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Ways to catch a hard to catch horse.

2K views 16 replies 11 participants last post by  ecasey 
#1 ·
So normally to catch Mia I have to go in with a bucket of gain and she will come if I make noise with the bucket and call her name she will came to the gate to get catch but my problem is that all the other horse in the field come as well and they come at a canter where Mia only walk. It to the point where I don't feel like we are starting on a good note since thier are 5-40 horse in the field. I catch her but I feel like I am in the worse place when I catch her and I am putting myself in a place to get hurt. My trainer said if I want to go out early and work with her I can. I am not allowed to go out with a whip.

Help.
 
#3 ·
Can't your trainer work with her?

I'd go out there without a halter to start with. If you can approach her, great! Pet her, stay for a while and then leave. Do that a few times until she doesn't mind you walking up. Then do the same with a rope. Pet her, loop the rope over her neck, and then take it off and leave. Do that a few times and then same with a halter.

If you.do manage to catch her, put her in a different field, or section off a part where she can be by herself or with another horse. Don't have the field too big.
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#4 ·
No she doesn't really work with them once they are trained.

I could maybe trie that but I only out twice a week since I don't own Mia

Their are no field without 5 horse in it and the one that does has no grass and the other horse can get in and Mia can get out
 
#5 ·
Well at least put her in a field with the least amount of horses - slowly of course so you know she'll get along with the other horses. And stop using grain to coax. :)
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#6 ·
She can't be catch without it right now and I can't say I will not use gain because I am not spending 3 hour in a field like I have before.( the longest I spend in a field was 5 hour and we end up catch her with gain never went back ) but I would like to find a safe way

Right now she is with 5 other horse that the least out there right now
 
#7 ·
Spend 3 hours catching her, as soon as she is caught and haltered THEN shove a few treats in her mouth. Do NOT bribe her with them. Let her go after she has been haltered. Wash, rinse, repeat a couple times a day (if possible) for a few days. Then, take her out and do something with her she likes! Groom her, bathe her, hand graze her, go for a walk, give her grain inside, etc. You want her to assoicate her being caught with good things, not work!!

Option B would be to move her into a smaller paddock and feed her inside. If she doesn't want to come in don't give her dinner/breakfast. Guaranteed she'll be ready to come in by the next meal time! Feed her inside for a few weeks then put her back on turnout.
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#8 ·
If she's not your horse, why are you trying to catch her? Especially if it takes 3 to 5 hours at a time? Are you catching her for lessons or as a lease?

If the horse is "trained" you should be able to walk up to the horse and halter it. Since she doesn't, she is not trained that well. The trainer should be correcting it if she is their horse, not you.

There shouldn't be any reason you can't take a whip or anything else out there with you. You feel that you're not in a good situation with the other horses crowding around. You are correct in feeling that way. Your safety should be number 1 concern and in that situation it is being compromised.

From the little info you have given, I would be looking for a different trainer. I don't know where you are, your level of experience, your age, or the full details of the situation. If you are leasing her, I would look for a different horse to lease.

Hard to catch horses are that way for 2 main reasons. Either they know that being caught means work or they are scared.

Bribing a horse with grain may work at first but they quickly figure out what is happening. Giving her grain AFTER she is caught is not bribing her. It is rewarding her. You can't offer it to her while trying to catch her. Giving it to her after being caught is giving her a reason to be caught.

