Well how blinking typical! He came straight to me tonight, no bribes, no food, nothing & he just walked over to me & put his head in the headcollar! 
Help: I can't catch him
- Thread starter helenc
- Start date
well Fi was in a "play" mood last night and wanted to play "you can't catch me". So I used a disapproving tone of voice with her, and then we made loads of fuss of the two boys, telling them how good they were etc. Quizzical look on Fi's face "but you're not playing the game !" as she decided to come back and be caught
So I took her into the school, put overreach boots on and let her loose to run riot. Hopefully she'll work out catching comes first, BEFORE play !
"but you're not playing the game !" as she decided to come back and be caught So I took her into the school, put overreach boots on and let her loose to run riot.
Hopefully she'll work out catching comes first, BEFORE play !When he is caught, make a fuss of him and give him a tiny feed in a bucket, check him over and then put him back into the field.
Do this for a few days so that he isn't always associating being caught with being ridden.
If he is still difficult to catch, see if you can arrange to catch his field mate first. As horses are not so keen on their own company I am sure he will be begging you to catch him!!!
Good luck
From Tracy
Do this for a few days so that he isn't always associating being caught with being ridden.
If he is still difficult to catch, see if you can arrange to catch his field mate first. As horses are not so keen on their own company I am sure he will be begging you to catch him!!!
Good luck
From Tracy
I have found that most horses that are difficult to catch the best thing to do is sit down in the field and ignore them or walk away,
when you do catch them, give them a treat, take them to be groomed and turn them away again so they don't associate being caught as being ridden, i will refuse to 'chase' after my horses, if they won't be caught they go hungry and i go home this in turn teaches them that playing games is a waste of time and i have found that they more often than not are really 'put out' by being ignored and feel that they are missing out on something so that the next time when they are called they will come, this will need a lot of patience from you and a lot of non-riding but it is worth the wait so that you can make everyone jealous(as i do) when they come to call without any effort on your part.
Chasing them with whips is not recommended and will do the opposite of what you want to acheive in the long run and yes there will be the odd day when they won't come of which you just walk away again, this is not allowing your horse to win the game as you are not playing the game to begin with and it doesn't take long before the horse realises this and decides that he is hungry and his first source of food is you. When he sees your back walking away he knows he has lost as my gelding did today and he hurried to the gate, whinnying after me but i just walked away so that tomorrow he will come when first called without hesitating, that may sound cruel but i will not tolerate any horse that plays games with me as i don't the time or the energy as i have other horses to see to.
when you do catch them, give them a treat, take them to be groomed and turn them away again so they don't associate being caught as being ridden, i will refuse to 'chase' after my horses, if they won't be caught they go hungry and i go home this in turn teaches them that playing games is a waste of time and i have found that they more often than not are really 'put out' by being ignored and feel that they are missing out on something so that the next time when they are called they will come, this will need a lot of patience from you and a lot of non-riding but it is worth the wait so that you can make everyone jealous(as i do) when they come to call without any effort on your part.
Chasing them with whips is not recommended and will do the opposite of what you want to acheive in the long run and yes there will be the odd day when they won't come of which you just walk away again, this is not allowing your horse to win the game as you are not playing the game to begin with and it doesn't take long before the horse realises this and decides that he is hungry and his first source of food is you. When he sees your back walking away he knows he has lost as my gelding did today and he hurried to the gate, whinnying after me but i just walked away so that tomorrow he will come when first called without hesitating, that may sound cruel but i will not tolerate any horse that plays games with me as i don't the time or the energy as i have other horses to see to.
do all of below/above with my girl, and she still thinks its worth a try to see if I'll play
We often "catch" and just say hi, or groom, or whatever. When I've needed to catch, I've also sometimes removed the other two and started to take them away - that gets the message across that it is NOT playtime !
But I think it is important to recognise your horse's play drive. My girl (9) lives with a 17 and 32 year old. They're not as keen to play as she is - so I do try to make sure that I build play into what I do. Of course, ideally we'd have another horse she could play with - but even if we could manage a 4th beastie (with 3 stables ?!) there is no guarantee that the two of them would get along and play. So for now we just have to do our best....
We often "catch" and just say hi, or groom, or whatever. When I've needed to catch, I've also sometimes removed the other two and started to take them away - that gets the message across that it is NOT playtime !
But I think it is important to recognise your horse's play drive. My girl (9) lives with a 17 and 32 year old. They're not as keen to play as she is - so I do try to make sure that I build play into what I do. Of course, ideally we'd have another horse she could play with - but even if we could manage a 4th beastie (with 3 stables ?!) there is no guarantee that the two of them would get along and play. So for now we just have to do our best....
I thought my beastie was going to start trying this. Basically i bring her in weekends and someone does weeks for me (which she's fine with as she comes in with other horses). She doesn't do it all the time, just sometimes. She'll start wandering off as soon as she sees me but my horse is so lazy she can't be bothered to wander far and the game lasts about 2 minutes.
I have found though that she's a jealous tart and that if i go to one of her fieldmates and start fussing and saying hello that she'll usually come over as if to say "hey you're my mum, get off".
Definitely works as she realises that if she comes over first she gets the fuss.
I have found though that she's a jealous tart and that if i go to one of her fieldmates and start fussing and saying hello that she'll usually come over as if to say "hey you're my mum, get off".
Definitely works as she realises that if she comes over first she gets the fuss.
mmm - I should confess that my mare is normally so easy to catch (in fact they all often catch us ) that 2 mins to catch her is unusual and I pick up on it But in fact, using voice tone, or just paying no attention, or paying attention to the others, means she gets the message that its not play time quite quickly.
We have never played loose like this prior to catching - so this is her own idea. But she does get time to play AFTER catching - in the arena.
She has, in fact, put herself in the arena a couple of times when she wanted to play rather than be caught. But she still had to be caught first. If only so I can bung some boots on before we play, as she over-reached quite badly recently doing her "mad mare" routine and I don't want it to happen again. But also to make the point that catching comes first !
) that 2 mins to catch her is unusual and I pick up on it But in fact, using voice tone, or just paying no attention, or paying attention to the others, means she gets the message that its not play time quite quickly.We have never played loose like this prior to catching - so this is her own idea. But she does get time to play AFTER catching - in the arena.
She has, in fact, put herself in the arena a couple of times when she wanted to play rather than be caught. But she still had to be caught first. If only so I can bung some boots on before we play, as she over-reached quite badly recently doing her "mad mare" routine and I don't want it to happen again. But also to make the point that catching comes first !
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