Riding Maraschino on the ground

Hee hee - thought that would make you take a 2nd look....

Maraschino was busy getting anxious in the paddock this afternoon - looking at scary cows he could hear over the hill but couldn't see. He wasn't getting calmer so I stepped in - in fact he was winding himself up like a spring. I've been doing heaps with him and giving him extra magnesium so I really don't know what more I can do apart from send him off to a 400 acre farm for a month!

I wouldn't worry normally - if the ground was dry - he could just get over it eventually - but we have 2 acres and 2.5 horses (sorry Coco) so I need to preserve what little grass we have left after the 6 month summer drought, from getting turned instantly into mud!

So - I managed to get him into his yard with apples, then halter him. I got a wee bit frustrated I must admit when he would not focus on me and bumped him and backed him up several times. Then I calmed down as I realised it wasn't making much difference so I took him into the wash bay.

He gets so beside himself he can't think.

So I did heaps of what Michelle suggested, standing really close into Zone 3 so my side is pressing where my leg will go, and holding the 'rein' on his withers with my right hand (when standing on the near side) and then clucking to go with a tap with the rope near his withers, and off we go, leading with the nearside rein to turn a square/oval/circle in the washbay. Everytime he looked up I would cluck him on again, and eventually he was walking with his head lowered and listening to me alot. We did this many many times, both directions, each change of direction rubbing the rope up his face and over his ears to change sides, and everytime we stopped we did a one rein stop. 20-30 minutes later we rested and I left him tied up high while I made up a small feed for him. He was very calm after that so I put him in his yard for the rest of the day. I'll get a video of it tomorrow.