DRIVING. Since the advent of the auto mobile, driving has fallen off, and there are fewer and fewer people who know how to drive a horse or a team. A driver should al ways grasp the reins before mounting to his seat, so that if the horse should start before he is ready, he may have control. Both lines or reins should be held in the left hand, with the elbow at the hip and the hand well in front, thumb up. The left line should be grasped between the thumb and forefinger, the right line between the second and-third fingers. The whip should be held in the right hand, which may also be used to grasp the right line, when it is necessary to use more strength. The whip should not be used as an instrument of torture, and the spur is a relic of barbarism. A good driver uses the whip to indicate to the horse when more speed is desired, and if he does not mind the hint, gives one sharp cut along the horse's groin, but never descends to beat ing the animal. A horse should always be
started at a very moderate jog, and the speed increased by degrees until the desired pace is attained. Systematic touches with the whip will soon educate a horse to what is desired in. this respect. Horses, like people, have all sorts of dispositions, and like people they can be managed easily by firmness, good sense, and fair treatment. Good .driving involves good harnessing, and a driver should know when a harness is properly adjusted, and when it is a poor fit. He should know how far from the dash the horse should stand when the traces are taut, and see that the collar fits, and that the breeching is properly budded. See Hossgs, RIDING AND DRIVING.