A man that wants to act with any rationality or reason should not fly into
a passion, but should always think before he strikes. It takes a steady
pressure against the collar to move a load, and you cannot expect him to
act with a steady, determined purpose while you are whipping him. There is
hardly one balking horse in five hundred that will pull true from
whipping; it is only adding fuel to fire, and will make them more liable
to balk another time. You always see horses that have been balked a few
times, turn their heads and look back, as soon as they are a little
frustrated. This is because they have been whipped and are afraid of what
is behind them. This is an invariable rule with balked horses, just as
much as it is for them to look around at their sides when they have the
bots; in either case they are deserving of the same sympathy and the same
kind, rational treatment.

When your horse balks, or is a little excited, if he wants to start
quickly, or looks around and don't want to go, there is something wrong,
and needs kind he treatment immediately. Caress him kindly, and if he
don't understand at once what you want him to do he will not be so much
excited as to jump and break things, and do everything wrong through fear.
As long as you are calm and can keep down the excitement of the horse,
there are ten chances to have him understand you, where there would not be
one under harsh treatment, and then the little _flare up_ would not carry
with it any unfavorable recollections, and he would soon forget all about
it, and learn to pull true. Almost every wrong act the horse commits is
from mismanagement, fear or excitement; one harsh word will so excite a
nervous horse as to increase his pulse ten beats in a minute.

When we remember that we are dealing with dumb brutes, and reflect how
difficult it must be for them to understand our motions, signs and
language, we should never get out of patience with them because they don't