2 Yr Old Mare - Cannot Approach

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HarkTheHorse

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Hi, I need some advice. I have a two year old mare which whenever we approach runs away and will not let us get near her. It is impossible to get a head colar on her or ever=n touch her to start the socialisation process. How do I proceed with approaching and handling her. Your advice is appreciated.
 
is she in a large field?
if she is can you put her somewhere smaller ?
(could be hard work since you cant catch her, might involve removing all the other horses from the field to tempt her out)

if you can get her in a more manageable area so she cant get so far away- you can spend some time just hanging around her so she discovers you arent scary after all
 
have you tried just spending ages in the field with her until she decides your too interesting and approaches you then maybe just do this every day for a week and when she comes near you let her learn to associate this with being good by giving her a treat etc
 
I bought an unhandled yearling who had spent a significant part of his life in a filthy stable with no windows and the top door kept shut - to say he was terrified was an understatement. I turned him straight out into a 6 acre field and left him to it for a couple of months, then gradually made his field smaller and smaller with electric fencing until we trapped him in a stable. I then kept him in for several days and just sat with him whilst he ate, drank etc to the point where I could manage to wrap a rope round his neck (good aim required!). Then managed to get the vet to sedate him and spent the time he was dozing following being gelded gently handling him (and putting a headcollar and grab-rope on). He was fine after that, kept him in a few days longer and was very persistent with his handling, then turned him out but caught and handled him every day.
 
Im not actually sure

But i can tell you we got these Shetland ponies. They are around a year and i can tell you they were wild very wild so we herded them in to the lorry then backed the lorry up to a stable and unloaded them in.The stable is BIG bigger than a 12 x 12. we have left them in there for about 2 and a half months going in an giving them fresh water and as much haylage they want. The poor wee things didn't know what anything was and ran a mile when we went any where near them now the wee buggers come up for a wee pat and try and get out when door open. we havent put them out yet as they still not tame enough.

But i can not believe the difference in them.
 
I'm sorry but you've had ponies locked in 24/7 for 2 1/2 months! isn't that approaching a welfare issue?!?

Surely they'll end up going crazy (as in neurotic not dashing around) in there? Unless medically necesary surely they should at least have a little turn out in an enclosed yard or something?

Or have I misread your post Leonardo?
 
QUITE THE THING!!!!!

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oh and also the big stable they are in the door leads in to the field where Hari and jae are so they get to speak to them too.

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made tempory fencing around stable door.

crazy fool!!!!
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who in there right mind would keep TWO shetland ponies(any at that) locked up 24/7 jesus
 
If you go to the Intelligent Horsemanship website and log on to the Discussion Group, you can ask about a book that has recently been written about how to approach and handle wild, unhandled ponies. The author has had lots of experience with these sorts of ponies.
 
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Hi, I need some advice. I have a two year old mare which whenever we approach runs away and will not let us get near her. It is impossible to get a head colar on her or ever=n touch her to start the socialisation process. How do I proceed with approaching and handling her. Your advice is appreciated.

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Is this another troll?? Sorry if your not but How long have you had the horse? If not long why buy something that your not sure how to handle? This just seems a bit like the riding a 2 year old and should I hunt it.
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quietly and slowly approche sideways naer the shoulder and dont look at her. if you get close enough that you can just pop your hand out slowly only a little bit for her to sniff then let her sniff you before you touch her. if before then she decides to run off tell her to run off make her think that you dont want her there then eventually you get to them.

this worked with my old pony very well but you do need a full day for this exercise
 
Not necessarily, it is surprisingly easy to end up with a horse with issues. I've been around horses for 23 years (not a great rider by any stretch of the imagination but have seen a lot of equine behaviour) and bought a rising 4yo last year who seemed very biddable. It seems that this was just a coping mechanism after being roughly handled and started in life and i have had a series of issues with him - especially catching- over the last year. It is very frustrating and not an easy one! I echo others - if you can round her up in some way and segregate her into a small paddock on her own you could start some work by just 'being' with her, and progress to join up etc. Ive had an intelliengent horsemanship RA out before and they are really good at correcting your body language in this type of situation. It would appear to be a bit of a body language minefield with a nervous non-catcher! I wish you luck
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i agree with what some have said about just going into field with book etc and just being there for a while so she will see you but can approach at her own pace, usually young horses are fairly curious.

when i got the mare i have now i couldnt get anywhere near here to begin with, had her in a stable for a few days just spending time with her and gradually i managed to get a headcollar on her. now she usually walks upto me when i want to ride, but only me others she plays up for.
 
Really glad that there was extra info I was missing re: them having access to bit of field. Had mis-read your post thinking that they could just look out over the stable door at the others in the field!
 
She is in a field of acouple of acres with a 3 yr old Thoroughbread gelding. Previously we had he in a stable and still could not get near her. The gelding is the most pleasant tame, friendliest horse. She seems to be getting less nervous when I handle him although she won't even take food from a feed bucket if I hold it
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