There are many threads on here about hard to catch horses. The simplest method is to "walk them down". No method will fix this overnight. It can take a few times or it may take many times. As you walk towards her and she walks away, keep her moving. Cluck or kiss at her, swing the lead rope and halter towards her. Anything that keeps her moving. Only when she stops AND turns to face you, you turn away and ignore her. Wait a few seconds and try to approach her again. If or when she starts walking away, keep her moving again. Keep repeating and each time you should start getting closer to her. When you can get close enough to actually catch her, DON'T. Walk away instead. If she follows, stop and let her approach you then walk away again. Start over with approaching her again. This time you won't try to catch her but you will try to rub the halter and lead rope on her. If she moves away, keep her moving again until she stops and faces you again. When she let's you rub her, walk away. Now you can try approaching her and catching her. If she moves away, keep her moving again. When you make her move, she doesn't have to run. Just keep her walking until she stops and faces you.
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#9 ·
I'm kind of wondering why your trainer won't work with her...a horse that can't be caught is not a "trained" horse. You're completely right to feel uncomfortable catching a horse with so many others around. Personally, I would either ask again for permission to take a whip in, or politely confront her about working individually with the mare. Explain the situation to her and how you feel uncomfortable, and if yours and the horses' safety is her priority, she'll compromise or make arrangements.

Also, I think others have said it, but you can't bribe her with treats. It's tempting because it seems like the only thing that works, but it creates an awful habit and you don't want a horse that can only be caught with grain anyway - it's unsafe and just plain annoying. You said you only have two days a week to ride, but I think you're just going to have to give up a riding day and devote it to working with her on this problem, no matter if it takes 3 hours. Wear her out, chase her down, whatever you need to do to catch her, and THEN reward her with a treat. No grain until she's caught and standing nicely.

Also, it's important not to always make leaving the pasture a bad thing. (If she truly dreads working, maybe check for pain? an ill-fitted saddle? not saying you're not taking good care of her, it's just something to check out for!). Try just taking her out to groom her or hand-graze her, and then let her back out to pasture - don't always ride after you catch her.

Best of luck with her! :)
 
#10 ·
Rather than trying to bait this horse with food or even give her treats when she comes to you, try giving her treats when you turn her loose. Think of this as a reward for her working with you. It will be the last thing she remembers about you, and she should soon start coming to you when she sees you and/or when you call.

Of course, this method is not foolproof. There may be times when other interests take priority in her mind. The effectiveness of this method also depends on how you treat her when she is with you.
 
#11 ·
There has been some good advice given so far. I give my horse a treat when I release him, mainly because they're still in my pocket and need to go! :D If you can catch her, take her up to where you'll tack her and then give a treat, or after you've tacked her up (do it before bridling ;) ).

I would tell your "trainer" you need help with this. Not sure is Mia is yours or hers but if she isn't hers, I'd look for a new trainer if possible.
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#12 ·
My horse went through a rowdy/testing limits stage around his 3rd birthday. The day he ran from me when I went to get him, I chased him around the pasture and made him run and run and run until he wanted to stop, then made him run some more. It took 40 minutes and all my inner strength to remain calm & composed despite being furious at him, but I would have stayed out there as it took to make sure he didn't win that game. I could do nothing but cool him down and put him back up that day. The next day when he started to walk away from me when I went to catch him, I made him run for just a few moments before he realized it was much less work to just come right to me. He's never been a problem for me to catch since.
 
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#13 ·
I just want to update you guys with Mia
She came in with only teat in my hand not a bucket after 20 min
Today I went and did join up with Mia and after 30 min of her not coming in to me we did it. After that I toke her(bareback) for a cool down hack down the road.
I also hand grazed her for a bit to let some sweat dry
So happy right now
 
#14 ·
My mother's old Morgan was very hard to catch; I had to outwit him. I had a halter on me with a lead rope and would pretend I didn't see him and call out his name. I would turn my back to him and call his name as he stood there looking at me like I was a complete dumb*** then I would slowly back up to him as I'm "searching" for him, whip around and throw the lead line over his neck and halter him. He was stunned every time because he thought I didn't see him. Ha!
 
#15 ·
ManeEquinessence I don't think she would fall for that as I can only get about 5 feet form her then she bolts that happen with everytime i enter the field or let her go. I start to spend more time after lesson and rides to get her use to me
 
#16 ·
I find it's all in the approach. I am saying this as all three of the horses I have owned have been hard to catch.

