Any of you have horses that are not good to catch?
- Thread starter Calsanjo
- Start date
Montana often refuses to be caught!
what works for him is Paying another horse/pony lots of attention and he eventualy does me over to interfere the first time I did this it took a good 20 minutes. but now I only have to star walking towards another horse for him to come running overt
I have also been told not to make any eye contact and always aprouch them at the horses shoulder leve,l never behind or directly in front of them.
How about sitting and waiting sitting infront of your horse, not looking at your horse though. Just sitting really still this works for me too! although you might gain the attention of all the horses in the field if yours isnt the only one in there!
what works for him is Paying another horse/pony lots of attention and he eventualy does me over to interfere the first time I did this it took a good 20 minutes. but now I only have to star walking towards another horse for him to come running overt
I have also been told not to make any eye contact and always aprouch them at the horses shoulder leve,l never behind or directly in front of them.
How about sitting and waiting sitting infront of your horse, not looking at your horse though. Just sitting really still this works for me too! although you might gain the attention of all the horses in the field if yours isnt the only one in there!
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Theres a pony at work whos a pain to catch - we've tried everything from getting hold of his nose to bribery with copious amounts of pony nuts!
The YO has worked out a very clever way of getting him in which really works! Get a round scoop of nuts & place the noseband part of the headcollar around it. Let the horse take a couple of mouthfulls to gain its confidence so it thinks its not being caught, then when its got its nose in the scoop, gently slide the noseband of the headcollar over the nose & before he knows it - he's been caught! Works a treat!
The YO has worked out a very clever way of getting him in which really works! Get a round scoop of nuts & place the noseband part of the headcollar around it. Let the horse take a couple of mouthfulls to gain its confidence so it thinks its not being caught, then when its got its nose in the scoop, gently slide the noseband of the headcollar over the nose & before he knows it - he's been caught!
Works a treat!I dont really have eany probs catching mine, But one has tacken to leaning over the fence to get the duck feed! We have 2 ducks and 5 chickens. I put some food out for them in the day and the weeee ladie has tacken a likeing to it. LOL!
I read an article once that said a "foolproof" way is to peel off the chesnut of one of the other horses in the barn and put it in your pocket. Supposedly the horse wants to smell it so bad he/she will come right to you. (Supposed to work well in groups to, where you dont want to take a can of grain out into the pasture and be trampled by 15 horses)
I did join-up work in the round pen with my horse when I first got him. I think Richard Maxwell talks about it in his book, I've also heard Monty Roberts and the Llyon's western guy us the technique. (sorry, not sure of names)
The technique works and I have never had to chase my horse. I don't think it's ever to late to give it a try.
Kea
I did join-up work in the round pen with my horse when I first got him. I think Richard Maxwell talks about it in his book, I've also heard Monty Roberts and the Llyon's western guy us the technique. (sorry, not sure of names)
The technique works and I have never had to chase my horse. I don't think it's ever to late to give it a try.
Kea
Mine are ok to catch, I bring them in just for a groom, for a walk inhand or just a feed some days so that they don't associate being caught with hard work!
However at the EC, there were a few horses who wouldn't be caught.
One trick is to put the leadrope around their neck first and once you've got them, put the headcollar over their nose.
The second is to take a handful of feed with you to the field, if they're not tempted by a handful.. try shaking a bucketful.
Third way is what Volvic says, between the noseband of the headcollar put your scoop of feed or even just a handful of feed.
Fourth way is to remove all other horses from the field and suddenly your equine is begging to come in.
Making trips out to the field for no reason and totally ignoring your horse also works, go up to another horse and give it a few handfulls of feed and then walk away.. soon your horse will be walking up to meet you and will want to be the only horse to get your attention!
However at the EC, there were a few horses who wouldn't be caught.
One trick is to put the leadrope around their neck first and once you've got them, put the headcollar over their nose.
The second is to take a handful of feed with you to the field, if they're not tempted by a handful.. try shaking a bucketful.
Third way is what Volvic says, between the noseband of the headcollar put your scoop of feed or even just a handful of feed.
Fourth way is to remove all other horses from the field and suddenly your equine is begging to come in.
