There is a third defect—one of character—denominated “sulk.” This is most tiresome and trying, and, if not carefully and promptly dealt with, may never be eradicated.
One thing is quite certain, that punishment will not avail. Patience offers the only chance. If the weather be fine and the driver in no particular hurry, a daily paper is an excellent antidote to this evil.
I knew an instance of a sulky horse being checked when he attempted to move, and forced to stand in one place almost in one position, till his owner had read through The Morning Post (advertisements and all), taking care to rustle the paper occasionally in order to let the animal know the cause of his detention. So effectual was this remedy, that his master had only to show him a newspaper to make him start like a lamb.
If, as is sometimes the case, a horse be absolutely determined not to move, and defies all the usual methods of persuasion—holding up the fore-leg, tying whip-cord tightly round his ear, pushing at the wheel, etc.—but throws himself down as if purposing to remain there, nothing is left but to put a wisp of straw under him, and set it alight. This, albeit it sounds cruel, need not inflict the slightest injury—since the horse at once obeys the instinct of alarm and pain, and never forgets the experience; so that straw, without the match, will always be sufficient for the future.
The ready obedience to his rider’s wishes, even when the horse’s own judgment does not confirm them, is another proof of the animal’s generous nature.
We constantly hear of young men sowing wild oats, but the récolte is seldom, if ever, sufficiently successful to enable them to feed their horses upon the produce. There is indeed a morne silence in respect to the germinating of this seed, which suggests the inference that no crop can be expected till the grain has perished and the granary is bare!