iv   DRIVING FOR PLEASURE.

qualifications for this task include not only twenty years of driving, but also a long service as judge at horse shows, which has furnished unlimited opportunities for the study and comparison of equipages. The results of the lessons which he has learned, the errors which he has noted, and the points of special merit which have come to his attention while passing in review thousands of equipages, have very naturally furnished unusual advantages for the preparation of a book which has been undertaken with some hesitation, and yet in a belief founded on experience that a work of this kind is greatly needed.

In the endeavour to consider each subject without partiality, every available means of obtaining the necessary authentic information has been employed.

Differences of opinion among experts have necessitated extra work in many instances ; in such cases the standard described has been selected from the authorities whose arguments seemed most reasonable and practical.

Without attempting the laying down of inflexible rules, the intent has been to suggest rather than to dictate. %

Availability for the illustration of such points as were under discussion has been considered in some cases at the expense of perfect detail.