 the rein, for you are now holding the part that 
 you will hold when on the box, driving. 
 
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THE LESSON 93 
 
 Then take the rein running through the 
 middle terret of the olT wheeler's pad, and 
 draw until you feel that you slightly touch his 
 mouth. 
 
 The right hand has, as yet, had nothing 
 to do ; it now comes into use to pull, or draw, 
 the off leader's rein out towards the horse until 
 you see the little buckles of the hand-pieces 
 hanging even at the bottom of your reins ; this 
 is your level. 
 
 If your leaders are not in their collars and 
 the bars are hanging, give, or draw, out eight 
 inches more rein, and eight more if the leaders 
 are standing quite back near the pole-head. 
 They ought to be about two feet away from 
 it. Then put the middle finger of your right 
 hand between these two reins, without short- 
 ening or lengthening, and take them out of 
 your left hand. Then take the near wheeler's 
 rein with the left hand, between the index and 
 the middle fingers ; this is its place while driving. 
 Draw it to you, looking at the coupling rein of 
 
94 
 
 DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 your off wheeler, and delicately do the same as 
 to your near leader, so as not to make them 
 run back. Then slide your left hand up the 
 
 POSITION I 
 
 off wheeler's rein until near the terret ; clasp it 
 full in your hand and draw it to you until 
 you see or feel it is tight enough, then, with 
 
THE LESSON 
 
 Q=; 
 
 the lingers of the right hand draw out this rein 
 from your left, as you did for your off leader's 
 
 POSITION 2 
 
 rein. Then put the off wheeler's rein between 
 the middle and the fourth fingers ; place the 
 
q6 
 
 DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 leader's reins in the left hand with the index- 
 finger parting them, and shut your hand. In 
 this way vou are ready to driye away as soon 
 
 POSITION 3 
 
 as you are on the box {see position i). 
 
 If you get up on any other carriage than a 
 coach, the driving-cushion being farther back, it 
 
THE LESSON 
 
 97 
 
 is necessary to lengthen the reins about eight, 
 ten or twelve inches ; that is done by running 
 your left hand back, while holding all the 
 
 POSITION 4 
 
 reins with your right, to the distance you think 
 necessary. 
 
 When ready to mount your box, put your 
 
98 
 
 DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 reins in the right, having run the fingers of the 
 right hnnd between the same reins as those of 
 the left hand ; take the whip, if it is on the 
 
 POSITION s 
 
 horses' backs, with the left and put it in the 
 right hand. 
 
 If the hand-pieces are hanging from your 
 

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THE LESSON 99 
 
 hand more than three feet or so, it is well to 
 take hold of the two little buckles at the end 
 with your left, and hang the leather part on the 
 little finger of the right hand. 
 
 To get up on the box, grasp the handle of 
 the foot-board with the right hand {see position 2) 
 and put your left foot on the hub, and the 
 right foot on the splinter-bar {see position 5), and 
 reaching for the rail around the seat with your 
 left hand, you put the left foot on the body-step 
 {see position 4), and lastly the right foot on the 
 foot-board. You replace the reins in your left 
 hand, letting the two little buckles fall on your 
 left, keeping the whip in the right {see position 5) 
 and sit down, holding your left hand about six 
 inches from you at the level of the pit of the 
 stomach ; observe that in all these movements 
 you must not let any of the reins slip out. You 
 are now ready to start. 
 
 THE START 
 Keep your horses straight when starting. 
 Put the middle finger of the right hand between 
 
lOO DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 the wheelers' reins, keeping all the fingers wide 
 open, about six inches in front of your left hand ; 
 then shut the fingers, at the same time lifting up 
 your right and carrying it outward. The ends 
 of the reins drop below the little finger. While 
 you are dropping or giving your left, you give 
 your call to start. 
 
 if you are near a left-hand curbstone, put 
 the right hand on the two right-hand reins, pull 
 the hand about six or eight inches from the 
 left, drop the left and ask for your start {see 
 position 6). If you are near the right-hand curb- 
 stone, put one of the right-hand fingers between 
 the two left reins — the middle finger is the best — 
 about six or eight inches from your left hand, 
 gently, drop the left hand and you will start 
 without touching the curbstone. 
 
 Start your horses on with your usual call, 
 except when you are surrounded by other car- 
 riages; then you must lightly touch your leaders 
 with the whip, and bring it across your wheelers; 
 above all, never make a noise with the whip. 
 
THE LESSON 
 
 loi 
 
 Once you have given your leaders the possibility 
 of starting, you must, just as they are reaching 
 their collars, loose the wheel reins so that all 
 
 POSITION 
 
 four horses move the carriage away at once. 
 You should never allow your leaders to start 
 your coach alone, for in that case you risk 
 
I02 DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 breaking a bar or snapping your pole-hook. 
 
 Do not ask a number of times for a start — 
 once is enough, — only give the horses the time 
 necessary and enough rein to get away. Do not 
 hurry at starting, because you may have one or 
 several reins to adjust. 
 
 If you have a leader slow at starting, have 
 your whip unfurled, with the point in your hand, 
 so as to be able to send it out to him to put 
 him in his place. If you have a deaf horse, 
 touch him with the whip as you give your call. 
 
 When you leave a yard to go out in the 
 street, you must make a point or loop just as 
 the leaders' forefeet are in the gutter, or leaving 
 the curbstone, if there is one. 
 
 THE POINT 
 When the leaders' heads get level with the 
 edge of the sidewalk, you take hold with the 
 thumb of the right hand above, and forefinger 
 below, the right leader's rein, about eight inches 
 from the left hand ; you bring that part of the 
 rein under the thumb of the left hand. At the 
 
THE LESSON 
 
 103 
 
 same time this is being done, the left thumb must 
 be lifted up so as to receive the point, at this 
 moment the right hand fmds itself behind the left; 
 press down the left thumb and hold the point until 
 
 RIGHT-HAND POINT 
 
 your leaders are around the corner and just getting 
 straight. Then onlv, you gently lift your left thumb 
 and the rein runs out into its place. That is a 
 right-hand point. The point exists only if it is 
 deposited under the thumb of the left hand. 
 
