Bad catchers might be the most frustrating thing I’ve ever experienced

Ive had 3 ponies I can think of in my time owning horses that were an absolute nightmare to catch when I first got them. I did the basic "join up" with them and to be fair, it did work. I did it every single day until eventually they came willingly. Probably because they simply couldnt be bothered to be asked to trot/canter around until they gave up so they realised coming in was so much easier!
 
There is a pony here who has a rep for being hard to catch. He's a lot better now he is retired but still tricky to headcollar in the field. Certainly I need to hide the headcollar under my coat on the approach or I would see only a pair of hairy heels disappearing up the field! Generally though I just call in his friend (who will come over any time in case I have food) and the other will follow him in. Once in the yard he's easily caught. I did have to catch him in a big field once and thought I'd never do it but I tried the approach-on-a-curve method and that confused him enough for me to get close in and catch him.
My old pony was usually a dream to catch so it was a surprise when one day he wasn't. I tried following him round but it was a 5 acre field and I was knackered after about an hour of that. I went and sat down on the stile and found a plastic bag in my pocket. I had my back to the pony and rustled the bag, he stuck his head over my shoulder to see what it was and I had his halter on in a flash. Nosiness can be useful.
It's one of the most frustrating aspects of looking after horses, when they simply won't be caught. Your youngster is having a fine old time of it, but I expect he will grow out of this...hopefully!
 
Probably a rehash of what others have already said: a horse who had been through treatment for sarcoids (a while ago so it was the heavy metal cream I think) understandably became difficult to catch. I just walked after him persistently - I think it took me several hours and then when he finally 'gave in' I fed him a treat and left. It's many years ago now so I can't remember if I had to do the same again, but if so it was only once. I bought him a while after that incident and he was never bad to catch ever again. He always got a treat on catching though!
 
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