The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1882-06-18
BALKY HORSES.

"What shall l do TO cure morse o
the habit OF balking?" is a Tequen
question which the editor Of a farm
paper is called upon to answer. Tn
replies are various, some OF them
sensible and some highly ridiculous
A few days since We read an unfsillDl
cure in an English paper. 1t was tt
back the horse and cart" under
shed and let the animal stand ther'
until it got ready to come out. On
was 80 at bborn. it vas said, that /
did not come out for thirty six hours
It il not every man who has q bslkN
horse who owns q cart, and what ii
to be done under snch circumstances
ia not related; and often when 8
horse balks he ,is with some other
horse that does not balk, and the
English prescription certainly does
not mean that both horses, the will
ling and the unwilling, should be
backed under a shed and kept there
until the balky horse gets ready to
move. Perhaps if the "dose" once
administered should cure for all time,
we could afford to give it thirty-six
hours to work; but il it had to be
administered very frequently the loss
of time would be very expensive. We
think such remedy will have to &c
classed with the impracticable ones.
When q horse bslks, the first thing
10 do is to find out what the trouble
lie, if that is possible. When it hap
pens a few times it becomes q habit
largely, bat when it iHstIoccurs IL nay
be caused by an ill-fitting harness, or
some physical trouble. Sometimes
We have no doubt it is the result of .
playful spirit, and in either of the
cases named the iudicious handling
of the animal will save a world OF
trouble and prevent the animal from
being ruined. We have seen horses
balk because the COLLAR was so small
that the horse could not draw without
choking itself, or because the breast
plate, when q bresst-plate was used,
had been drawn up until 1t inter-
fered With the breathing of the
horse. And in such cases We have
heard the driver swear
until everything turned blue, and
beat the morse shameiully. He had
not sense enough to discover the
trouble and to zee that the horse was
in no wise to blame. Ten chances to
one that such treatment will make q
permanently balky horse. In the
FIRST place, therefore, when horse
first balks, examine carefully every
thing about the animal, to ascertain
if physical pain or Inconvenience
causes the difficulty, and il such a
cause is found. remove it and the
horse will balk no more. II nothing
OF this character can be foun1, then
it is reasonable to suppose that the
spirit of playtulness or the spirit OF
stubbornness is the cause, and in
either case such methods must be
adopted as will show the animal that
it is not profitable to show such a
spirit while in harness.
Il is we'll to remember at the very
beginning of trouble that if the man
shows no more sense than the horse
the horse will know it, and will
have the best of the contest, upon
the principle that the biggest brute
usually whips. Loud talk and swear
ing do no good; the exhibition OF ir-
rilability does No good, and to chow
that punishment iniudiciously ad-
ia of no avail. We have
seen fires built under balky horses
and seen them whipped until the
blood flowed without accomplishing
q particle of good. We think that
caImness and a show OF kindness even
ia the inhiction OF little cruel treat
ment. are the secret of success with
balkyhoraes that would indulge in this
weakness, for reasons that va could
not determine. Our plan has always
been to show the animal that we
thought it's baking was legitimate
part of the programme which was
being performed, and that if il had
not baked We should have been
We get out OF the
wagon and cody pretend to arrange
something about the harness, "a II
the horse had stopped for the express
purpose Of giving US the opportunity
to do that very thing. All the while
We are doing this We speak kindly to
the animal, showing it We are not
angry or perplexed, and while that
impression is being made upon tho
horse, ne calmly take held of that
sensitive part, the animals nose,
lust as if that, too, was q part OF the
which could not be
and giving it ss painful q
twist ss possible. bid the animal 90
along and We hRvs never had 1t re-
fuse, and We have never had It invite
such q performance many times. The
horse under such circumstances seems
10 feel that everything that is done
appears to be done because the driver
misinGerprets the situation, and il
finally concludes that if the driver
cannot understand things any better
there 10 40 use in casting pearl be-
fore swine, and 20 stops baking
Wssterg Rural.