[drivingpairs] good book recommendation- pairs

I have not read the book "A Teamsters View" by Steve Bowers, but did read 
with interest the preview of it in  Driving Digest (Jan/Feb 2006). Yes, it is 
coming from draft hitches, so some of the details (and terms) do not apply 
completely to carriage driving pairs, but many of the fundamentals are 
certainly 
very similar, and I think one can always learn from the other faculty as well 
and 
it pays to think the concepts through. 

I did find however a couple of items in that short preview that I couldn't 
follow. He writes "Pleasure pair driving reins are manufactured with a definite 
right and left line being different from each other to allow the teamster to 
drive from a position directly behind the right-hand horse."  Perhaps he is 
right, but I have never heard that before, nor have I seen any such reins that 
were made different (other than one having the buckle at the end and the other 
the billet), nor do I see why that would be necessary, as sitting to the right, 
we just take the right rein a couple of inches shorter into our hand than the 
left rein and that takes care of the difference. 

Further down he describes the problems with a Leaning Team and explains the 
differences in measurements, and how far the horses would need to travel apart 
(or together) depending on how much longer the coupling reins are adjusted to 
the draft reins. He gives an example and writes that when coupling and draft 
reins are equal in length (e.g. adjusted so that there is no difference in 
length between them!) that then the bit centers of the two horses would be 26 
inches apart. I can follow the math of his explanations, and how he arrives at 
the 
26", but don't see how that would be correct and how they would be 26 inches 
apart. Instead I think if draft and coupling reins would be exactly the same 
length then bit centers would be zero inches apart, or not? 

Perhaps some of you might have read the preview or the book and can help me 
understand these two items? What am I missing here?

My favorite learning books are "The Principles of Driving" by the German 
National Equestrian Federation and "The Art of Driving" by Max Pape. Both have 
good explanations on the pair reins as well as other aspects of pair driving.

On the subject of draft hitches: I really have not seen any snobbery from 
carriage folks against draft drivers or their hitches. I always have seen only 
interest in the other side. We all can always only learn from each other. I am 
happy to note that seems to be clearly the sentiment on this list as well. If 
some folks read Marjeans comment differently then I think they probably 
misunderstood Marjean. I certainly have nothing against draft hitches nor draft 
horse 
folks, quite the contrary, I am VERY fond of them, having grown up with draft 
horses and learned much of what I know from teamsters.
Hardy

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