Yol. LXXII. No. 420G. 
NEW YORK. JUNE 7. 1913. 
WEEKLY $1.00 PER YEAR. 
HOW TO HANDLE A BALKY MARE. 
Can We Make Her Work? 
I have just been reading an article by J. Grant 
Morse on page 075, and recall vaguely, reading some¬ 
thing about his experiences in breaking a vicious horse 
—he refers to it in this article. I have a good, big. 
able-bodied mare, well bred and high-strung, full of 
life, but she won’t work. I have tried her single and 
double. She behaves all right until asked to go ahead, 
then she will begin to act foolish and turn about in 
the harness and simply will not go ahead. She is 
said to be with foal, but I doubt it very much. My 
boy was “stung” with her, and if she is not with foal 
she will be a total loss, as she simply stands in the 
barn and eats. We shall put her out in pasture 
shortly. Will you suggest some treatment that will 
be short of killing, that will make her work. We 
cannot afford to keep her as she is and we need her 
help very much. I would not try to sell her and stick 
someone else. f. r. l. 
Massachusetts. 
I do not think that the story of the taming of 
the wild horses would help F. R. L. any in his 
and when anything frightened her. she depended 
upon me to protect her, and the firm steady hold of 
the reins and the soothing voice reassured her that 
all would be well. Even now, I should hesitate to 
hitch her out to a post in a busy street, but she is 
perfectly at home if some person is with her. So 
the children drive her to school or do errands with 
her in the village with all safety. 
This mare has proven to be an excellent breeder, 
and I have raised three good colts from her. I 
think that she is a cross between a common mustang 
and some draft-bred horse, so that when she is 
mated with a purebred draft stallion, she produces 
large, good-looking colts, of a draft type. I am 
sending you a photograph of her and her colt aged 
-Mj years. This colt was sired by an imported 
Belgian horse that weighed 1,750 pounds, and the 
colt weighed 1.350 at the time picture was taken. 
This is a very good illustration of the improvement 
particular way this mare was spoiled, I think we 
would have a start at least in going about repairing 
the injury. The son was “stung” with her, so I 
assume that she was spoiled some time ago, and 
perhaps has been swapped around, and various and 
divers people have taken their turn at maltreating 
her just enough to make her more fixed in her 
determination to have nothing to do with man in 
his efforts to till the soil. I am not at all sure that 
I could do anything with her as she is now, but I 
should make a try at it. In the first place, I would 
turn her out to pasture and let her get the exercise 
which she is evidently in need of. She will fill up 
with green grass, and her stomach will get in good 
shape and her nerves in a normal condition. You 
see, I am planning for her to go through a severe 
course of education, and I want her brain in the 
best possible condition to receive it. and not in a 
fevered, half-crazy state, as it probably has been 
--- - • • -• • - - v •: 
THE MARE OF THE GOLDEN WEST AND 1IER V Rig NEW YORK SON. Fig. 25L 
trouble with the balky mare. There is a vast differ¬ 
ence between a wild horse and a balky one, or one 
vith some other vicious or disagreeable habit. The 
peir of mares that I bought and broke in some six 
jears ago were wild range horses that had grown 
up with the idea that all other animals were their 
enemies, and that they must either run away from 
them or fight if cornered. Therefore when the 
animal man cornered them and they could not get 
away > they proceeded to fight. Now, where some 
people would have made a mistake is that they 
would not have recognized the difficulty, and would 
have interpreted their fear as viciousness and added 
t<» their fright by maltreating them. 
Hie first thing that I did with these mares was 
:° wiu their confidence, at least in a degree. I 
1UI( 1 that the more spirited one of the pair was 
siest to learn, and she eventually became 
i'HKh the better one of the two. If I had made 
a mistake with her, and considered her timidity 
,’* S meanness, I have no doubt but that I should 
completely ruined her. This mare soon came 
m H <nn , ^ a ' * was ker friend, the same as her 
° er had beeu "’lien she was a colt on the plains, 
in type that can he made in one generation by the 
use of a good purebred sire. Of course this colt is 
at the uncouth age of his life, and will fill up and 
look much more compact and blocky when he is a 
couple of years older, yet even now there is a great 
improvement in hip and shoulder, also in head and 
neck. The legs too are heavy-boned and flat. I 
think that the most striking thing about the picture 
is the good-natured, quiet look of the colt's face in 
comparison with the “suspicious” aspect of the 
mother. 
This case of the balky mare is an entirely dif¬ 
ferent proposition. I do not believe that any horse 
was ever born balky, therefore she has been fooled 
at some time, and the question is to get this foolish¬ 
ness out of her head. Of course there is a great 
difference in horses. Some are much more sus¬ 
ceptible to influences than others. F. R. L. says 
that this mare is “well-bred and high-strung,” 
which means that she is capable of learning a 
whole lot. The wonder to me is that most horses 
are not balky instead of a few,, when we consider 
the way that so many of them, are overloaded and 
whipped and yanked around. If we knew in what 
at some of her previous experiences in being “broken 
of balking.” 
In the meantime. I should get myself also in shape 
to argue with her. I should want my nerves to 
be in at least as good shape as hers. A man on 
the verge of a nervous breakdown is in pretty poor 
shape to strive with a balky horse. Then some 
morning when you feel first rate, and have nothing 
in particular to do, tackle the mare, but first 
resolve that you will not get excited no matter what 
happens, and that you will not give her up until 
she gives in, even if the President comes visiting 
you. I used to use the “war bridle,” but one of our 
R. N.-Y. friends suggested the use of the chain bit 
and pulley a short time ago, and I think that is 
more effective. Get your stone boat or something 
of that nature ready to hitch her to. I like the 
stone boat best, because we can load it just as 
heavy as we like, or as little for that matter, which 
will probably be more to the point. Also provide 
yourself with a good long stout rope to “hog-tie” her 
with in case of necessity. And of course you want a 
long light rope to lead her with. 
Now take a little grain and go and get your mare. 
