ble of this difference of
treatment, from the rough whip-and-spur system, too generally adopted by
men."

ON BAULKING OR JIBBING HORSES.

Horses are taught the dangerous vice of baulking, or jibbing, as it is
called in England, by improper management. When a horse jibs in harness,
it is generally from some mismanagement, excitement, confusion, or from
not knowing how to pull, but seldom from any unwillingness to perform
all that he understands. High-spirited free-going horses are the most
subject to baulking, and only so because drivers do not properly
understand how to manage this kind. A free horse in a team may be so
anxious to go, that when he hears the word he will start with a jump,
which will not move the load, but give him such a severe jerk on the
shoulders that he will fly back and stop the other horse. The teamster
will continue his driving without any cessation, and by the time he has
the slow horse started again, he will find that the free horse has made
another jump, and again flown back. And now he has them both badly
baulked, and so confused that neither of them knows what is the matter,
or how to start the load. Next will come the slashing and cracking of
the whip, and hallooing of the driver, till something is broken, or he
is through with his course of treatment. But what a mistake the driver
commits by whipping his horse for this act! Reason and common sense
should teach him that the horse was willing and anxious to go, but did
not know how to start the load. And should he whip him for that? If so,
he should whip him again for not knowing how to talk. A man that wants
to act with 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
baulking horse in five hundred that will pull truly from whipping: it is
only adding fuel to fire, and will make him more liable to baulk another
time. You always see horses that have been baulked 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 baulked horses, just as much as it
is for them to look around at their sides when they have the
bots.[106-*] In either case they are deserving of the same sympathy and
the same kind,