I04 DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 Whether you drive very well or not, always 
 start with your horses walking ; that gives you 
 time to judge if everything is all right, and 
 gradually trains your muscles instead of straining 
 them all at once. 
 
 If you have very sharp wheelers, and you 
 want to trot, put your hand on the wheelers' 
 reins as for the start ; then, placing your left 
 hand under your right, give the leaders your 
 call, and they will start off in a trot without 
 having the wheelers rush the pole and bars into 
 their quarters, which would be asking them to 
 kick. • 
 
 THE STOP 
 
 To stop: when your left hand is at the 
 pivot, that is, at the pit of the stomach, four 
 or five inches from the body, you place the 
 middle tlnger of your right hand between the 
 two near, or left-hand side reins, at eight inches 
 from the left hand, then raise the left hand 
 above the right, stretching the reins. Then shut 
 the fingers of the right hand on the four reins, 
 
THE LESSON 
 
 lO: 
 
 and gradually bring the right hand toward your 
 chest. This, 1 call the dead-stop ; this com- 
 mand is very powertlil, and you must use it 
 progressively and only as much as is necessary. 
 
 THE DEAD-STOP 
 
 You can use the dead-stop in whatever position 
 
 you may be in, even while turning acute angles. 
 
 If you have horses with heavy mouths and 
 
 others with light mouths, you must stop right to 
 
I06 DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 he able to leave go the rein necessary, and per- 
 haps take it up again. 
 
 On certain occasions the last part of a stop 
 is made on one rein only. 
 
 TURNING A RIGHT ANGLE 
 To the Right 
 
 Now we arrive at turning a right angle to 
 the right, the left hand at the pivot as when we 
 started, or a bit higher than the elbow, with the 
 hand bent to the body and never toward the 
 horses. All the team being straight, to turn, 
 keep as much as you can in the middle of the 
 street. You put on a little opposition to the left 
 by turning the wrist as if you were drinking ; 
 to do this well, turn the wrist on its axis, then 
 lift it gently without pulling too hard, because it 
 would stop the horses. You must always feel 
 the horses' mouths with a very light hand. 
 
 If the leaders are too much in their collars 
 they must be brought back ; to do this, put the 
 risht middle finger between the leaders' reins in 
 front of the left hand ; shut your right hand and 
 
THE LESSON I07 
 
 bring the lead reins out by parting your hands 
 horizontally, without raising or lowering, and 
 bring the reins back in their place. In bringing 
 the right hand behind the left, shut the left hand, 
 slide your right hand down the reins — say six or 
 eight inches — and they will leave your fingers. 
 This precaution will prevent the leaders pulling 
 on the end of the pole and prevent straining it. 
 
 To adjust the wheelers' reins, it suffices to 
 draw them from behind or pull them out in 
 front, either to shorten or lengthen them ; but 
 when, as above, you have the leaders in the 
 right hand, you can, with the thumb and fingers 
 of your right hand, draw the wheelers in also, if 
 you like that way best. 
 
 When asking for a point, never put the left 
 hand forward to receive the point — or for any 
 other movement — because it gives to the horses 
 and puts on extra pace. 
 
 You make your point to the right (see picture — 
 point to the right) at the moment when your 
 leaders' feet are level with the tlrst gutter of the 
 
io8 
 
 DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 Street you want to turn into, and as soon as 
 you have pointed, your right hand must go to 
 the left opposition rein, that is the near wheeler's, 
 to hold him from rushing you around the corner; 
 
 THE RIGHT-HAND POINT 
 Made hetiDeen the index and niiddle fmqers 
 
 to catch this rein, as much as possible let your 
 fingers be wide open, so that the rein lands 
 above or below the middle finger before you 
 clasp. Eight times out of ten you want oppo- 
 
THE LESSON IO9 
 
 sition on your wheelers, but should your wheelers 
 be distracted and looking the other way, then, 
 on the contrary, you must help the lot to turn; 
 to do this you take the two right reins with 
 your right hand at about six or eight inches 
 from the left, holding your right hand level 
 with your elbow, or a little higher ; you then 
 drop the left gently, as much as is necessary, 
 keeping both hands in front of you even if they 
 are one above the other ; never hold your hands 
 wide apart, and always keep the elbows near 
 the sides of the body. The right hand ought 
 always to be above the left, except at starting, 
 steadying, or dead-stops. 
 
 You must learn how to judge the room 
 necessary to turn in. You turn more easily 
 by dropping the left hand than by pulling with 
 the right, and you cannot drop the left for a 
 turning movement if you have not got the other 
 two reins in your right. 
 
 To practice this order begin on a straight 
 line ; lav hold of the two right reins with your 
 
I lO 
 
 DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 right hand, about eight or ten inches from the 
 left hand ; hold them well, and drop the left 
 very gradually ; then bring the left to the pivot 
 and reverse the side, and you will see how 
 
 easily and quickly they will give to you. 
 
 Always give the horses time to execute the 
 movements. After each order bring your hands 
 back to their places. 
 
THE LESSON 111 
 
 Once the corner is finished, leave go of 
 the point, and then of the opposition. If the 
 street you have just turned into is down-hill, 
 hold the opposition a bit longer. If the hill is 
 very steep, hold the two opposition reins in the 
 right hand and drop the left; keep your right hand 
 in its place, rather above the level of your elbow 
 than below it. and never carry it toward the left, 
 but rather toward the right. In this way your 
 strength is a hundred per cent greater. 
 