Making trips out to the field for no reason and totally ignoring your horse also works, go up to another horse and give it a few handfulls of feed and then walk away.. soon your horse will be walking up to meet you and will want to be the only horse to get your attention!
well I have to say I have got the smartest pony when it comes to getting caught. or should I say "Not getting caught"
You catch him with one method, he learns it and then you have to find another. You can't trick him with feed whether in a bucket, from your hand or a scoop. No matter where you place the headcollar as soon as you move it in any direction he is off.
I have tried fussing over other horses and taking no notice of him. He will even come to you but just out of reach, if you take a step forward he steps back, he will even just stand and turn his head away and if you try to get closer he pivots away.
He will walk around you or graze near by with an ear and an eye on you. Try to corner him and he run through you or if you have a lunge rein he will either run through it or jump it.
I have owned him for 13 years and in that time the only way I have found he will come to me in the field is when he is not being worked.
Before anyone says "No" he does not always get worked when he comes in so that is not the issue, I have also spent 2 hrs+ with a book and a drink but he just grazes out of reach.
i ocasionally get lucky and catch him "And it is sheer luck" as long as he has a headcollar on but I don't like turning out with a headcollar as accidents can occur.
So what do I do.. I either ride before he is turned out or when he decides to come in. He now comes in no problem around 4pm but any sooner and you have no chance of getting him and quite often he is last to come in. LOL
He isn't bolshy and wouldn't hurt you. if he goes to run through you he always finds a gap (he won't actually run into you) so if I had enough people to make a human chain I'd catch him every time. LOL
Do I get frustrated Yep a long time ago, nowI know it's a part of him and just work to his clock. Unfortunately for him if I want ot do something mid day then he has to stay in his stable or be turned out in a very small paddock.
So if your horse is anything like mine then sorry but after this long saga I can't help you.
ALF
You catch him with one method, he learns it and then you have to find another. You can't trick him with feed whether in a bucket, from your hand or a scoop. No matter where you place the headcollar as soon as you move it in any direction he is off.
I have tried fussing over other horses and taking no notice of him. He will even come to you but just out of reach, if you take a step forward he steps back, he will even just stand and turn his head away and if you try to get closer he pivots away.
He will walk around you or graze near by with an ear and an eye on you. Try to corner him and he run through you or if you have a lunge rein he will either run through it or jump it.
I have owned him for 13 years and in that time the only way I have found he will come to me in the field is when he is not being worked.
Before anyone says "No" he does not always get worked when he comes in so that is not the issue, I have also spent 2 hrs+ with a book and a drink but he just grazes out of reach.
i ocasionally get lucky and catch him "And it is sheer luck" as long as he has a headcollar on but I don't like turning out with a headcollar as accidents can occur.
So what do I do.. I either ride before he is turned out or when he decides to come in. He now comes in no problem around 4pm but any sooner and you have no chance of getting him and quite often he is last to come in. LOL
He isn't bolshy and wouldn't hurt you. if he goes to run through you he always finds a gap (he won't actually run into you) so if I had enough people to make a human chain I'd catch him every time. LOL
Do I get frustrated Yep a long time ago, nowI know it's a part of him and just work to his clock. Unfortunately for him if I want ot do something mid day then he has to stay in his stable or be turned out in a very small paddock.
So if your horse is anything like mine then sorry but after this long saga I can't help you.
ALF
fiesty_filly
Jockey In Training
The best thing that I've ever done is to go out to the pasture as often as possible with treates and scratches and such. Then put the halter on and often and give treats so that the hores learns that every time you come out doesn't mean that they have to work etc.
One mare we had used to have a bad shoulder and it would bother her occasionally but sometimes she would be just fine. You could always tell because on good days she would trot right up to you, when she was hurting she would just stay fast enough to keep in front of you without having to run away. Those days I usually just left her alone or given her a couple treats then left her.
One mare we had used to have a bad shoulder and it would bother her occasionally but sometimes she would be just fine. You could always tell because on good days she would trot right up to you, when she was hurting she would just stay fast enough to keep in front of you without having to run away. Those days I usually just left her alone or given her a couple treats then left her.
