194 BALKING. 



ing similarly patient, cold-blooded natures, have little inclination to 

 this habit; while nervous, warm-blooded, fine-grained horses are 

 easily taught the habit. 



In teaching a qolt to drive, let him go slowly at first and as he 

 pleases. There should be sufficient room so as not to require short 

 turns, as pulling short around before learning to rein is liable to 

 confuse and irritate him to balk. If there appears any inclination to 

 stop, or if he refuses to go, the driver should sit quietly in the 

 wagon, fix the harness, or do anything to take up time until the 

 horse gets over his fret. If he does not feel sure of his going, let 

 him get out and move the colt a little to the right or left, speaking to 

 him kindly, and it is rare that he will not move off without know- 

 ing that he has balked. If he has an irritable disposition, and ap- 

 pears unwilling to stand, particular care should be taken to teach 

 him thoroughly the lesson of stopping and starting, as described un- 

 der the head of Colt Training. If the habit is only partially learned, 

 and especially if the colt is of a warm-blooded nature, it is by all 

 means advisable to win him out of the habit by, kind treatment, if 

 possible. I will illustrate by referring to a peculiar case in my 

 early experience : — 



I often traded horses, and not unfrequently got very bad ones. 

 Among them was a small pony mare, nine years old;-:— a confirmed 

 balker. This I did not know until after I had traded for her, I har- 

 nessed her carefully in the shafts, but she stood stubbornly. Upon 

 touching her with a whip, she threw herself down. I saw" at once 

 that she was one of the very worst of balkers, and that in the effort 

 to break her she had been subjected to a great deal of whipping and 

 abuse. I unhitched her, got her up, tied up the harness and reins, 

 and went into an orchard close by and filled my pockets with apples. 

 I then led her to a back road not much used, and standing near 

 her head with a switch in my hand, touched her lightly over the 

 hips, saying, "Get up!" This caused her to start. After going a 

 few steps, I called "Whoa!" at the same time pulling upon the 

 reins, when she stopped, for which I gave her a piece of apple, and 

 stroked her nose and head. This I repeated until she would starf 

 and stop at command. 



This point gained, I next untied the reins, and while standing 

 at the shoulder and holding the reins slack in my hands, I repeated 

 the command for startihg, touching her for a few times lightly over 

 the hips. At each repetition I stood a little farther back, until able 

 to get directly behind her, and make her' go or stop at command. I 

 then took her to the top of the hill and hitched her up. This was 



