"How to hold reins." The best way of holding the reins is to have the near lead over the left forefinger, the off lead between the forefinger and the middle finger, the near wheel between the same and under the off lead, and the off wheel between the middle and the third finger (fig. 17) "Thumb and forefinger must not hold the reins." . The reins must be gripped firmly by the three lower fingers of the left hand, so that they cannot possibly slip, the thumb and forefinger never being used to hold the reins except when looping. The thumb should invariably point to the right, and the forefinger be held well out. The near lead rein should pass over or close to the knuckle of the forefinger, and not over the first or second joint. The beginner will find that after a time the muscle at the base of the left thumb will develop wonderfully, and that the reins will be held between this muscle and the lower fingers very firmly without any apparent effort.

"Adjusting length of reins in hand." There are various ways of adjusting the reins, either by pulling them out or pushing them back from the front, or by pulling them from behind, or by taking out the lead reins.

"Shortening reins." One general principle as to shortening the reins is to do it by putting the right hand in front of the left, and pushing those required to be shortened through the left hand. In doing this the thumb should never be used, as it is fully occupied in holding the whip. But the beginner will very often find it easier to shorten the reins from behind by pulling them through the left hand. In this case the thumb and forefinger must be used. I consider the following the easiest and most effective ways of adjusting the reins, viz.:—

"To shorten all four reins." All four reins can be shortened, if much is required, by pulling them through from behind, but it is generally quicker and neater to hold the reins with right hand two or three inches in front of left (the little and the third fingers over the off-side reins and middle finger between the near-side reins), and then slide the left hand up to the right. By this means a perfectly steady pressure is kept on the horses’ mouths. This movement is generally required when going down hill.

"To shorten both wheel reins." Both wheel reins.—It is better to shorten these by pulling them through from behind. This is necessary when going down steep hills, especially when the wheelers are loosely poled up, so as to prevent the bars hitting the leaders’ hocks.

"To shorten both lead reins." Both lead reins.—In order to shorten these take out both the leaders with the right hand (the third and little fingers over off, and first or middle finger over near-side rein); you can then pass them back to your left hand the required length by letting them slide through the right hand the necessary amount. To lengthen them, simply pull them through from the front.

"Shortening near-lead rein." The near lead.—Either push through from the front, with the full of the right hand over the rein, or take it right out of the left hand the same way and replace it the proper length.

"Shortening off lead rein." The off lead.—Push through from the front.

"Shortening near wheel." The near wheel.—This rein will be found the most difficult of all to keep in its right place and to shorten. It constantly slips when the horses pull, and for beginners it is certainly the best plan to pull it through from behind. It can also be done by lengthening out the off-lead rein from the front, and then pushing both reins back together.

"Shortening off wheel." The off wheel.—Push it through from the front with the right hand.

"Shortening centre reins." T he two centre reins.—Always adjust them from the front. If the leaders are not straight in front of you, which will be found a very common occurrence, but are running to the right, they will generally come straight by pulling the two centre reins through the left hand from the front, so as to lengthen them a little; on the contrary, if the leaders are running to the left, push these two reins back so as to shorten them.

If, however, they are going to the right or left simply because you are holding the off or the near-lead rein too short, let out this rein only, just enough to bring the leaders square.

"Passing off across road." The following are probably the easiest and most effective methods of passing off across the road, or of turning to the right or left:—

1. To the left.—Turn the left-hand knuckles upwards, and pass it across the body from left to right; the horses will incline to the left, the reins on that side being shortened.

To the right.—Pass the left hand down towards the left hip, back of the hand to the front, with the knuckle of the forefinger downwards and that of the little finger uppermost; this shortens the right-hand reins and causes the team to incline in that direction. The whip can be applied to the off wheeler in the first instance, or the near one in the second, in front of the pad, if the horses do not cross rapidly enough.

2. To the left.—With the right hand seize the near-lead and wheel reins under the lower fingers; then either pull those reins up towards the centre of the body, which will shorten them, or allow the left hand to go slightly to the front, which will slack off the right reins, or better still, combine both these motions, the result being the same in each case, that the team will go to the left. To the right.—Take hold of the off-lead and wheel reins with the lower fingers of the right hand, and treat them in the same way as described for the left reins, when the team will go to the right.

The latter of the two methods is by far the best and the one most usually employed, the other only being possible with very perfectly broken teams, as obviously only very little pressure can be put on.

"To steady the team." In order to steady the horses or to ease the left hand, the right hand may be placed in front of the other over all the four reins (fig. 18), but it is generally preferable to have the hand on only three reins for steadying purposes, the third and little fingers being over the off reins and the upper fingers over only one of the near reins.