Several more comments about catching horses here:
http://lorienstable.com/articles/handling/100-catch/
http://lorienstable.com/articles/handling/100-catch/
When there are no other horses or buddies in the pasture with my horse all I have to do is call to him and he comes right to me, but as soon as there is a buddy in with him, he runs away and I can always predict when he is about to run because he pins his ears back and turns the other way, tail swishing the whole time.
Before I got him he was trained using John Lyons methods in the round pen. I wasn't very familiar with his ways when I had trouble catching him when I first had him so I kind of guessed and it worked.
See, when he was trained in the round pen he was chased and was TOLD to work and run around you then when you stop he comes to you. The pasture is of course much bigger so when I predict he's about to run away, I swing the halter and lead rope in my hand toward his rear, telling him to "get on" away from me. So while he is running away I get into position so that when he turns in another direction I am sort of in front of him or where he can clearly see me and stop and he usually comes right to me. He figures that I'm just going to keep chasing him around until he comes to me and that there is no time to eat until he comes to me. Sometimes once he comes to me I let him graze or something as a reward as well as scratching and rubbing.
So pretty much, I just keep chasing him away until he decides he'd like to stop and stand still. But sometimes he might have more energy than you and seem to go forever, don't stop because he will just keep doing it thinking he will run you down from then on. I haven't had that problem yet but it is possible
Hope that helps
Before I got him he was trained using John Lyons methods in the round pen. I wasn't very familiar with his ways when I had trouble catching him when I first had him so I kind of guessed and it worked.
See, when he was trained in the round pen he was chased and was TOLD to work and run around you then when you stop he comes to you. The pasture is of course much bigger so when I predict he's about to run away, I swing the halter and lead rope in my hand toward his rear, telling him to "get on" away from me. So while he is running away I get into position so that when he turns in another direction I am sort of in front of him or where he can clearly see me and stop and he usually comes right to me. He figures that I'm just going to keep chasing him around until he comes to me and that there is no time to eat until he comes to me. Sometimes once he comes to me I let him graze or something as a reward as well as scratching and rubbing.
So pretty much, I just keep chasing him away until he decides he'd like to stop and stand still. But sometimes he might have more energy than you and seem to go forever, don't stop because he will just keep doing it thinking he will run you down from then on. I haven't had that problem yet but it is possible
Hope that helps
catching a hard to catch horse
my friend owns a horse that could never be caught! she was a wild colt just caught and a girl wanted my friend to break her....she was as wild as wild can be...she sucessfully jumped a six foot lunging ring, amazing hey? well that was a problem because we could not catch her....well finally we did. we took a lead rope. a halter, sum crunchies and sum oats. if the horse will come up to you but not let you catch him. her and she bolts then heres some advice for u, when he/she comes up to you, take oats (or their fav treat) and they will come up to u...turn around slowly so your back is facing them. hold your hand slightly out and your horse will come over your shoulder....let them do this and let them eat your treat..them slowly take your arm and put it around their next while them still eating...take the halter shank and put it around there neck...dont put the halter on yet because if they bolt u can just let go of the rope. just lead them to a pen where they can be alone something like a lunging ring...and then put on there halter and just lead them around and pet them all over so they get used to u.....if you lunge them for a while and spend time with them (the horse at the begging was tied up for 8 hours while she read her a book) holy wow hey? and now she is the calmest horse ever! and if you spend time with them you should beable to let them loose in a rind and they should follow you..
hope i was of some help
my friend owns a horse that could never be caught! she was a wild colt just caught and a girl wanted my friend to break her....she was as wild as wild can be...she sucessfully jumped a six foot lunging ring, amazing hey? well that was a problem because we could not catch her....well finally we did. we took a lead rope. a halter, sum crunchies and sum oats. if the horse will come up to you but not let you catch him. her and she bolts then heres some advice for u, when he/she comes up to you, take oats (or their fav treat) and they will come up to u...turn around slowly so your back is facing them. hold your hand slightly out and your horse will come over your shoulder....let them do this and let them eat your treat..them slowly take your arm and put it around their next while them still eating...take the halter shank and put it around there neck...dont put the halter on yet because if they bolt u can just let go of the rope. just lead them to a pen where they can be alone something like a lunging ring...and then put on there halter and just lead them around and pet them all over so they get used to u.....if you lunge them for a while and spend time with them (the horse at the begging was tied up for 8 hours while she read her a book) holy wow hey? and now she is the calmest horse ever! and if you spend time with them you should beable to let them loose in a rind and they should follow you..
hope i was of some help
Re: catching a hard to catch horse
Holy wow indeed.
