how do i plait him ready for hunting????!!

junglediva

junglediva

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ok, so i wanna plait my horse for the boxing day hunt next week but the problem is my horse doesnt like people faffing around his head or his neck. along with his high head carriage he gets impatient and shakes his head and he gets to strong for someoody to hold him. i have though about tying him so that he's got two lead reins either side of his head coller so he cant twist and turn but i want somebody elses opinion on how to do it stres free for me and him. its enough of a job pulling his mane because he absooultely dispises it. i lhave to plait him and pull his mane on seperate days because by the time ive pulled his mane im emotionally stressed out and he is fizzy and up tight!!can somebody pleas give me some suggestions or help on how to do it so that i can do it quickly or stress free for him.
oh and anohter point i forgot to add. i can plait him up to about three quarters of his neck then as soon as i reach his head or his ears he starts to play around!!
 
Get a stool so you can reach top of head. Then as you say double tie, put haynet in front and plait FAST!!

Don't puss foot around get everything ready and then plait And start with the bit he hates first
 
I plait a few like this. Agree with Kick_On, start at the ear end (and if you wanna do his forelock, do this first!). Cross-tying can work well, make sure they are loose enought that he can move a bit though, otherwise he could panic.

Then get stuck in there, hang on as best you can if he starts to fidget, and insist that you finish before he gets a reward. Try to stay calm if he starts wriggling, but be firm. It does get easier with practice.

I have also found that scratching up the neck towards the ears helps, especially if you are quite firm - the ones I do don't like to be tickled! And as you say, don't try to pull and plait on the same day - I prefer to get the manes pulled a few days in advance so they forget about it by the time I come to plait.

ETA Also, does he really need his mane pulled? I do one of ours with a solo comb as his mane isn't that thick. Stress-free
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I'd rather have plaits that are slightly too big than wind him up trying to pull his mane.
 
Cross tie, start at the top and plait down chatting to him the whole time.

Do not pull and plait on the same day, he sounds like he would become a basket case.
 
thanks guys! i think i will pull his mane this weekend and then plait it on christams day's night if you know what i mean. cos if i plait him on boxingday morning im just gona be in a cuffufle.also just to make it quicker do u think i should just put bands on his plaits and put a neck over his rug over night?
 
If he is difficult to plait then using bands will be much easier. Also some horses don't like the feeling of the thread when you are sewing the plaits in. If I'm plaiting up overnight then I do the bands up really tight and put 2 bands on each plait to be sure they will stay in.
 
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If he is difficult to plait then using bands will be much easier. Also some horses don't like the feeling of the thread when you are sewing the plaits in. If I'm plaiting up overnight then I do the bands up really tight and put 2 bands on each plait to be sure they will stay in.

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yes thats what il do. il probably put 2 bands on each plait overnight. maybe to maake sure they dont come loose or undone over night il probably just do the long thin plats in the night and then role them up into plaits the next morning. but if baloo is p***ing around the night before il role them up then and put a neck on his stable rug because theres no way hell let me touch his neck the next day lol thanks for the help milliepops
 
slightly different, but following mud fever its taken a long time for my mare to let me clip her legs again. we are getting there slowly with the odd relapse.
usually having to be twitched to finish off etc.

one time, someone stood at her head rubbing the end of her ear (its an endorphin zone or whatever the jargon is) .... Well my mare really hates her ears being touched (clipping them is a nightmare!) so i was like argh dont do that !! but it really worked she chilled out, head in lap asleep and i managed to get two legs clipped right out.

So might be worth a try - even if only as a distraction.
 
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