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 flown 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 is 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 him 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 doesn’t want to go--there is something
wrong, and he needs kind treatment immediately. Caress him kindly, and
if he doesn’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 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 practise 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 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 are any) stand off some distance to one side, so as not to attract
the attention of the horse; unloose their check-reins, 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 forefeet 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 anything 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 rightly, 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 excited, 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 larger one,
occasionally adding a little load.
This process will make any horse true to pull.