Democratic Sentinel, Volume 3, Number 3, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 February 1879 — How to Handle Balky Horses. [ARTICLE]

How to Handle Balky Horses.

The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals recommends the following rules for the treatment of balky horses: 1. Pat the horse upon the neck, examine the harness carefully, first on one side and then on the other, speaking encouragingly while doing so; then jump into the wagon and give the word go; generally he will obey. 2. A teamster in Maine says he can start the worst balky horse by taking him out of the shafts and making him go around in a circle till he is giddy. If the first dance of this sort does not cure him, the second will. 3. To cure a balky horse, simply place your hand over the horse’s nose and shut off his wind till he wants to go, and then let him go. 4. The brains of the horse seem to entertain but one idea at a time; therefore, continued whipping only confirms his stuoborn resolve. If you can by any means give him a new subject to think of, you will generally have no trouble in starting him. A simple remedy is to take a couple of turns of stout twine around the foreleg, just below the knee, tight enough for the horse to feel, and tie in a bow-knqt. At the first cheek he will go dancing off, and after going a short disttacp you can get out tad remove the skiing to prevent injury to the tendon in your further drive. ■ 5. Take the tail of thfi bOrse between . ..2- • * »«•**'* •

the hind legs, and tie it by a cord to the saddle-girth. 6. Tie a string around the horse’s oar close to his head.