The Baltimore County union., 1882-05-13
BALKY HORSES.

see in the papers sometimes reme-
dies for balky horses. | will venture
one, but to be efficient It would have TO
be rs varied rs the horses, for there are
many natures. First, would say when
you get new horse study his DISPOSE
ton some are as much distressed by
sharp word as others are by blow with
the whip. You can tell the frame Of
mind your horse is in by watching his
conference.-the is, his ears il they
set easy and cheerfully he is all right.
Some horses that are termed balky will
always start when the word is given
Others will not, although they may be
harnessed to an empty wagon. My ex-
sperience is, that il is seldom il ever ad-
visable to whip balky horse. l will
give some Of my experience with the
different horses have had. My teams
were carting over road that had hills
10 pull up, and the teamster said the
gray mare would not pull up the hills,
and they had to use the other team.
One day concluded to go with the
teams, and when We came to the foot OF
the first hill we stopped. told the
boys to take stick from the wagon 1--WE
were carting wood and follow close up
behind, and when | called "whoa" to
put it behind the wheels. saw by the
mares ears that she intended to stop
and said whoa Then, rs | saw by
her ears that she intended to stop,
knew by the same when she was willing
to 60. | sat on the wagon, whip in
hand, not to strike the mare, but await
her whim, and when she got ready to
60, / touched the other horse with the
whip and away We went; but before we
got TO the top OF the hill saw that she
intended to stop again, and doing as we
did before she soon started and went to
the top Of the hill.
This is what | call studying the dis
position. The treatment was a success.
II takes time to humor the whims of 4
horse, but il is usually best in the end.
It's an old adage, that one boy can lead
horse to water, but five men cannot
make him drink. have had horses
that would not start load If they had
been idle 4 short time. They were
cured by taking At first very light loads
have also had horses that would not
start with the plow il it was in the
ground, but after running il on the sur
face sometimes only half round the field
it could be put in short distance, and
soon after all was right.
Certain horses sometimes will not
work together. | once got 4 pair of
young horses that would not !; one was
very hard-mouthed, while the other was
very soft mouihed. The latter was by
nature the quickest TO start. and unless
they were carefully managed i, would
go up to the bit and fy hack. and when
the other started il would not move
Had it been the disposition of the hard.
mou,hed horse to start first they no
doubt would have worked together ; but
IS il was they had 20 be separated. Il
is often the case that horses will go if
left TO do so upon their first motion. To
deal with such horses the driver should
always be ready TO 90 when they are.
Horses sometimes will not stand for per
sons TO get in the carriage. was ac-
quainted with fine family mare whose
besetting sin was that she would not 50
stand, when the plan was adopted OF
driving her to the post and fastening
her, and when once tied she would
stand still until united, though half 4
dozen people would &c; in. Then,
when united, She would walk off quiet
ly. I once had mare that would stop
if she was pulled short TO the left. and
would not start until she was ready
never had much trouble with balky
horses. When driving team myself |
never allowed the horses TO be strained
unnecessarily. If they took one fair
pull Intellectually something was done
the wheels pried up, or some Of the load
thrown of. have often seen ieamsiers,
when stalled, who resort TO whipping
and jerking the horses for half an hour.
though they could not fail TO see that il
was impossible 10 get out of the hole,
and who finally had to unload When
the team takes fair pull and fails TO
draw, the driver should exercise some
judgment and no; impose upon the an
imals.-E. l.. .SiiRa, in CcymaHfoscH
ZIicgyGth.