BALKING. 



CHAPTER IV. 



Horses know nothing about balking until they are 

 forced into it by bad management. When a horse 

 balks, it is generally from some mismanagement^ ex- 

 citement, confusion, or from not knowing how to pull; 

 but seldom from any unwillingness to do all that he 

 understands. High spirited horses are the most liable 

 to balk, and it is because drivers do not properly under- 

 stand how to manage them. A free horse in a team 

 may be so anxious to start, that when he hears the 

 word he will start with a jump, which will not move the 

 load, but give him so severe a jerk on the shoulders 

 that he will fly back and stop the other horse. The 

 teamster will continue his driving without any cessa- 

 tion 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 

 know what is the matter or how to start the load. 

 Xext will come the slashing and cracking of the whip, 

 and hallooing of the driver, until something is broken, 

 or he is through mth his course of treatment. But 

 what a mistake the driver makes by whipping his horse 