I think the original post was asking more about horses that have a problem with catching though, rather than wild horses.
There's a few methods - most already covered, so I won't repeat them. One that hasn't really been mentioned (although horsecrazysarah touched on it) though is walking them down. It's difficult to manage if you don't have a lot of time and patience, and a smaller field, but I've done it in seven acres and it's worked a treat. The idea is that you keep walking after the horse. Simple. If horse stops to graze, you move it on. Keep horse moving (I don't mean chase them away - just stopping them from grazing will do fine) and although they do usually keep going for a while the first time (one gelding I worked with kept moving for an hour and a half) they will eventually stop. You approach, and halter them. If they won't let you, you move them on again. They get to stop only when they also let you halter them. Although the first time it takes a while, the next time it takes less time, and the next less still. I've done this with several horses, and it's worked every time.
One thing I would say though is that I'd have a think about why the horse doesn't want to be caught. May became awful to headcollar (not catch - just halter) after she punctured her eye and had to go through some pretty nasty treatment. She's fine again now, but she was awkward for a long time because she anticipated nasties when haltered. Gelfy gets harder to catch when he's stiff and achy. Some horses that show no other 'symptoms' will become hard to catch if they're in pain when ridden, or they're not coping mentally with their work.
Equally there are also horse who just like to play catch me if you can games - for these the walking down method is great .
Holy wow indeed.
I think the original post was asking more about horses that have a problem with catching though, rather than wild horses.
There's a few methods - most already covered, so I won't repeat them. One that hasn't really been mentioned (although horsecrazysarah touched on it) though is walking them down. It's difficult to manage if you don't have a lot of time and patience, and a smaller field, but I've done it in seven acres and it's worked a treat. The idea is that you keep walking after the horse. Simple. If horse stops to graze, you move it on. Keep horse moving (I don't mean chase them away - just stopping them from grazing will do fine) and although they do usually keep going for a while the first time (one gelding I worked with kept moving for an hour and a half
) they will eventually stop. You approach, and halter them. If they won't let you, you move them on again. They get to stop only when they also let you halter them. Although the first time it takes a while, the next time it takes less time, and the next less still. I've done this with several horses, and it's worked every time.One thing I would say though is that I'd have a think about why the horse doesn't want to be caught. May became awful to headcollar (not catch - just halter) after she punctured her eye and had to go through some pretty nasty treatment. She's fine again now, but she was awkward for a long time because she anticipated nasties when haltered. Gelfy gets harder to catch when he's stiff and achy. Some horses that show no other 'symptoms' will become hard to catch if they're in pain when ridden, or they're not coping mentally with their work.
Equally there are also horse who just like to play catch me if you can games - for these the walking down method is great
.
Y
Yann
Guest
Rio was a serial bad catcher when she came to us and Gem is still occasionally too. I've used a more active version of the walking down method, where I do actively chase and control direction, and make a big contrast with body language. So far it's worked with every horse I've tried it with in fields large and small, but you need to be fit.
hmm a friend of mine has a shy icelandic and to catch him you have to ''chase'' him into a corner and with a bit of bread you can then put leadrope round neck and halter on.
one of the icelandics at our yard is also a runner. Really got on my nerves because i know he was taking the mickey so in the end i forced him to do a bit of work, kept sending him away etc and eventually he got tired after 40mins and came willingly to me and since then we havent had a problem
one of the icelandics at our yard is also a runner. Really got on my nerves because i know he was taking the mickey so in the end i forced him to do a bit of work, kept sending him away etc and eventually he got tired after 40mins and came willingly to me and since then we havent had a problem
In a big field you need a helping hand otherwise the horse just gets a chance to graze and relax while you run down to catch up and eventually you tire well before the horse. especially me I can't run at all unless I want to end up in hospital..LOL
However the use of a quad bike works brilliantly. LOL
My fella can be caught by a stranger until he gets used to them then they too can't catch him. People have tried all the usual things such as ignoring him, sending him away, yep all the usual horsemanship ideas. Tried the treats such as carrots, apples, polo's, cold feeds with his fav food or nice hot feeds so he can get a good smell but no matter what if he don't want to come in then he won't.