 To sum up. to turn a right angle to the right 
 you have live orders to make — first, bring back 
 the leaders: second, point the off lead rein; third, 
 opposition on the wheeler, or help with the two 
 right-hand reins, as the case may be ; fourth, let go 
 the point; fifth, let go the wheeler or the helping. 
 
 TURNING TO THE LEFT 
 At Right Angles 
 
 For a turn to the left at right angles, you 
 have also five orders or questions to ask for — 
 first, bring back the leaders; second, point the 
 
I 1 2 DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 near leader (see plate) to the left; third, opposition 
 on the off wheeler's rein, or help with the two 
 left reins, as the case may be; fourth, loose the 
 point; fifth, loose the wheeler's rein. 
 
 TURNING AN ACUTE ANGLE 
 To the Right 
 
 About ten yards before you get to the corner 
 you gently bring back your leaders about eight 
 or ten inches (double the distance taken for a 
 right angle) ; you hold your team to the left by 
 turning your left hand to you. Then fit your 
 reins to be at ease, generally the left hand well 
 up high, by running vour left hand back while 
 grasping the reins with the right. It is the only 
 way to take all up or let all out a bit. Just when 
 the leaders' heads are even with the corner of 
 the curbstone, take, between the two lead reins, 
 with the right-hand thumb and forefinger, the left 
 wheeler's rein, at about three or four inches from 
 the left hand and place it around the wrist, at the 
 
THE LESSON 
 
 113 
 
 back of the last joint of the thumb, by turning the 
 fingers of the left hand outwards to help deposit 
 the rein, and lifting the thumb upwards to pre- 
 vent it slipping down, the hands pointing well 
 
 LF.FT-HAND POINT 
 
 across the bodv (see plate, opposition round the 
 •wrist or thumb). You then make a point of six 
 inches with the right lead rein, this point between, 
 the index and middle fmgers of the left hand; 
 then quickly make an eight-inch point in the 
 
114 
 
 DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 same way. This point made in this way between 
 the index and middle fingers cannot be done by 
 a beginner, but can be practiced just as well at a 
 right angle as at an acute one. If, while turning, 
 
 Near wlieeler 
 Near leader. 
 Off leader. 
 
 Off wheeler. 
 
 LEFT OPPOSITION ROUND THE THUMB 
 
 you wish to avoid an obstacle on the right, you 
 turn your left hand to you; if, on the contrary, 
 you want to avoid something placed on your left, 
 you turn the hand, the thumb pointing to the 
 ground, that brings your hand beside your left 
 
THE LESSON 
 
 115 
 
 thiiih. If by this means vou find that vou have 
 not power enough, take the two left reins or the 
 two right-hand ones, as the case may be; the 
 right hand at eight inches from the left and drop 
 
 Near wlieeler. 
 Near leader. 
 
 OlT leader. 
 Off wheeler. 
 
 LEFT OPPOSITION WITH TWO POINTS TO THE RIGHT 
 
 the left hand as the leaders are straight with the 
 street, gently loosen your points, letting them run 
 out, by opening the forefmger. Then turn your 
 hand over, the thumb toward the horses, and the 
 left opposition will slide off the thumb. 
 
I l6 • DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 For a more acute angle it is always necessary 
 to help the horses to come to the right at the 
 finish of the turn. To sum up: in the acute angle 
 you have seven orders, or commands, to make — 
 first bring back the leaders ten inches; second, 
 opposition on your left thumb; third, two points 
 to the right; fourth, lay hold of the two right 
 reins and drop the left; fifth, let the two points 
 run out; sixth, let your thumb opposition run 
 off; seventh, draw out your near leader ten 
 inches, then the off, ten inches quickly. 
 
 For acute angles you must take up or back 
 your leaders ten inches of rein. This makes the 
 traces loose and the bars hang; for, if you did 
 not, the near leader when going around would 
 draw so hard on the end of the pole that nine 
 times out of ten it would break the pole, if the 
 coach were loaded. Poles will not stand such a 
 strain. If turning to the left, it would be the 
 off leader that would pull too hard. 
 
 Have your leaders well in hand, and your 
 hand well in its place, so that the leaders' traces 
 
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THE LESSON 
 
 hang, and the bars hang on the end of the pole, 
 hi this wav the bars cannot do any harm if 
 they happen to knock against anything. For an 
 acute angle to the left, you also have seven orders 
 to cr'ive — ist, take back the leaders ten inches; 
 2d, push up or take in the off wheeler two 
 inches; 3d, make two points to the left quickly; 
 4th, lay hold of the two left reins and drop your 
 left hand ; ^th, let the two points run out ; bth, 
 draw out the two inches of opposition ; 7th, draw 
 out the leaders' reins ten inches, tlrst the near 
 and then the off. 
 
 TO DRIVE INTO A DOORWAY OR GATEWAY 
 Turning to the Right 
 
 To turn into a gateway on your right side, 
 the wider the street is the more room you 
 should take on vour left, as for an acute angle. 
 Make the turn and keep well in the middle of 
 the gateway, for the posts will not give way. 
 
I 1 8 DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 About fifteen yards from the gateway put 
 the near wheeler's rein over the thumb, and hold 
 it enough to bring the coach to the left side. 
 Take all the room you can; then if you have to 
 make room for another carriage which happens 
 to pass unawares, you have some to give, but if 
 you have no room and are held, you are not 
 able to take the gate ; in this case, stop as soon 
 as possible, and back about three yards more 
 than you think necessary (for one never backs 
 enough). As you start forward, have your right 
 hand on the right leader, so as to point just as 
 the leaders' heads are one yard before you get to 
 the angle of the pillar of the gate; then take 
 hold of the two right reins with the right hand, 
 and facilitate the turn by dropping your left. If 
 all is well and coming f^iirly, give up all com- 
 mands quickly, and as the horses become straight 
 you help with the right hand to keep in the 
 middle. All this is quick work, especially if 
 done trotting ; always be ready to put on the 
 dead-stop, if it is wanted, in half a second. 
 
