150 TAMING HORSES. 



ON BALKING. 



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 under- 

 stands. High-spirited, free-going horses are the 

 most subject to balking, and only so because dri- 

 vers do not properly understand how to manage 

 this kind. A free horse in a team may be so anx- 

 ious 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 ces- 

 sation, 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 con- 

 fused that neither of them knows what is the mat- 

 ter, or how to start the load. Next will come the 

 slashing and cracking of the whip, and hallooing 



