Horses know nothing about balking, only as they are brought into it by
improper management, and when a horse balks in harness it is generally
from some mismanagement, excitement, confusion, or from not knowing how to
pull, but seldom from any unwillingness to perform all that he
understands. High spirited, free going horses are the most subject to
balking, and only so because drivers do not properly understand how to
manage this kind. A free horse in a team may be so anxious to go that when
he hears the word he will start with a jump, which will not move the load,
but give him such a severe jerk on the shoulders that he will fly back and
stop the other horse; the teamster will continue his driving without any
cessation, and by the time he has the slow horse started again he will
find that the free horse has made another jump, and again flew back, and
now he has them both badly balked, and so confused that neither of them
knows what is the matter, or how to start the load. Next will come the
slashing and cracking of the whip, and hallooing of the driver, till
something is broken or he is through with his course of treatment. But
what a mistake the driver commits by whipping his horse for this act.
Reason and common sense should teach him that the horse was willing and
anxious to go, but did not know how to start the load. And should he whip
him for that? If so, he should whip him again for not knowing how to talk.
A man that wants to act with any rationality or reason should not fly into
a passion, but should always think before he strikes. It takes a steady
pressure against the collar to move a load, and you cannot expect him to
act with a steady, determined purpose while you are whipping him. There is
hardly one balking horse in five hundred that will pull true from
whipping; it is only adding fuel to fire, and will make them more liable
to balk another time. You always see horses that have been balked a few
times, turn their heads and look back, as soon as they are a little
frustrated. This is because they have been whipped and are afraid of what
is behind them. This is an invariable rule with balked horses, just as
much as it is for them to look around at their sides when they have the
bots; in either case they are deserving of the same sympathy and the same
kind, rational treatment.
When your horse balks, or is a little excited, if he wants to start
quickly, or looks around and don't want to go, there is something wrong,
and needs kind he treatment immediately. Caress him kindly, and if he
don't understand at once what you want him to do he will not be so much
excited as to jump and break things, and do everything wrong through fear.
As long as you are calm and can keep down the excitement of the horse,
there are ten chances to have him understand you, where there would not be
one under harsh treatment, and then the little _flare up_ would not carry
with it any unfavorable recollections, and he would soon forget all about
it, and learn to pull true. Almost every wrong act the horse commits is
from mismanagement, fear or excitement; one harsh word will so excite a
nervous horse as to increase his pulse ten beats in a minute.
When we remember that we are dealing with dumb brutes, and reflect how
difficult it must be for them to understand our motions, signs and
language, we should never get out of patience with them because they don't
understand us, or wonder at their doing things wrong. With all our
intellect, if we were placed in the horse's situation, it would be
difficult for us to understand the driving of some foreigner, of foreign
ways and foreign language. We should always recollect that our ways and
language are just as foreign and unknown to the horse as any language in
the world is to us, and should try to practice what we could understand,
were we the horse, endeavoring by some simple means to work on his
understanding rather than on the different parts of his body. All balked
horses can be started true and steady in a few minutes time; they are all
willing to pull as soon as they know how, and I never yet found a balked
horse that I could not teach him to start his load in fifteen, and often
less than three minutes time.
Almost any team, when first balked, will start kindly, if you let them
stand five or ten minutes, as though there was nothing wrong, and then
speak to them with a steady voice, and turn them a little to the right or
left, so as to get them both in motion before they feel the pinch of the
load. But if you want to start a team that you are not driving yourself,
that has been balked, fooled and whipped for some time, go to them and
hang the lines on their hames, or fasten them to the wagon, so that they
will be perfectly loose; make the driver and spectators (if there is any)
stand off some distance to one side, so as not to attract the attention of
the horses; unloose their checkreins, so that they can get their heads
down, if they choose; let them stand a few minutes in this condition,
until you can see that they are a little composed. While they are standing
you should be about their heads, gentling them; it will make them a little
more kind, and the spectators will think that you are doing something that
they do not understand, and will not learn the secret. When you have them
ready to start, stand before them, and as you seldom have but one balky
horse in a team, get as near in front of him as you can, and if he is too
fast for the other horse, let his nose come against your breast; this will
keep him steady, for he will go slow rather than run on you; turn them
gently to the right, without letting them pull on the traces, as far as
the tongue will let them go; stop them with a kind word, gentle them a
little, and then turn them back to the left, by the same process. You will
have them under your control by this time, and as you turn them again to
the right, steady them in the collar, and you can take them where you
please.
There is a quicker process that will generally start a balky horse, but
not so sure. Stand him a little ahead, so that his shoulders will be
against the collar, and then take up one of his fore feet in your hand,
and let the driver start them, and when the weight comes against his
shoulders, he will try to step; then let him have his foot, and he will go
right along. If you want to break a horse from balking that has long been
in that habit, you ought to set apart a half day for that purpose. Put him
by the side of some steady horse; have check lines on them; tie up all the
traces and straps, so that there will be nothing to excite them; do not
rein them up, but let them have their heads loose. Walk them about
together for some time as slowly and lazily as possible; stop often, and
go up to your balky horse and gentle him. Do not take any whip about him,
or do any thing to excite him, but keep him just as quiet as you can. He
will soon learn to start off at the word, and stop whenever you tell him.
As soon as he performs right, hitch him in an empty wagon; have it stand
in a favorable position for starting. It would be well to shorten the stay
chain behind the steady horse, so that if it is necessary he can take the
weight of the wagon the first time you start them. Do not drive but a few
rods at first; watch your balky horse closely, and if you see that he is
getting balky, stop him before he stops of his own accord, caress him a
little, and start again. As soon as they go well, drive them over a small
hill a few times, and then over a large one, occasionally adding a little
load. This process will make any horse true to pull.