Becoming really upset- unable to catch my horse

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EquestrianFairy

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I've never had an issue with catching my horse- I've had him 4 years.

We recenty moved to a new yard, this is a lot more quieter than any yard we've ever been on. My horse is in a field with the only other gelding just to settle him before he goes in with this same gelding and the others (only two mares)
He is obviously very attached to this gelding- I spent an hour today failing to catch him which resulted in me crying out of sheer frustration.

Anyone have any tips, I cant keep waiting for the other horse to be taken out before I can actually catch mine.
 
Could you speak to the other horse's owner and see if they would be happy for you to temporarily remove their horse from the field (and turn straight back out) when you need to catch your own, as a short-term solution at least?
 
I feel your pain, so frustrating. I have lobbed headcollars and buckets at my boy in the past, though I wouldn't recommend it! No he wasn't scared just being very naughty.

Can you arrange with the owner of the other horse for you to be able to bring both of them?

When I had issues with catching mine I just kept following him about and not letting him settle to eat so he gave up.

Jane
 
Only way to fix catching long-term is to address the issue - i.e. he clearly wants to be wiht the other horse more than you right now, which probably comes from him a) feeling insecure about his new surroundings, b) thinking you're going to take him awya from his new friend, and c) thinking that you're going to make him do boring and/or stressful things like work. Any of the above or all of them. So only way to address the actual caus, in my view, is to give him lots of time and just do lots of things like going and giving him a carrot and wlaking away, going and putting a headcollar on and then taking it off and walking away, grooming him in the field etc. Bit by bit you can establish his confidence again and make things more interesting for him, which will make him feel more secure and he'll chill out (I've done this and it really does work).
I know it's really frustrating, but you have to be patient or it'll just get worse :-(!
 
Give him time to settle and feel secure. His new mate is his lifeline at the moment.
I know how frustrating it is, I've been known to habour dark thoughts about a gun and a dog meat factory whilst trying to mantain a veneer of outward calm and patience. Horse would see through me every time.
 
Ok I agree after 50 mins I threw his headcollar at him and walked away in tears (yes- very immature of me)
The horse in his field is a very big (18.3hh) young boy who I am not comfortable handling. His owner is lovely so i could ask if hers could be put with the others and mine left alone- however I'm worried that may stress him out more and he'll do something stupid to get to them.

He won't even let me close enough to take food from me, bucket of food is hard because I end up getting mugged from the other horse which happened today.

Once the other horse is in, he'll come to call with no problems.
 
EquestrianFairy said:
Once the other horse is in, he'll come to call with no problems.
Click to expand...

Then I would definitely ask if the other horse could move in with the mares & get used to catching your boy in his new surroundings & only when he settles into his new routine would I put him back in with another horse - cause then he will have confidence in you rather than the other horse.
 
Put him out with a field safe headcollar on (not a leather one they dont break). Then if you cant catch him get him going around the field away from you and dont let him stop, just like join up. Keep him going until he comes to you. Its got to be in his head that he wants to be with you and then reward him. This is how I got mine to come in. Did it a few times and he decided it was a good idea to come in rather than do exercise.
 
EquestrianFairy said:
Ok I agree after 50 mins I threw his headcollar at him and walked away in tears (yes- very immature of me)
The horse in his field is a very big (18.3hh) young boy who I am not comfortable handling. His owner is lovely so i could ask if hers could be put with the others and mine left alone- however I'm worried that may stress him out more and he'll do something stupid to get to them.

He won't even let me close enough to take food from me, bucket of food is hard because I end up getting mugged from the other horse which happened today.

Once the other horse is in, he'll come to call with no problems.
Click to expand...

I had this EXACT problem with an old horse of mine, moved to new yard and before he was a* to be caught, then at new yard, no way, he'd just run and run.
The only way I tackled it was by sheer determination and NEVER making eye contact, I walked up to him backwards, it took an hour, but after that I could catch him straight away. I started at one end of the field and just walked backwards slowly, stopping now and then, never turning to look him. When I got half way I had a peek round to see where he was, then continued heading backwards. Eventually I got right in front of him and he didnt feel threatened by me as I was still facing away from him, rather than running around chasing him with a h/collar and rope screaming at him. He then allowed me to turn round (I STILL kept eyes on the ground), and put rope round his neck, then headcollar on.

I always avoided eye contact with him to catch him till a week or so later I could walk up to him like any other horse and just pop his headcollar on. Food etc never worked with him, he'd just run away. You may feel like an idiot backing up to him and using my technique, but it works, ive helped alot of friends catch their moody mares this way too

Another idea if that doesnt work is to take a friend, some electric fencing and slowly fence him off, providing hes not dangerous and isnt the type to run into fencing or through it, you could fence him into a very small area. Once you have him out of the field and show him life outside the field is actually good fun, he'll be okay, just takes time.
 
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This has happened to me after my chap had a break ie not riding, I had to decide to nip it in the bud, its can be a long haul..............and the field was over 2 acres on the side of a hill!! but I got a lunge whip and followed him round the field keeping him moving on both reins, a bit like join up, after about an hour he looked like he'd had enough but kept it going another 10 mins when he practically begged me to catch him and he was rewarded with lots of pats, a carrot and a bath ha ha, he doesn't even think about it now as he knows I will stay the distance, this happend again with my pony, and when he saw me with the lunging whip he stood back and could almost hear him telling pony, she'll never give up you know ha ha. I didn't hit them or shout, just made it very incomfortable, it really does work, it migh help to take a mars bar with you!!! good luck
 
When I got there today I remained calm (until the end at least) he ran the entire time and must have been sweltering under his rug- and still is as I've had to come to work now.

Love the backwards idea as well, might give that a go!
 
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