Turning an acute angle to the right, Rue du Sabot (see page 140). 
 
THE LESSON I 1 9 
 
 TO DRIVE THROUGH A GATEWAY 
 Turning to the Left 
 For a left-hand gate — of course you are sup- 
 posed to always be driving your horses ship- 
 shape before any ordering comes — bring back 
 your leaders, as always ordered before turning ; 
 slide up, or shorten, your off wheeler's rein two 
 inches ; mind and keep to all these measure- 
 ments, as nearly as possible, all through the 
 lessons, unless you know that one horse wants 
 more than a fair asking — then do what vou 
 think right. When the leaders' heads are within 
 one yard of the post of the gate, point your 
 left leader eight inches, and help the lot to turn, 
 if necessary. Once the leaders are in the door- 
 way, give up all your orders, and with the right 
 hand lay hold of the two rights or lefts, as may 
 be necessary, so as not to rub the curbstones; 
 or at all events not to come into violent contact 
 with them, as some people do. 
 
 STOPPING BESIDE A CURBSTONE 
 If you are asked to stop on your right side 
 
120 DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 beside a curbstone, and you take hold with your 
 full hand, you would bring your leader on to 
 the curbstone, which is dangerous ; or if you 
 stop asking them too soon, the coach will be 
 about one yard from the curbstone. Fearing to 
 take your horse there you leave the coach across 
 the street. To do this well, put the middle 
 finger of the right hand between the two off 
 reins, with all the fingers open, press the index 
 against the middle finger ; to tighten the off 
 leader's rein, bring it to you about two inches, 
 sliding on the wheeler's rein, then clasp your 
 hand and advance, or drop, your left as much 
 as is necessary, and just as the leader is getting 
 to the curbstone, let slip the two-inch point — 
 forward points must never fall down behind the 
 hand ; this allows the leader to be parallel with 
 the curbstone without fear of his getting on it. 
 When the team has gone on about four or 
 five yards, leave go your right and put on the 
 dead-stop gradually, so as not to put the horses 
 on their hocks. 
 
THE LESSON 121 
 
 If voLi have to put a bit of pressure on the 
 reins left or right, do it with the right hand and 
 ease the left. Put on the brake, and let the people 
 who are accompanying you get up or down. 
 
 When you wish to draw up to the left-hand 
 curbstone, being on the right side of the street 
 (as that is the side in France), and you have but 
 little space, put the near wheeler's rein around 
 the thumb, if there is plenty of room, lay hold 
 of the two left side reins, and as for the off side, 
 draw the leader first, about two inches, before 
 the action comes on the wheelers. This is the 
 way to get there. Press with the index finger 
 the rein that is on the middle finger, clasp the 
 two reins, first sliding the hand on the wheeler's 
 rein two inches. Then bring your hand toward 
 your body, placing it above the left hand, and 
 when the near leader reaches the curbstone let 
 the two- inch point run out. Keep going until 
 the coach is parallel with the curbstone. Give 
 the commands, and put on the dead-stop with a 
 bit of pressure to the left. 
 
122 DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 HOW TO BACK ROUND IN NARROW SPACES, 
 
 OR GET YOURSELF IN RANK IN 
 
 CLOSE QUARTERS 
 
 If voLi are in a street without an outlet, and 
 inave not room enough to turn around, say about 
 twelve yards, you must get out of it by backing 
 around, starting from the right-hand curbstone. 
 
 You want about seven yards across from 
 curb to curb, although more is better. Before 
 beginning this movement, be driving all your 
 horses with hanging bars, but not so far back as 
 to touch the hocks. Ask your horses to move 
 on, point them to the left (the point can also be 
 done before you ask them to move on), and 
 with the right hand lay hold of the near wheeler's 
 rein and help him strongly to the left ; all these 
 orders must be quickly done ; keep going as f:ir 
 as you can, so as to leave a good three yards 
 behind the coach's right-hand wheel, then leave 
 go the point and the wheeler's rein together. At 
 this moment take hold of the two right-hand 
 
THE LESSON 
 
 123 
 
 reins with the full right hand, and lower or drop 
 your left, and pull vigorously with your right, at 
 the same time saying "Whoa!" loud enough for 
 all the horses to hear. This leaves the coach 
 across the street at a standstill (see position A), 
 
 POSITION A 
 
 the bed of the coach alone turned to the right. 
 
 If you think the reins are a bit long, or your 
 horses are hard to back, take the lot up before 
 asking them to back ; put your right hand as for 
 the dead-stop, then slide your hand one or two 
 inches toward you on the left reins, not forgetting 
 
124 
 
 DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 to keep the two little fingers fast on the two right 
 reins. This keeps a stronger hold on the right 
 side while backing. Always be ready to leave go 
 of either rein should a horse want to rear, and do 
 not pull so hard that they do so and fall back- 
 
 W 
 
 W 
 
 POSITION B 
 
 wards. Always ask your backing very gradually 
 and without interruption, if possible, until you 
 see the footboard straight across the street, and, 
 if anything, a bit inclined to the left as you 
 stop (see position B). All these orders must 
 be executed quickly, but without jerking. 
 
