There are many different ways of managing halter pullers and of these the following methods seem most effective:

Take a strong but thin rope about 20 feet long. Put the middle of it under the horse’s tail like a crupper. Bring the two ends forward along the back, knotting them together at the loins and withers. Then pass one on each side of the neck, through the ring of the halter and tie to the manger along with the halter shank.

Pass the end of tie rope or halter over the manger and tie it to one fore foot, so that the pull is equal on the head and foot. This is simple, safe and efficient.

Put a good strong halter on the horse with a rope that he cannot break; then put him either on a plank floor that is about 4 inches higher behind than in front, or on a hard earth floor of the same slope. Have the floor very smooth, and wet it a little to make it slippery, if he is a bad one, and pad the sides of the stall with old sacks or blankets, tying them on with binder twine. As soon as the horse finds that he cannot keep his feet he will give up pulling.

Use a good halter and 10 or 12 feet of strong rope or strap. Tie one end of the rope around the pastern of a front foot and pass the other end through the halter ring and fasten to a stout post or manger and let the horse pull. This will cure an ordinary case. If it does not cure a bad one, tie the rope to a hind leg, passing it through the halter ring and between the fore legs to the hind pastern.

Tie a rope around the hind leg at the pastern and pass the rope to the opposite side of the body; run it around the neck where the collar rests and tie the foot up so that it will not touch the floor. Put a good halter on the horse and he will not pull very hard.

Mr. J. S. Teesdale, of Multnomah County, Oregon, contributed the following amusing account of the curing of a halter puller to the Breeders’ Gazette: “I owned a horse that pulled back every time he was tied up in or out of his stable. I got very tired of it. I took him one day to a wharf over a river. There was, as is usual, a wall on the dock a few feet from its edge. I led him on so that his face was near the wall and his tail toward the water; and I stood him with his right side close up to a partition that ran from the wall to the edge of the wharf. I stood with my body close to his left eye, hiding the river from his view, so that he could not see the water from either side. The river was a very silent one. I held him in that position almost an hour until I thought he had forgotten the river entirely, then I tied him to a ring in the wall, holding a sharp knife in my teeth as I did so. As soon as I had tied him he hung back as badly as ever. I cut the rope. He turned a back somersault and dropped 10 feet into the river. When he came to the surface and recovered from his daze, he swam down stream to the end of the dock and landed. He never hung back again so far as I know, although he was tied a thousand times.”

Secret of Preventing Mules from Kicking.

Mr. F. M. Walker, of Vernon County, Missouri, contributed the following to the columns of the Breeders’ Gazette: “Take two straps 1½ inches wide with a good ring; have the straps long enough to buckle around the hind legs, one above the hock and one below. First buckle the ring in both straps; then take a stout rope, put a ring in the rope, and tie it around the breast of the collar so that the double will come back behind the belly-band and make the ring stay. Now take another piece of stout rope, tie in the ring on the hind leg, bring it up through ring at the belly-band and back to the other ring on the hind leg. Do not leave any slack for the horse or mule to get his feet over. An animal can walk or trot in this rigging, but he cannot kick. I have broken several mules in this way.”

Tying a Mare With a Foal.

To tie a mare so that her foal will not get hung in the halter strap, use a ring in the manger instead of a hole. Thirty inches is plenty long enough for the stale. Put a weight on end of the stale—an old bar shoe will do all right. All good horses in Great Britain are tied this way, except that the chain is used.

Secret of Handling a Balky Horse.

A tired, balky horse is less apt to balk than one fresh from the stable, and such horses are oftentimes kept in harness right up to the time of sale. This is a “David Harum” trick and well worth remembering. Also, when a horse balks, be careful to examine his shoulders. Soreness of the skin may be the cause. It is a trick of the “gyps” secretly to bathe the shoulders of a horse with an irritating solution which in 12 hours or less makes the animal refuse to pull in harness. They do this with horses on which they purpose making a bid the following day in the hope that when the victim balks the owner will become disgusted and discount the price. Some horses balk when worked in single harness but go all right when hitched double. Chloroform is sometimes used to make a balky horse stupid, so that he will forget to balk.