You have a better chance as I said if he had a headcollar on but accidents can happen and stitching does not always come away on headcollars.
To be honest I am happy to just go up later in the day when he is happy to come in. I don't get upset at spending time trying to catch him and he don't get upset either. However I don't work due to a disability so I have an advantage where as other people have to work around their job, housework, kids etc.
Aren't horses fun...
However the use of a quad bike works brilliantly. LOL
My fella can be caught by a stranger until he gets used to them then they too can't catch him. People have tried all the usual things such as ignoring him, sending him away, yep all the usual horsemanship ideas. Tried the treats such as carrots, apples, polo's, cold feeds with his fav food or nice hot feeds so he can get a good smell but no matter what if he don't want to come in then he won't.
You have a better chance as I said if he had a headcollar on but accidents can happen and stitching does not always come away on headcollars.
To be honest I am happy to just go up later in the day when he is happy to come in. I don't get upset at spending time trying to catch him and he don't get upset either. However I don't work due to a disability so I have an advantage where as other people have to work around their job, housework, kids etc.
Aren't horses fun...
Basically, she comes when she wants to. You can tell as soon as you enter the field whether she wants to or not by the look on her face!
Sly tactic I've used on a friend's horse who was a monster to catch: target training using a headcollar. Start with touch the headcollar and you get a mint, do loads of that, then move on to put nose in and you get a mint. It worked very well and she would walk across the field to touch the headcollar for a month or two after we did this. It is quite important IMO to catch and give a cuddle/treat/scratch then let loose again sometimes so catching doesn't always mean work.
My horse has become difficult to catch over the last week and I have tried to tempt him in with food. However, his field mate who is a cheeky little pony hassles me so much I can't even get any food to my horse. I have also tried chasing my horse around, but then his field mate gets involved and it turns into a big game!
I know that the solution is to remove the pony from the field, but this isn't always practical as he doesn't belong to me, the field is a good 5 minute walk from the yard and I haven't got anywhere to tie him up in the meantime.
The best solution for me is just to stand in the field with my hands behind my back. Eventually my horse gets so nosy that he comes over to me, I give him a pat and then slip the leadrope around his neck. This can take quite a while though and it can be very frustrating when I haven't got much time.
I know that the solution is to remove the pony from the field, but this isn't always practical as he doesn't belong to me, the field is a good 5 minute walk from the yard and I haven't got anywhere to tie him up in the meantime.
The best solution for me is just to stand in the field with my hands behind my back. Eventually my horse gets so nosy that he comes over to me, I give him a pat and then slip the leadrope around his neck. This can take quite a while though and it can be very frustrating when I haven't got much time.
That's a good tip for most horses that are easily caught with a treat but my fellow would say "You gotta be joking" and turn on his heels and go.
Offering him a polo would be like offering a dry cracker to a chef.. LOL
He will bend over backwards for a carrot but would rather starve than be caught in a field.
Offering him a polo would be like offering a dry cracker to a chef.. LOL
He will bend over backwards for a carrot but would rather starve than be caught in a field.
My girl is great to catch ...... for other people! Everyone tells me how easy she is. I go into the field and she walks towards me .... then runs off. It took me about an HOUR this morning to get her and only actually managed to get her in (tried several different methods .... it worked on the others, just not her ) when someone came to bail me out. The little MOO just stood there like butter wouldn't melt ..... how to show up mummy or what??
) when someone came to bail me out. The little MOO just stood there like butter wouldn't melt ..... how to show up mummy or what??newrider.com