How to Fix the Bucking Bronco

I forgot to add in my last post about how I'm going to fix Moose's bucking reaction. The things I learned will definitely come into play, but I found out I am not the sole responsible party for his reaction. Moose does have a legitimate issue with the girth, not so much the bareback pad, though.

I did approach and retreat with the bareback pad to make sure he didn't have any issues with it. After a little bit, he was pretty relaxed with the pad on, so I didn't think the pad was a problem. So, I had a 22' connected to his halter, and I just wrapped part of the rope around his belly. So, I had control of his head in one hand, and his Z3 in another. I rubbed the rope all around him, to see if that irritated him. I tried getting him to yield towards me with the rope, to give him an out if he felt stuck. Then, I simulated the girth by pulling it taught, then loose, then taught, etc. None of this bugged him like it did the other day. So, with my hands on the same position on the ropes, I decided to see if I could get him to yield forward from the rope on his Z3. As soon as the rope pulled taught, Moose's eyes got huge and he got worried. Actually, he scared me, because I thought he was going to jump forward and run through me or something. I was standing in front of him at the time, because I wanted to lead him forward from Z3, so that put me in a bad position. But at least I found out what the issue is!

Now the only problem is that I can't solve it without buying another 22'. :( My idea is to have him on a 22' line in case he gets scared. And then I want a 22' around his girth area to act like a normal girth. So, first I want to see how much pressure he can take from the 'girth', and if he's out on a circle while I do this, that puts me in a safe position. I'm hoping that doing that will get rid of most of his issue. So, then I can leave leading by Z3 to a time when he's more left-brain and more prepared to follow the feel.

So, that's my genius idea, but seeing as I don't have 2 22' lines, I'm just going to have to experiment with having him on a 22' and then a 12' around his Z3. I'll let you know how it goes.