When looping a wheel rein for the opposition point, take hold of the off rein from outside, but the near rein from above the two off reins.
[Sidenote: Keep tight hold of horse’s head when hitting him.] When striking a horse be careful to keep a tight hold of him, as the whole effect of the punishment will be lost if the reins are slack or are allowed to slip.
[Sidenote: Buckles of wheel reins should be close to hands.] The buckles of the wheelers’ reins should be well within reach, but should not be so far up as to come into the hand when going down a steep hill or when pulling up. A foot from the hand when the horses are in draught will be found to be about right.
[Sidenote: Cruppers unnecessary except with bearing-reins.] Cruppers will be found quite unnecessary as a general rule, more especially on the leaders, but if bearing-reins are used, it is almost imperative to have them on, in order to prevent the pads being pulled forward on to the withers, and so galling the horses.
Be careful not to have any spare end of the crupper-strap hanging loose, or the lead rein will be apt to get caught in it, and give trouble. For this reason it is a good plan to have the cruppers made martingale fashion, as they have no spare ends, and only one runner is required.
[Sidenote: Reins should be of equal thickness.] Both lead and wheel reins should be exactly the same width and thickness, and should on no account be short. This is extremely dangerous, as they might be easily dropped. It is much better to have them very long, but about two or three feet of spare rein will usually be found sufficient.
[Sidenote: Leaders flying apart.] When leaders are inclined to fly away from each other, or one of them hangs outwards, the inside traces should be lapped round each other and hooked into their own bars. This will help to keep the horses together. It is not a good plan, though it is sometimes done, to fasten the leaders’ bars together by a chain as, if a horse kicks, and gets his legs fixed up between the main bar and the others, it becomes a very difficult matter to extricate him.
[Sidenote: Spare gear should be carried.] The following spare articles should always be carried on a coach:—