THE LESSON 12 = 
 
 Notice: If you wish to stop in rank just 
 before you have backed enough to turn around, 
 you let everything go quickly and take hold of 
 the two left-hand reins and finish your backing; 
 this will bring the coach and horses in one 
 straight line with both hind wheels in the gutter 
 of the sidewalk. Of course the opposite is done 
 when you leave the curbstone at the start. - 
 
 When you are at this point let go all in 
 your right hand and point gently to the left, 
 not pulling hastily on the rein as it would cause 
 the horses to back, but gently giving little tugs 
 or jerks, which makes them turn in pivoting on 
 their hind legs. They turn in a large circle to 
 the left, you aid them by taking hold of the two 
 left-hand reins with the right hand if help is 
 wanted, and drop your left hand; give your gen- 
 eral call, or click, and the horses start off to the 
 left — lowering both hands if you have anything 
 in your right; if not, put your left hand well for- 
 ward so that the horses can go into their collars 
 (see position C). You must often put the left 
 
126 
 
 DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 hand well forward so as not to stop the horses, 
 particularly if you shortened your reins to back; 
 so it is best not to shorten the reins to back, or, 
 if you do so, to let them out before starting, but 
 that is not easy to do just then. 
 
 r~ J" — Jv 
 
 POSITION C 
 
 If you are to go back to your starting-point, 
 put the left wheeler's rein over the thumb and your 
 right hand on the two left reins, the middle tlnger 
 separating them; hold them well, and get as near 
 to the curbstone as you possibly can. Give every 
 order gently, and put on the dead-stop. 
 
THE LESSON 
 
 127 
 
 Let us now explain the movements to back 
 to the left. 
 
 To back around to the left leaving the left 
 curbstone, begin by bringing your leaders back 
 eight inches, in order to have the bars hanging 
 
 POSITION D 
 
 without touching the hocks, point to the right, 
 and give your usual call for the horses to move 
 on ; help your wheelers to the right, keep going 
 as far as you can, but leave at least three yards 
 from the curbstone to your left hind wheel, let 
 go the point and the wheeler's rein, take hold 
 
128 
 
 DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 quickly of the two left-hand reins with your 
 right hand, vigorously pulling them to you, and 
 calling "Whoa!" loud enough to obtain a full 
 stop ; of course you drop the left hand so that 
 it enables the lot to come to the left. Just then 
 
 -.\ 
 
 POSITION E 
 
 the coach is, or ought to be, crossways in the 
 street, the horses and front bed only being turned 
 to the left (see position D). You place your 
 right hand on the left-hand reins, the middle 
 finger separating them, and drawing your hands 
 to you, you obtain the backing ; keep on till 
 
Turning un acute angle to the lett, Rue du Sabot (see page 117). 
 
THE LESSON 1 29 
 
 your footboard is quite across the street, or, 
 preferably, ;i little inclined to the right (see 
 position E). At this moment you stop (or just 
 before then you lay hold of the two right reins 
 strongly and drop the left, which pulls you 
 straight if you wish to stop in rank). You point 
 to the right, tugging lightly or jerking, and as 
 soon as you see they are coming around you 
 help them all by putting your right hand on the 
 two right reins and bringing it to vou. You 
 then drop, or give, both hands as the turn is 
 finishing, to allow your horses to go into their 
 collars and draw the coach awav. Remember, 
 that when you turn to the left the horses go 
 away from you, that is why vou have to advance 
 the hand so much ; to the right, on the con- 
 trary, they come to you, therefore, you have to 
 raise your hands. 
 
 When you have finished backing, should the 
 footboard not be true across the street (see 
 position F), and your quarters rather close, 
 you must start them straight, reset your horses 
 
no 
 
 DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 and front bed, and back again until you gain 
 what room you need. 
 
 HOW TO PASS A CARRIAGE IN FRANCE 
 
 (in AMERICA IT IS CUSTOMARY TO DRIVE ON THE OFF SIDE) 
 
 When you have to pass a carriage, or any- 
 
 ■ V 
 
 POSITION F 
 
 thing else in your way, take hold of the two 
 left reins as said, middle fingers between, lower 
 the left hand and draw the right to you towards 
 the right side, to get the maximum of power. If 
 the street is barred on the right side, and there 
 is only just room to get through on the left side, 
 
THE LESSON I3I 
 
 put the left wheeler's rein over your thumb or 
 wrist, as I have explained before, then take hold 
 of the two lefts with vour right hand, always 
 easing with the left hand. 
 
 When vou have obeyed all these orders on 
 the left, to avoid an obstacle on the right, and 
 the horses refuse to obey, a sharp cut of the 
 whip on the off wheeler's shoulder will carry 
 your team immediatelv to the left. For the oppo- 
 site case, a sharp stroke on the left wheeler will 
 carry your team to the right. 
 
 Never forget your whip, particularly when 
 you are passing by places where horses might 
 become frightened ; a stroke of the whip, given 
 at the right time, may prevent horses from shying, 
 as it changes their minds. You must see if any- 
 thing is likely to make them shy, but do not 
 strike after they have done so ; try to avoid 
 having them see what does not suit them. 
 Never strike with a rein in your right hand. 
 
 Have your whip unfurled when you want 
 to spring a hill, but keep the lash, or point, in 
 
I 32 DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 your hand; draw out eight inches of rein for 
 your near leader with the thumb and forefinger 
 of your right hand. While giving that rein, the 
 last two fingers of your right hand can clasp 
 the right leader's rein and draw it out in its 
 turn. It is easier to draw one rein after the 
 other than both at once. If you try this you 
 can prove it. It is better, too, because the 
 leaders bear generally to the left and they are 
 put straight by giving the near rein first, without 
 being obliged to draw so much out for the off 
 leader. When you have given the leaders this 
 head-room, give them your usual call and gently 
 drop your left hand, but do not throw your hand 
 forward, to start them into a gallop or a canter. 
 If you see that a leader is not ready, give him 
 one or two cuts with the whip. If neither are 
 ready to start, snap your whip between their 
 ears should they want waking up ; this can be 
 done without letting the wheelers hear. Should 
 a wheeler want help to start into a gallop, and 
 not a leader, double your thong and give him 
 
THE LESSON I}} 
 
 one or two cuts ; or, if you have hit a leader 
 and are in a hurry to hit a wheeler, bring the 
 end of the long thong around him. 
 
