BALKING IN DOUBLE HARNESS. 83 



removing, so far as y@u can, any cause of needless irritation. 

 Perhaps the collar fits badly, or the shoulders are sore. If the 

 horse is compelled to pull hard, either from being too heavily 

 loaded, the steepness of the hill, or the depth of the mud, 

 be very careful to aid all you can by not letting him pull 

 so far, or so much at a time, that he gets tired out and 

 blown. Second, stop him where he can start the load most 

 easily, resting often. Encourage all you can, coming to the 

 head and speaking kindly, rubbing the nose, &c. ; in this way 

 you can get a horse that is not over-steady and honest to 

 pull heavily and faithfully, that an effort to rush through 

 under the whip would soon make balk badly. If a horse in 

 a single team balks, first let him stand a while, ease up on 

 the collar, fix the bridle, or gently take him by the head, 

 always breaking the force of the load by turning a little 

 sideways. Any means of disconcerting the horse will fre- 

 quently enable making your point. Any of the ordinary 

 tricks of twisting the tongue, putting cobbles in the ears and 

 dirt in the mouth, really amount to little or nothing. For a 

 simple trick that is perfectly harmless, blindfolding is about 

 the best way of making your point. This will disconcert 

 so much that he will move on all right. If in double har- 

 ness, get to the heads, turn them to the right or left, and with 

 a little tact you can usually get the horse to go on; this 

 may do when a horse has merely learned to balk. Every 

 time you fail to let such have their own way, and often 

 when you do, they will balk in defiance of any amount of 

 kindness and good management. To break up the habit, 

 you must be able to force the horse from his position, then 

 win the better nature into co-operation, and you can break 

 any horse, old or young, of the habit easily. 



BALKING IN DOUBLE HABNESS. 



This is to the horseman a most perplexing and difficult 

 balker to manage. There is no chance to get at him to 

 make; him work. The whip is the usual remedy, which will 

 only make matters worse ; yet nothing is easier to do than to 

 make this class of balkers come to terms, if you will only go 

 to work properly. 



Various ways are available. First, after being harnessed, 

 put on the war-bridle, with part over the neck up to the ears. 



