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.