 We are now near the top of the hill ; put 
 the middle finger of the right hand between the 
 leaders' reins, clasp them by raising them a little, 
 and take them out of your left hand horizontally; 
 bring your right hand to you behind the left and 
 put the reins quickly and well in their place 
 in the left hand ; then the dead-stop — but only 
 use power enough to bring the horses down to a 
 trot. This is at all times the way to bring the 
 leaders back. People are wrong to pull on all 
 the horses when they want to stop, for it is 
 often the leaders who are pulling on the end of 
 the pole that will not obey the stop, for all the 
 power used. To obtain the stop without great 
 effort, it is sufficient to bring the leaders back first, 
 and the stop produces itself without difficulty. 
 
 Never make a noise with your whip if you 
 can help it, for it excites the horses that are not 
 struck. Always have your horses well in hand 
 
134 DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 before striking ; it prevents you having to pull them 
 with a deal of power after the stroke. Alwavs 
 be prudent and keep vour team straight in front 
 of you. For this there are several ways. The 
 two reins which want the most fitting are those 
 of the off leader and the near wheeler; I call 
 them the two centers, being together between 
 the index and middle fingers, the leader's rein 
 on top of the wheeler's. They always run out 
 and cause the leaders to be to the left and the 
 wheelers to the right. Pinch with the thumb of 
 the right hand on top, and the forefinger under- 
 neath, these two centres at about one inch from 
 the left hand; ease the left fingers while the right 
 hand is pushing the reins back into the left hand; 
 do this over and over again until the team is 
 straight, but if you take more than one inch the 
 leather bends and the work is not done properly. 
 Another way is to take hold of the same two 
 reins with a full right hand, the thumb towards 
 the body one inch only from the left hand, and 
 keep on pushing them in until the horses are 
 
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 o 
 
 
 c 
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 Q 
 
 be 
 
 < 
 
 on 
 
 c 
 
 3 
 
THE LESSON I35 
 
 quite straight. If the horses are very much on 
 one side, put your right hand under the left and 
 take the two middle reins by feeling for them 
 about four inches below the left hand, push the 
 off wheeler on one side and take hold of the 
 next two reins and draw them to you six or 
 eight inches or more, till the horses are straight. 
 It is not often one uses this last way, as it is best 
 not to let the horses get so far wrong. 
 
 Suppose the leaders are bearing to the right 
 and the wheelers to the left, pick up your near 
 leader quickly at eight inches from your left 
 hand, take the rein out of your left and put it in 
 again at the right length ; do the same for the 
 off wheeler, and this puts the team in a straight 
 line. if your left hand is tired, take the four 
 reins between the middle and index fingers of 
 the right hand, close up behind the left, and 
 clasp them ; then open your left without taking 
 the reins out, and keep working your fingers to 
 relieve them if they are cramped. This is also 
 the way to shorten or lengthen the whole lot 
 
136 DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 of reins. If you want to rest the left hand you can 
 do so by putting all the reins in vour right hand 
 in front of the left, the right-hand middle finger 
 between the two left reins, as for the dead-stop. 
 
 If you want your left hand for anything, put 
 all the reins in your right hand placed between 
 the same fingers as in the left ; keep the hand 
 well in front of you, or even rather more to the 
 left, or all the team will run to the left. To have 
 your right hand at liberty, put the whip high up 
 in the left hand under the thumb, so that if you 
 have to deviate to come to the right you can 
 lower your left beside your thigh ; in this way 
 the whip handle will not interfere with your 
 motions since it is not below your hand. 
 
 When you arrive at your destination, unbuckle 
 your handpieces and throw them on the wheeler's 
 backs as near the pads as you can, the right-hand 
 ones to the right and the left-hand ones to the 
 left. They should be thrown with the arm, and 
 the movement should not be followed by the body; 
 do not do this until the men are at the horses' 
 
THE LESSON 1 37 
 
 heads. When you get down from the coach, in- 
 tending to remount, put all the reins in your right 
 hand as you did when you mounted at first, lay 
 the whip across the wheelers' backs and hang the 
 reins as they were before taking them up : that is, 
 either the buckle ends drawn through the pad 
 terrets, or fold them and with the left hand pull 
 away the hame tug and pass them between the 
 pad and the hame tug and pad strap. 
 
 It is disagreeable to have a horse that is always 
 galloping; if you have three horses trotting ten 
 miles an hour and one that can only do nine, put 
 them all at the hitter's pace and all will go well. 
 Some people may say you do not go fast; but 
 your horses are going well, and you know the 
 reason why. 
 
 I will mention a few of the corners well known 
 by my pupils, such as those of the Saint Dominique 
 Fountain, the Rue du Sabot, the Rue des Anglais, 
 the seven corners and the turn of the Belle-Mere. 
 These places are not made to amuse one's self 
 with all day, but it is well to know how to be 
 
138 DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 able to get out of ditficulties when they turn up. 
 Many pupils have qualms of fright when they see 
 these difficulties. Keep quiet, sit down and move 
 only your arms. Always have your reins well 
 fitted when there is something difficult to do, and 
 do not forget the whip, nor have it twisted forty 
 thousand times around the stick. 
 
 TURNING AROUND THE SAINT DOMINiaUE 
 
 FOUNTAIN 
 
 Going towards the Saint Dominique Fountain 
 from the Pont de I'Alma, we turn to the right into 
 the Rue Saint Dominique and are sixty yards from 
 the fountain. These are the rules to be obeyed : 
 Pick up the leaders eight inches, keep all the team 
 to the right by keeping your hand down towards 
 your left thigh, go by the fountain ; but just as the 
 leaders get at the level of the gutter (i) point the 
 left leader, and help the two wheelers if necessary, 
 drop the point, and keep all the team along the 
 curbstone (2) by turning the left hand to the left 
 toward the thigh. When the leaders get to angle 3, 
 
THE LESSON 
 
 139 
 
 point them to the left, and with the right wheeler's 
 rein keep them well up to the angle (3). Let the 
 point go and keep your team to the right; when 
 your leaders' heads are at angle (4) point your left 
 
 Ms ^ 
 
 i ^ 
 
 1 ^ 
 
 I 
 
 1 
 I 
 
 ^ 
 
 3'SS 
 
 a 9, 
 
 'f"C_ ''•' JJoininiqiis_ GeniMin 
 
 leader, and with the off wheeler's rein keep on op- 
 position enough to clear the last corner. You then 
 come into the Rue Saint Dominique, turn left or right 
 or go around again if it suits you, having a little 
 hand-cart extra somewhere to allow you less room. 
 
