TAMING HORSES. 153 



the horse as any language in the world is to us, 

 and should try to practise what we could under- 

 stand 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 mi- 

 nutes' 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 mo- 

 tion before they feel the pinch of the load. But 

 if you v/ant to start a team that you are not dri- 

 ing 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 driv- 

 ver and spectators (if there are any) stand off some 

 distance to one side, so as not to attract the atten- 

 tion 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, 