Kindness, petting, coaxing with a lump of sugar, carrot, apple or other dainty sometimes succeeds with a balky horse when harsh measures fail. Cruel procedures should be discountenanced and punished and among these the worst trick, perhaps, is to start a fire of paper, straw or brush under the balker. Sometimes all that is necessary is to distract the animal’s attention by pounding lightly with a stone on the shoe of a fore foot, by tying a cord around the leg under the knee, or by holding up one foot for a few minutes.

When a horse balks, one way of curing him is to remove the harness, put on a halter, pull his head around to his side and tie the halter rope in a slip-knot to a strand or two of the tail hair, so as to keep the head well toward the tail. Then he is forced to walk around in a circle until he staggers and is ready to drop, when the rope may be loosed and the horse will be likely to behave and remember the lesson for some time.

Some horses balk by lying down and refusing to budge. If the four feet of such a sulker are “hog-tied” together and he is abandoned and allowed to remain tied for an hour or two, he will usually be thankful to get up and go on when set at liberty.

One owner broke a balker by working him on a mower for a few days with his tail tied to the singletree tight enough to take part of the strain. After that he would pull by the tugs without having his tail tied.

The “guy rope” plan is sometimes effective. A small rope is tied around the horse’s neck and a half hitch taken with it on his lower jaw. A husky man then pulls steadily upon the rope and the horse will usually start forward with a lunge. If not a confirmed old balker he may give up the standing habit if treated in this way a few times.

Light, rapid switching across the nose with a light whip sometimes starts a balker, but severe whipping has an opposite effect.

The writer once was called to see a draft work-mare that was “down” in an Irish teamster’s yard and refused to get up. The poor brute was surrounded with whips and sticks that had been broken over her back, and her body was covered with welts from the whipping. The neighbors thronged around to see what would happen when the “Doctor” tried his hand at a job which had baffled their attempts. Examination of the pulse showed a normal condition and the membranes of the eyes gave no indication of sickness. After the mare’s head and neck had been patted and stroked for a few minutes, and she had been spoken to kindly and gently, she got up at once when the halter was pulled upon and the word of command given. Then she followed the veterinarian about the yard like a dog, recognizing him as her only friend, and ever since that teamster has said, “Sure that mon has the power iv healin’ in his hands!” Whereas, the abused mare only needed and wanted a little kindness and coaxing.

Here is a cure for balking recommended by E. A. Gerrard: “In order to break a balky horse it is necessary to have the appliances, though the first requirement is a cool head. Next you will want a steady horse to hitch with the balky one, together with a strong hopple strap, a rope and a covered swivel pulley, and a good harness and wagon with a long tongue, though one of ordinary length will do.

Fasten your pulley on the end of the tongue so that it will work free; put the hopple on the balky horse’s hind ankle, next to the tongue, and tie the rope in the hopple ring. Now run it through the belly-band, up through the pulley and back to the end of the doubletree on the side of the balky horse, and tie it fast. See that your horses are standing even, making the rope snug, so that the horse can stand easy. Take off your stay chains, sever the line from the terrets on the balky horse, get into the wagon, gather your lines so that you can have control, keep cool, and wait half a minute; then speak to the team and start the steady horse. As he starts he pulls his end of the doubletree forward and draws on the wagon, the other end of the doubletree going back, pulling the rope through the pulley and lifting the balky horse’s foot. He tries to put his foot down and in doing so he takes a step.

Say, ‘whoa!’ and stop your steady horse. Do not let the balky horse make more than one step. Now sit still for half a minute, then start again, stopping as soon as the first step is made, by the same process. Sit still for another half minute, then repeat. Each time you will have taught your horse that when you told him to go he had to step.

Now if you are a horseman get down, go to your horse’s head, pat his neck, tell him he is doing well and that he will be the best pulling horse on the place. Then try him again. If he is very anxious to go at the word, let him make six or eight steps, then stop and sit quiet for half a minute. Gradually increase the distance you allow them to go each time, not forgetting to stop long enough to allay any excitement before starting again. When you have driven half a mile be sure you are back at the stable, take your horse out, have a bottle of strong borax water at hand and bathe his ankle for five minutes where the hopple rubbed it.