I40 DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 TURNING INTO THE RUE DU SABOT 
 Going toward the Rue du Four by the Rue 
 
 du Dragon, point at the first street to the left, 
 and, if necessary, again loose the point at fifty 
 yards from this point to the left, but remember 
 we are going into the Rue du Sabot and have 
 a steep descent to make. See at once if in 
 the narrow part it is blocked, so as not to get 
 in too far; for you could not get out again, as 
 the street is only as wide as the coach. Keep 
 going, and bring your leaders back, put the near 
 wheeler's rein over the thumb and ask two points 
 to the right. When it is time, and your horses 
 are even with the first cross gutter, then help 
 them all around at the last moment. Give all the 
 orders as you get into a straight line, and steady 
 yourself in the middle of the street. 
 
 I have often been obliged to back out of this 
 street when it was blocked. 
 
 TURNING INTO THE RUE DES ANGLAIS FROM 
 THE RUE DONAT 
 
 Now let us go to the Rue des Anglais, an 
 
Turning? out of the Rue des Ano-lais into the Rue Donat (see page 141). 
 
THE LESSON I4I 
 
 Ugly little street that finishes the Boulevard Saint- 
 Germain; it is better to go along the Rue Donat, 
 your leaders well back in hand, with two inches 
 of opposition on your right wheeler, your hand 
 well in its place; this keeps your coach bearing 
 to the right. At the level of the corner point 
 your near leader, and then help all to turn to the 
 left; as your right opposition held your wheelers 
 to the right, so must you also help them at the 
 last moment to come to the left, give all orders, 
 and the turn is finished. It is the sharpest angle 
 I know of. Keep straight on to come out of the 
 street, and turn to the left. 
 
 Always be ready to stop when turning into 
 such streets, for vou can only see what is in the 
 next street after the four horses are fairly in it. 
 
 TURNING THE CORNER OF THE BELLE-MERE 
 
 The corner of the Belle-Mere is near the Arc- 
 de-Triomphe, so we go along the Avenue Mac- 
 Mahon, cross the Rue Tilsitt and keep going 
 down the hill; put the brake on and the first 
 
142 DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 Street to the left is an acute angle with steep 
 hills both ways. This is the Rue Montenotte ; 
 the entrance is seven yards wide, and the right- 
 side curbstone is one yard lower than the left. 
 
 This is where you are apt to turn over if you 
 come too quickly. Take off the brake and give 
 your leaders some rein to climb the hill, then imme- 
 diately take them up again to be able to turn in 
 the Rue de I'Arc-de-Triomphe, and put the oppo- 
 sition, or left wheeler's, rein over your thumb and 
 make two points to the right ; put the brake on 
 again, for the hill is a stiff one, let the points go 
 as also the opposition, and keep hold of the four 
 reins to steady the horses. 
 
 It is this corner that makes the costermongers 
 so frightened. They do not know where to go 
 when they see the team coming around it. Keep 
 going and we will have a canter up Avenue 
 Carnot; take the first of two left-hand streets, give 
 your leaders some rein and ask them to canter; 
 near the top of the hill bring back your leaders 
 and put on the dead-stop to steady the coach, 
 
THE LESSON 1 43 
 
 having now to cross the railroad. Then we go 
 towards the Avenue du Bois, to turn the seven 
 successive corners. 
 
 TURNING THE SEVEN CORNERS 
 
 Take the second street on your right in the 
 Avenue, then the first to the right, this being the 
 first of the seven turns; first to the left (second 
 turn), again, first to the left (third turn), then at 
 once put the rein over the thumb to keep to the 
 left, then point to the right when the leaders' 
 forefeet are in the gutter, put on the brake, let 
 go the point and then the opposition, help to 
 keep them straight to steady the coach on the 
 descent which you have now reached (fourth 
 turn). Then a left turn; take off the brake, and 
 keep all to the right; point your left leader; give 
 rein enough for the hill (fifth turn), and have all 
 your orders ready for an acute angle to the right 
 (sixth turn); continue straight on, pay attention 
 to the decline; then comes an acute angle to the 
 left, leaving macadam to turn on to asphalt 
 
144 DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 (seventh corner). Always be careful when you 
 change your paving, for a horse is surprised at the 
 change and easily slips up, particularly in turning 
 an acute angle. 
 
 I am often asked, "Why does that horse 
 canter?" It is often because he is too willing to 
 travel; he puts out all his courage. It should be 
 the care of the one who is driving to see that 
 such a horse does not work too hard. 
 
 When you are driving four horses, all the 
 horses ought to work equally, especially when 
 going up hill. Remember this and you will find 
 yourself the better for it some day. 
 
 If the coachman drives his horses carefully he 
 will make the lazy ones do their share of the work; 
 then the good horse will never think of doing 
 more than his share, and will keep trotting. 
 
 I remember, some time ago, an amateur going 
 to a race-meeting on a coach full of friends, 
 thinking more of the conversation than of driving 
 his horses. Nevertheless, the coach kept going 
 and that satisfied him. On getting to the hill of 
 
THE LESSON 1 45 
 
 Marly-le-Roi. and feeling the pace die off, he 
 called to his horses to excite them, still keeping 
 up his conversation. Thanks to his repeated calls 
 they kept on going till they reached the top of 
 the hill; unluckily, only one horse obeyed the 
 master's calls, and he alone drew the coach to the 
 top of the hill. The horse's power of endurance 
 having a limit, the poor beast fell dead as he got 
 there ; the driver, undoubtedly, never thinking 
 that he had killed his brave worker. He was 
 obliged to keep on with his party with only 
 three horses. 
 
