The River Falls journal. (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1857-1861, 1861-01-09
A BALKY HORSE.

SOS ti0 pt1 y COuliuOH, duu D.!hy horses
are by no means uncommon.
Yves are walking quietly down the sun
ny side of Main streets, perhaps, resolv-
| ing in our mind, the last phase of soccss.
lou news: when fine looking horse, in
plated harness, passes us attached to
buggy in which is seated clumsy over.
grown groom, who is driving. We
should think no more of the horses-we
should never have thought of il at ALL
but, suddenly for some uuexpainable
cause, the horse, buggy and
driver come to full stop in the middle
of the street, The driver endeayors to
get the horse to resume his course. He
jerks the reins! cluck; whistles; cries
"Get upr "Go 'IangT No. The horse
does not bulge single inch.
A crowd soon gathers about. There
is no policeman near. No one passes
without stopping to see what is the mat
ter. "What is it" "a balky horses"
"What ails him?" Don't know-wont
go-that's ALL" Then commences the
real fun Of the thing The crowd in
creases. A ring is formed about Il e
horse, who is not less astonished than
obstinate. The confused and abashed
driver sits powerless in his seat, turning
from one to another of the crowd who
are addressing him. 1t is then so vastly
amusing to hear the different and discor-
dant suggestions as to the best way to
| get the horse to move forward. All the
crowd have become horse experts on the
instant. and favor the unfortunate driver
with their dis;nterested advice together
"Slacken the check rein." "Baci him"
"Hit him under the flankw Lift up
his fore legp' "Pinch his earsw Gu
large his collarr' "Put twitcE on his
nosew Loosen the girth" Push
the buggy on him." "Rap i'm over the
head y Turn him 'roundw Put
coal of fire on his backr' "Take him
by the bits and lead him. --cry thoy all,
and all at once. "Put little salt on his
tail p cries small boy in the crowd and
then they Ill laugh themselves into good
humor In tho meantime there stands
the horse, braced firmly back in the
breeching, and looking quite as infnoYa-
Il
in SCOTS Lady of the Lake, when he
backed himself up, against ledge and
cried,
Come one, come all This rock hall fly
! From its firm base as soon as |,
At length there comes quito, bust
noss-lke sort of man, rather tall, and
not particularly good looking: who ell
bows his way unceremoniously through
the crowd, mounts into the vehicle, takes
the reins out the pa!sied hands of the
whey faced driver-who sinks back out
of the buggy behind--gathers them W
| firmly in his hands, seats himself erect
and utters the single word go"
Away starts the horse, as if tue nlagi-
| cal word had thrilled through every
nerve in lis system; the crowd is scatter
ed, and [ resume my walk. 'How did
| be do it 2" inquiries ono Of the discomfitted
advisers. IVY" re ,>iies tho voice of the
small boy, who had suggested putting
salt on the horses tail" Vy, that ere'S
| tie howner az the 'ossi"
Now this story has its moral. Every
good story has; and here is the moral Of
| tbs one:
The good old horse Of State has been
going along very well for seventy wears
under the Constitution as it is. Il is true
there have been soine poor and inco'npc-
tency, disposition to balk has been en-
couraged. Jackson first observed this
symptom, aud checked them Immediate
ly. He was rare--perhaps We should
say Rarey-hand with horse. He
Strengthened the reins, cracked the whip,
and the horse went along. There was
not even the necessity to strike him a
blow.
But in latter times, somejockeys have
been put up in the box. Pierce was one
of them. He spoiled the temper of the
animal. He not only never checked its
disposition to viciousness, but he actually
encouraged it. AS for Buchanan, he,
poor old superannuated jockey, has nes-
er tried to get tho horse forward. He
has merely amuse his dotage with tick
ling it under the flank, and chased away
the ennui of his ideness teaching it to
rear, and to kick up, and to back, and to
90 down on it's launches.
Al length the horse has come to a
stand. Not only that, but he is putting
his ears back, and throwing his head
about in a very vicious manner. The
driver is ready to drop the reins and
sink back out of the vehicle over the
hind board and the crowd have gathered
| around.
As usual, the most ignorant Of the by
ISLANDERS are the most vehement in their
suggestions.-The agree only in one
thing, and that is to let the horse have has
head. And they persist IN this advice, al
though they well know that he has been
broug ht to this condition by having his
head too much. Beyond this, they are
all volunteering their advice in discordant
toncs, vieing with each other in adding to
the general confusion. Every one has a
different plan to propose. One says,
eForce him." Another, "Cut the traces
AID let him CO." One would take off
the reins, and him with a compromise
line. A second proposes loosening the
girth by way Of concession. A third
would put coal of fire on his back and
the Albony Doctor proposes to put lit