suspended therefrom; or let them, at all events, be put somewhere by themselves. To put on Harness.-First, while the horse's head is towards the manger, place the terret-pad loosely across the back-take hold of the tail, and carefully turn down the hair over the end of the flesh; thus grasping and holding the tail and its hair together in the left hand, with the right draw the crupper-dock over it, and adjust the latter to its place at the root of the tail, being careful not to leave a single loose hair under it. Then arrange your terret-pad in the place where it should work by shortening or lengthening the crupper-strap; which done, tighten the bellyband.* Now turn the horse in his stall, and, your collar and hames having been hung up close at hand, slip the wide end of the former by itself over the head. Leave the collar so, on the narrow part of the neck, till you place your hames within the collar-rim, and fasten them thereto by buckling the top strap over the narrow part or top of the collar: now turn the collar and hames round on the neck in the direction of the side over which the mane hangs. Put on the bridle and attach driving-reins, temporarily doubling their hand-piece through the terrets. Fasten the horse thus harnessed to the pillar-reins till you are ready to "put to." To take off Harness, begin by removing the reins and bridle; then take off the hames by themselves, then the collar, and lastly the terret-pad and crupper. * When a hame martingal strap is used, the pad belly-band should not be finally buckled until it has been passed through the other. DRIVING. In driving, a man should sit up against his work, and be thoroughly propped by his legs and feet, with the left or rein hand held well into his body, in front of or a little below the waist. Nothing looks more ungraceful than to have the reins at arm's-length, held out at a distance from one's chest. A driver should always be seated before any one else in or about the vehicle; and having carefully taken a firm hold of the reins in his left hand BEFORE mounting his seat, they should so remain, and never be shifted. But should the driver be either obliged or find it convenient to allow others to be seated first, he will then of necessity have to mount from the off or right side, in which case he will in the first place have to take the reins in his right hand until seated, when he will at once transfer them to their proper position in his left. The whip should invariably be placed in the socket, or be handed carefully to the driver after he has mounted. To mount with it in hand is highly dangerous; the sight of it over the blinkers, or an accidental touch to an animal when the driver is unprepared, may startle and set off a team-while holding a whip in the act of mounting renders that piece of gymnastics doubly awkward to accomplish. All turns and manœuvres may be effected by the fore-finger (and thumb if necessary) of the right or whip hand, either on the off or the near side rein, according as the direction of the intended movement is towards the right or left.* But in driving four * Yankee fashion is to drive with a rein in each hand. This style in Ireland is humorously described as "driving with a rein in each hand and a whip in the other." E in-hand, unicorns, or tandems, insert the fourth finger of the whip-hand between the lead and wheel reins on the side you want to pull, to turn or direct your horses. With four-in-hand the general principle is, while allowing only a certain amount of play to the heads of your leaders, to keep your wheelers well in hand, ready for any sudden emergency, bearing in mind that it is only with them, as they are attached to the pole, that you can stop the carriage. A driver having occasion to raise his right hand for any purpose, should first place the whip transversely under the thumb of the left or rein hand (above, but upon, one of the reins), leaving the other hand at liberty; indeed, the whip should always lie in this transverse position, whether in the right or the left hand, unless when in use for correction. Many horses are very clever at watching the whip over the blinkers, and careless pointing forward with it may keep a highspirited animal in a continual fret. To ascertain how each horse is doing his work, judge not only by the test of the willing horse bearing more on your hand; see also how each horse keeps his traces. In whichever case they are slack, you may depend that that horse has no draught upon him; if tight, he is doing his share of the work, or more. A good whip will correct the defaulter so as to avoid annoying the other horse. There is no better criterion of skill in the use of the whip than this. With the leaders in tandem and four-in-hand, and in low-seated carriages, unless the dash-board be very high, the reins are apt to get under the horses' tails. In such cases, to avoid a kicking match, no immediate attempt should be made to replace the reins while they are confined; but a very light lash of the whip on the leg will engage the attention of the animal, and while the tail is switched up on the touch of the lash, the reins may be released. Horses should always be kept well in hand, unless that, upon a long and tiresome journey, some consideration may be shown for what they have to go through. Under such circumstances, attention may well be directed to the manner the billets are placed in the bit (page 62). On the level a fair pace can be maintained, but up hill no merciful man will ever press his beasts. When a heavy load has to be drawn up a sharp short hill, it is not a bad plan to cheat the horse out of the first half of it by going at it with an impetus, suffering the pace to merge into a walk without further pressure as the first impetus declines. When the ascent is long and gradual, horses should be allowed to walk the whole way, which can always be admitted of on ordinary roads, where the pace is not intended to exceed eight miles an hour, as the speed may be accelerated when the fall of ground is reached, without distressing the animals. Let a man suppose himself to be obliged to wheel a hand-cart with a heavy burden for a given distance within a given time, on an undulating roadway, and he will soon discover the course he would pursue to effect his object; he would certainly save himself by going very slowly up the hills, and make up the time and distance with most ease by rolling the vehicle at a rapid rate down the declivities. Let the principle of working thus exemplified be always applied to the usage of horses in harness. An old driving maxim may be added, though not recommended by the metre : Or, "Up the hill spare me ; Down the hill let me run and bear me ; "Walk me a mile out and a mile in ; Up the hill spur me not, Down the hill I'll walk or trot; On the plain spare me not; In the stable forget me not." I have driven a great deal in my life, and have never met with an accident from driving at a fair trot down a moderate hill, with plenty of road-room, and no turning to be made till after gaining the level, the team being well in hand throughout. This observation applies equally to any number of horses; but with tandem or four-in-hand the wheelers should be held particularly tight, and the leaders pulled back. If, in descending a hill, the wheel can be drawn along rough stones without the horses being also brought on them, it is desirable to avail of such a drag. In such hilly countries as Wales, Devon, &c., the constant use of a skid is indispensable. The uninitiated may not quarrel with me for reminding them of the necessity for keeping always to their own or the left side of the road (the right on the Continent, in America, and other countries). In turning a corner, however, if it be to the left you intend going, before you make your turn get from your proper side of the road a little towards the right, if possible, and from thence make your turn, by which means you will more easily reach the left, or your proper side, of the new route you intend to take, besides being able to see everything that |