 If you go by the Avenue Fitz-James at Marly- 
 le-Roi, a bit further than the horse-pond and 
 opposite a fountain, you can say: "That is where 
 the good old horse died," as in the English hunting 
 song. 
 
 Always think of what you are doing, as well 
 at play as at work: it is but your duty. 
 
 Let me be allowed, before finishing, to relate 
 an interesting story or two: 
 
 Some gentlemen protested that I could not 
 
146 DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 furnish a coach, with one change of horses, to go 
 from Paris to Chantilly in three hours; the bet 
 was easily won. 
 
 The coach reached the Octori in two hours 
 and twenty-one minutes, and the Hotel d'Angle- 
 terre in two hours and twenty-four minutes, the 
 pace being eleven and one-quarter miles an hour. 
 One of the gentlemen asked me, before starting, 
 if there was any chance of my winning ; I an- 
 swered, "That it was won ; for if we only went 
 ten miles an hour we could do it." 
 
 1 was running on the road, one day, with a 
 well-known prince, and, for several consecutive 
 runs of two-and-a-quarter miles we arrived at the 
 milestones in exactly fifteen minutes by the foot- 
 board watch ; this on a thirty-seven mile journey. 
 The prince could not understand how one could 
 drive at such a regular pace. 
 
 Many persons think that they have only to 
 drive a road coach to be good coachmen. These 
 people are mistaken. In France you need a 
 certain amount of skill to avoid the carters who, 
 
THK LESSON 1 47 
 
 when they hear the horn, seem to get purposely 
 in the way. \n England, on the contrary, the 
 coachmen are helped when coming into London 
 by everyone clearing the way when he hears 
 the coach coming. 
 
 1 like to run on the road : I have done a 
 good deal of it and would like to do more ; but 
 to learn to drive, one hour's lesson in the town 
 is worth more than fiftv miles of road, for often 
 when on the road one does not drive but lets 
 the horses run on. 
 
 The road is very agreeable with its greetings 
 and salutes. Driving is a sport that gives a great 
 deal of pleasure to those who can say, "I have 
 driven my horses." 
 
 FINIS 
 
CONTENTS 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 Page 
 
 Dedication 5 
 
 To my l^upils 7 
 
 Preface, by the Count de Clermont-Gal- 
 
 lerande 9 
 
 Preliminary Advice 
 
 The Four-Horse Whip and the way to use 
 
 it ............ . 33 
 
 The Reins 46 
 
1^2 DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 Page 
 
 The Lamps 59 
 
 The Brake 6i 
 
 The Skid 64 
 
 The Bridle 6s 
 
 The Head Terrets , . , 67 
 
 The Noseband 68 
 
 The Traces 70 
 
 The Pole Chains . . , 71 
 
 The Cruppers 72 
 
 The Collar . o . 73 
 
 The Pole 74 
 
 The Bars 76 
 
 The Martingale and Hame Straps .... 77 
 
 The Horn • 19 
 
 The. "Guard's Bag" ..,,... . 81 
 
 The Basket 82 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS I55 
 
 Page 
 
 The Drivincf-Cushion 83 
 
 The Driving-Box 84 
 
 The Lesson 
 
 How to take the reins, and get on the box 91 
 
 The start 99 
 
 The point 102 
 
 The stop 104 
 
 Turning a right angle to the right . . . 106 
 
 Turning a right angle to the left .... 1 1 1 
 
 Turning an acute angle to the right ... 112 
 
 Turning an acute angle to the left . . . 117 
 
 Driving through a gateway to the right . 117 
 
 Driving through a gateway to the left . . 119 
 
 Stopping beside a curbstone i lO 
 
I 34 DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 Page 
 
 How to back 122 
 
 How to pass a carriage 130 
 
 Turning round the Fontaine Saint-Domi- 
 nique 138 
 
 Turning into the Rue du Sabot .... 140 
 
 Turning into the Rue des Anglais ... 140 
 
 Turning the Belle-Mere corner 141 
 
 Turning the seven corners 143 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 Opposite 
 page 
 
 E. Hewlett and family Title 
 
 Coach on a straight line just as the driver 
 takes up his leaders before making a 
 turn II 
 
 Coach team ready for lesson 21 
 
 Turning an acute angle to the right ... 27 
 
 Turning an acute angle to the left ... 33 
 
1^8 DRIVING LESSONS 
 
 Opposite 
 page 
 
 Turning a back comer or acute angle to 
 
 the right at the Trocadero 39 
 
 Turning a back corner or acute left angle 
 
 at the Trocadero 49 
 
 Backing round, position A 55 
 
 Backing round on the right, position B . . 67 
 
 Turning at the Fontaine Saint-Dominique . 73 
 
 Third turning at the Fontaine Saint-Domi- 
 nique 83 
 
 Coach ready to be put to 91 
 
 Turning an acute angle to the right into 
 
 the gateway of the Rue de I'Exposition 95 
 
 Backing round the Fontaine Saint-Dominique 99 
 
 Coach coming through the Rue du Sabot . 107 
 
 Turning an acute angle to the right, Rue 
 
 du Sabot 119 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS I S9 
 
 Opposite 
 page 
 
 Turning an acute angle to the left. Rue du 
 
 Sabot I2Q 
 
 Turning into the Rue des Anglais from the 
 
 Rue Donat 135 
 
 Turning from the Rue des Anglais into the 
 
 Rue Donat 141 
 
 Turning an acute angle to the right in the 
 
 Bois de Boulogne 145 
 
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 Tufts University 
 
 School of yetetmaff M^a 
 
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