CHAPTER III. Driving—Double Harness.

DRIVING—DOUBLE HARNESS.

TO drive a pair well, that is, to be able to put-to and drive any two horses, is not such an easy thing as at first sight it may appear to the uninitiated. To drive a pair of good goers thoroughly accustomed to their work, and harnessed up in the right manner, is such a very simple matter that the merest tyro ought to be able to compete with it, with fair success. But when he has two entirely different and unknown animals to take in hand, it is quite another question.

We will suppose that the harness has been put on the horses and correctly fitted to them, and that they are standing in the stable ready to be put-to; then the correct way of bringing them out would be as follows:—

Now place the outside trace on the roller bolt, and afterwards fix the inside one. The quicker the latter is done with uncertain horses or kickers the better, as this operation renders it necessary to reach right over behind their quarters. If only one horse is likely to kick, he should be put in first, to avoid this danger. When taking out the exact reverse should always be adhered to.

With a view to this the outer reins have a number of holes punched in them, up and down which the buckles of the coupling reins can be shifted, thus enabling them to be shortened or lengthened to suit each particular horse’s mouth.

In this case we should begin by letting out the off side coupling rein two holes, and taking up the near-side rein the same number (fig. 10).

Then as the near horse has a light mouth, he should be put on the cheek, and the hard-mouthed pulling off horse on the middle bar. This fitting will probably suit the horses, and the pull on all four traces will be even.

The reins will now be adjusted like those in fig. 10, which shows how the near horse is able to hold his head well in front of the other, while the collars are brought level.

This fault is very often to be seen in the leaders of a team, keeping them close together, and causing them to rub up against each other to such an extent that they sometimes chafe.

It is a difficult habit to cure them of, and perhaps the best preventive is a good cut with the whip when they first attempt it, though a little furze or a bit of hedgehog skin on the pole is sometimes effective.

The right hand should pull the rein towards the centre of the body, and not out to the side to which you wish to go.

Further instructions for his guidance in driving a pair the reader will find in the chapter on driving four horses.

Breaks are so commonly used in India, that a few hints may prove useful.

As a rule those in use are so low that the horses’ quarters are in front of the footboard instead of being under it, and the driver is consequently too far from his work. In modern breaks the driving seat and boot are built almost exactly like those of a coach, where the footboard is well over the horses’ quarters. That portion of the footboard which comes over the roller bolts should be about five feet from the ground, which gives room for the horses underneath.

The inside seats should be at least six feet long, so as to take four people comfortably on each side; a second seat behind the driving seat as on a coach can be added, and if necessary can be made removable. This gives three extra seats looking to the front, the occupants of which will not suffer so much from the dust as if they were inside.

The body can be hung on four elliptical springs, with a cross spring on the hind axle, or on two elliptical springs in front with two side springs and a cross spring behind. The latter method is to be preferred.

------------------------------------------------------------------------