On the next day hitch up with the balker on the other side of the tongue. With most balky horses two lessons will prove enough; often one will answer. But if the horse is old he may forget in two or three weeks, if rested much, so you will need to keep your appliances ready and put them on at the first sign of balking.

There is little danger of a horse forgetting if he is worked with the same mate and driver; therefore if you want a perfect job you will do well to change the driver and the mate while the lesson is fresh.”

Mr. F. H. Osburn, of Benton County, Indiana, is the author of the following method of handling a balky mare:

“I had a good true horse to put beside this mare, one which I knew could pull two such as she. Then instead of putting a stay chain to my true horse I put on what I call a stay rope, looping it around the balky mare’s tail, drawing it up short and tying it to the other horse’s hame ring. Whenever I spoke to my true puller something else had to come although the balky mare was not very hasty to respond for the first few lessons. We now have her convinced and I drive her single, ride her when driving cattle, can use the cattle whip over her, and she pays no attention to it. At times she runs idle for a week or ten days, but she never gives me a minute’s bother when I use her again.”

Secret of Curing a Stall Kicker.

Various methods have been proposed from time to time for stopping a horse from kicking in the stall. Here are several gleaned from various sources:

Strap a piece of chain, about 18 inches to 2 feet in length, to the horse’s pastern so that it will fly back and hit him each time he kicks. A trace or stay chain will do.

Pad the sides of the stall thickly with hay or straw kept in place by sacking. When the horse kicks at this and does not hear the sound of his foot striking the boards, he will be scared and quit kicking.

Buckle a leather surcingle around the horse’s body back of the fore legs and to it fasten a small double pulley placed under the belly. Now place straps with buckles on them on each of his legs below the fetlock joint, having a ring in each strap. Take ½ inch rope, tie to the ring on one front foot, run it up through the pulley, back to the hind foot on the opposite side and tie, then do the same with the opposite feet. Leave the rope long enough for the animal to step. When an attempt is made to kick, the pulley raises the front feet. Use this in the stable until the kicking habit is cured.

To cure a barn kicker pack an ordinary grain bag tight with hay or straw and suspend it from top of the stall by a rope or strap, so that it will swing free from the side of the stall and near the place the horse strikes the boards when he kicks. When kicked the bag will swing back and hit the horse on its return trip, and he will climb into the hay mow, if he can. If the horse kicks with both feet, hang a bag on each side.

Tie the kicking horse between swinging partitions whether in a single or box stall. The partition kicks back each time it is kicked by the horse.

An “Old Timer” writing in the Breeders’ Gazette, suggests the following plan for a pregnant mare that is a bad kicker:

“Have a collar made of 1½ inch first-class heavy harness leather, long enough to go around the mare’s neck at the point where the collar fits, with 1¾ inch ring at the breast, then get a strap 1½ inches wide, the full length of a side of harness leather, cut tapering to 1 inch or less at the tip of the light end, with 1¾ inch ring in the other. Then get a 2½ inch strap just long enough to go around the pastern of the hind foot with ¾ inch ring in each end. Have the edges of this strap slightly champered. Slip the collar on the mare’s neck, put the short strap around the pastern of the left hind foot, the thin long strap through the rings on the pastern, then through the ring on the end of the long strap, and slip up snug and tight: next, run the strap between the fore legs and through the ring in the collar on the neck. Now draw it up snug when she is standing in her natural position and secure it with a slip-knot so that it can be easily removed when necessary.

There will be no excitement about this, and no punishment. It does not interfere with the mare’s lying down or getting up; all it will do for her will be to prevent her from kicking, simply because she cannot, and she will soon learn to live in peace with her stable mates. We have used this for many years without a failure, and we would be pleased to have all humane horsemen use it in preference to a long chain or heavy swinging block or padded stall.”