"The point or loop." It will now be necessary to explain the term “point” or “loop.” The point is made by taking hold of either the near or the off-lead reins under the little and third fingers of the right hand (not with the forefinger and thumb), and placing it six inches or more (according to the inclination of the turn), "Loop under thumb." in advance of the left, and then bringing it back so as to form a loop under the left thumb (figs. 20, 21), which must press the rein firmly down on the forefinger. As a rule never move the left hand forward while doing this. The off-lead rein can also be looped under the first finger in turning to the right (fig. 22).

Turning to either side can be done as follows: By pointing the near leader to turn to the left (fig. 20), or the off leader to turn to the right (fig. 21); or, by pointing both the near-lead and the near-wheel reins together to go to the left, and similarly both the off-side reins together to go to the right, at the same time striking the opposite wheeler with the whip in front of the pad after the point has been made, if the horses are required to move in either direction very quickly; or, by passing the near-wheel rein round the left thumb, and then looping the off-lead under the forefinger (fig. 22), it will be found that the horses will get more easily round a very sharp and "Turning an awkward corner." awkward corner to the right, especially going down hill. In a like manner, by looping the off-wheel rein under the forefinger of the left hand, and then pointing the near leader under the thumb, any difficult turn to the left can be negotiated with perfect safety. This method will often be found quicker and better than passing the off-wheel rein under the thumb.

"Meaning of opposition point." This looping up of the wheeler’s rein on the opposite side to which you are about to turn may be termed the “Opposition point.”

This device for preventing the wheelers from cutting the corners will be found most useful with horses that have been driven a great deal in the wheel, because they soon learn to recognize the indication given to the leaders by the shortening of the lead rein passing along close to their heads.

Very often, when the wheelers are boring to one side going down hill, and the whip is required, it is useful to loop up the wheeler’s rein on the opposite side to which they are boring, before using the whip.

"Do not lean forward when looping." Be careful, when stretching out the right hand in order to take up the lead rein to loop it, not to lean the body forward, as it looks very bad, and almost invariably shows that the left hand is holding the reins too short and is too far away from the body.

It is a common fault with beginners to stretch out the left hand when looping, thus taking up a larger loop than would be necessary, if the left hand had a proper hold of the horses’ heads.

The loop once made should not be allowed to slip until the turn is completed. "Prevent wheelers cutting corners." The right hand, having once caught up the loop, and given the leaders the office which way to turn, is then free to be used in any of the following ways: to seize both the off-side reins, if turning to the left, to prevent the wheelers from going too quickly round the corner (fig. 23); to assist them, if not turning sharply enough, by catching hold of the near-side reins; to do just the opposite if turning to the right; or finally to use the whip on either of the wheelers, by hitting the outside one to make them come round more quickly, or the inside one to prevent them cutting the corner.

"Looping a second time, when first loop not enough." More than one point can be made, if a large enough loop has not been taken up at first, but usually one point is sufficient, enough rein being taken up the first time to complete the turn.

Sometimes at a very sharp corner two points are necessary, as you may find that the first one is not bringing the leaders round fast enough.

"Opposition point to right." The opposition point to the right is made by putting the near-wheel rein round the left thumb, passing it from inside from right to left, and then making the point with the off-lead rein under the forefinger (fig. 24). When once round, first let go the point of the leader, and then that of the near wheeler. "Opposition point to left." Conversely, the opposition point to the left is made by putting the off-wheel rein under the forefinger of the left hand, and then pointing the near-lead rein under the thumb (fig. 25). In order to avoid having two reins looped up under the thumb, it seems better to use the forefinger for one of the loops and the thumb for the other; in this manner either loop can be let go separately.

"Shortening reins going down hill." It should hardly ever be necessary to shorten the lead reins when going down hill, as the mere fact of the wheelers coming back out of draught to hold back the coach will make you shorten up the reins enough to bring the leaders out of draught at the same time. If anything, it will be found necessary to shorten the wheel reins, more especially if the hill is very steep and the wheelers are loosely poled up.

"Leaders out of draught going down hill." Going down hill the leaders should just carry the bars, and nothing more. They should not put any strain at all on the pole, for by doing so they obviously tend to counteract the efforts of the wheelers to keep back the coach. In order to carry the bars the traces should be slack, but not slack enough to let the whole weight of the bars weigh down on the pole, which would put so much extra weight on the wheelers’ necks.

"Leaders must not pull on pole when turning." Be careful that the leaders are not straining on the pole when turning a corner, as otherwise the wheelers will inevitably be pulled sharply across on to the pavement or footpath, and the pole may be broken.