BALKING OR JIBBING 8l 



most cases he will be found perfectly willing to resume 

 his journey, and will show his disgust at his own stupidity 

 by a disdainful sniff.' 



So you do not advocate force, whipping, or even 

 coaxing ? 



' They have been tried too often not to produce their 

 own moral. As I have said before, the sense of smell is 

 more acute in the horse than any other sense. The point 

 of his nose, being his touch-point, conveys a subtler and 

 more exact meaning to his intelligence and reasoning 

 powers. It demonstrates facts when scenting danger from 

 afar, a distant object is either magnified or indistinctly seen, 

 by his startled and imperfect eyes and quick imagination. 

 He is satisfied of its harmlessness when brought closely 

 enough for him to smell it. If not permitted to examine an 

 object in his own way, he will never forget, in passing that 

 certain locality, that something is there which puzzles and 

 frightens him. He will manifest always the same repug- 

 nance toward it, the same disposition to shy or balk in 

 approaching it.' 



One of the most practical ways of curing a balking horse 

 was told lately by a police-officer. It was to lift the fore-leg 

 by the fetlock and hold it up for three minutes. On 

 placing the foot again on the ground the horse would go on 

 as if nothing had stopped him. 



' Possibly his attention was thus distracted from what 

 had caused his sudden disinclination to move.' 



Is it not worse than stupid that the driver of a balking 

 horse will not explain to him the alarming object, whether 

 it be an engine or a scarecrow ? 



' Ah, dear madam, the horse is too often regarded as a 



mere machine, without common sense or even common 



F 