How are you approaching the horse? Never walk up to them dead on or look it in the eye as they read your intent to catch them. Most will turn and walk away as soon as they see you coming.

Walk around the horse - do not approach the neck or head. I like to walk passed a horse. If I am approaching from it's left, I want to walk behind it until I am on it's right side. It will usually watch me, but won't run. Stop, look at the horse, and walk away. You now have the horse's curiosity ("Why did she not halter me like always?").

Walk back to the horse, again, not approaching the head or neck. Get to the flank if you can and give the horse a pet - then walk away. Repeat this until you can touch the horse's neck, and preferably, touch the horse all over without it moving away. Some people are going to seriously detest me for this, but I use treats. Once my horse allows me to rub it everywhere, she gets a treat. This keeps her interest from waning and she realizes she gets a reward when she doesn't run from me. I keep the treats in my pocket so 40 horses aren't chasing me all over the pasture - much easier than handling a grain bucket! Also, if this is your first time using treats you can bring a treat bag to shake. It stays closed, but makes noise - your horse will likely associate it with food, as it already does so with the grain bucket.

Repeat the same process on the other side of the horse. Once the horse is relaxed with you petting it, put the lead rope around its neck. The majority of horse's know they are caught once the lead rope is around them.

Pet the horse some more and, with the lead rope still on the neck, halter your horse.

If you have the time (I suggest you practice this when you have a few hours to spare), walk the horse around the pasture, spending some time with it. Take the halter off and release the hose. Give a treat if you like to do this, then walk away from the horse. Rinse and repeat.

Unfortunately, with horse's like this it's a repetition process and usually involves you catching and releasing multiple times over the course of a few weeks. Also, when you go out to visit your horse, don't always put them to work. Catch them and take them for a nice groom or bath or something else they enjoy. Then put them back in the pen. Make it look like being caught doesn't always mean unpleasant things and that you are a joy to be around.

Also, you can use friendly horses in the pasture to your advantage. Go up to another horse and pet them and talk to them. Your horse will watch and see that you are not a threat to them. Keep an eye on your horse - every time you move, you should have your horse's attention. If not, you are doing something wrong. Walk around, pet other horses, etc until it is watching you with interest.

Hope this helps! If you are not keen on feeding treats then ignore the whole bit about them ;)
 
#17 ·
For my friend who had this problem with her horse for many years, it was a two-part process to fix.

First of all, when you go in, don't go right at the horse. Don't even really look at him. Walk to the side, like you're going to pass the horse. Then stop and turn your back to him. Just hang out. Walk away a little. Then walk past a little more.

Eventually the horse either gets curious and comes to you to see what's up, or the horse starts ignoring you. Eventually work your way closer and closer until you can pet the horse. Pet once and walk away a little. (This is all that classic pressure and release stuff). Do it a couple times until the horse's guard is really down.

If the horse acts like it's going to run away or walk off, you walk off first. When the horse finally stands still completely doing nothing, that's when you put the lead rope over the head and gently put the halter on. Nice and easy with lots of calming sounds and words.

Don't go suddenly fast and say, "Ah ha! Caught ya!" or anything. That just makes your job harder next time. At this point, I would treat the horse with something I had in my pocket. My friend didn't do that.

The second part was to take the horse to the barn, give her massive food treats and just groom her before taking her back out to the pasture and letting her go. She did this a few times and then alternately in between working sessions did it again once in a while. This way the horse learned that being caught meant extra food and treats and not always work.

The ponies at the club where I take lessons all come willingly to the halter because each and every time they're tacked up, they're given stale baguettes as a treat. They try to trot to the barn, even though they work their buns off as soon as the saddles are on.

Food is a powerful motivator and I'm happy to use it. I know some people here say your horse should just do what you say because you're the boss and treating is a bad idea, but I don't see anything wrong with greasing the wheel.
 
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