SuaviloquyToday’s word

balky

Balky, a.

Apt to balk; as, a balky horse.

Shades of meaning

Fernald has no entry of its own for balky; he lists it under restive.

Where he writes about it:

Balky, mulish, obstinate, and stubborn are synonyms of restive only in an infrequent if not obsolete use; the supposed sense of "tending to rest," "standing stubbornly still," is scarcely supported by any examples, and those cited to support that meaning often fail to do so. — from restive