Catching a unhandled horse in a large herd and field

[planete]

I can tell you how I caught the feral colt I bought years ago. You need to set aside as many hours as it will take. You have with you a bag with drink and sandwiches for yourself and you are prepared to walk all day if necessary. You walk quietly towards the horse, he starts moving away and you follow. You are not staring at him, you are relaxed, and you just follow him so that every time he tries to stop he has to move on. Depending on the horse he will eventually starts getting pretty fed up and may mock charge you to get you to leave him in peace, just send him away with the minimum degree of arm waving or whatever is necessary and carry on. He should eventually start walking in large circles with you at the centre.
He will at some point stop and you can attempt to get close to him. If he moves away start walking again. Eventually he will let you go right up to him. Now you scratch him gently on the shoulder and neck and bribe him if he will take food (be careful of the other horses) and attempt to thread a longish rope through his head collar and to lead him. Do not fasten the rope to the head collar as there is no guarantee he will not panic and break away. Next day you start walking again and what took hours yesterday should only take minutes. You do this every day until you can catch him straight away. It will take hours and a great degree of do or die attitude but it works. Good luck.

 

[planete]

PS. I had previously tried to coral this colt with a rope held by several people and he just charged through it when he saw he was going to be trapped.

 

[Gloi]

One of the unhandled youngsters I bought many years ago was caught by the farmer driving him off a moor into a barn and then into a wagon backed up to the barn just by using a pair of sheepdogs. I was well impressed.

 

[teddypops]

My take on it is that the other 17 are domesticated so no issues with catching and treating them. Also there aren't stables to bring the 17 into or remove them from the field to isolate the newbie.

I think OP acknowledges it's less than ideal circumstances but it is what it is so can anyone suggest the best way to go about doing something that has to be done as it's non-negotiable instructions from the YO.

As the horse isn't integrated within the herd it is plausible that he could be calmly herded into a smaller paddock away from the others to give OP the chance to get him haltered and/or sedated.

They still have to be caught and treated, so could Be tied up, making it safer to catch the feral one. I am aware there are no stables, but an acre corral was mentioned which they could be brought into.

 

[Tagoat]

I do sypathize with you OP, but cannot help but feel you have purchased the wrong pony, at the wrong time & brought him into (& turned him out) a totally unsuitable set-up. Stressful & unsatisfactory for all concerned. Best of luck.

 

[Tigerlily100]

My take on it is that the other 17 are domesticated so no issues with catching and treating them. Also there aren't stables to bring the 17 into or remove them from the field to isolate the newbie.

I think OP acknowledges it's less than ideal circumstances but it is what it is so can anyone suggest the best way to go about doing something that has to be done as it's non-negotiable instructions from the YO.

As the horse isn't integrated within the herd it is plausible that he could be calmly herded into a smaller paddock away from the others to give OP the chance to get him haltered and/or sedated.

Thank you, you totally get it!
We have spent this evening with him until dark and it went way better than i thought it would I am pleased to say.
My daughter has him following her around the field like a sheep and eating from her hand. That's really good progress for day one.
She can get her hand inches from his head collar.
We did not try to catch him this evening, but I think it's only days before we do from what I saw tonight.
He really joined up well with her, really interested in her.....and the carrots of course which I think is going to be our secret weapon. He just loves carrots
I have far more hope after this evening, the pressure is still there time wise, but we will repeat tomorrow and will have 12 hours Saturday and12 hours Sunday to work with him. We can make huge progress in that time.
There is not a nasty bone in him, we saw this evening he's such a lovely boy and just a little afraid of the human hand touching him and shy's away.

 

[Leo Walker]

They still have to be caught and treated, so could Be tied up, making it safer to catch the feral one. I am aware there are no stables, but an acre corral was mentioned which they could be brought into.

But he was rearing and becoming so dangerous he had to be let out, so how is that going to work this time? If he truly hasnt been handled and is that wild hes not going to care about electric fence or heras panels or even post and rail.

I've had more than one completely unhandled youngster ironically with no facilities as well, and if they havent been handled before and you start trying to corner them or pen them in they do panic, and its not the sort of slightly upset behaviour you can get from an adult horse. Its genuine panic and the flight instinct kicks in. They will think nothing of hurting themselves or you in order to get away.

I used to take unhandled youngsters to a yard and stable them for a week or two until they were catching and leading nicely, and knew the basics of tying up and picking their feet up and had any necessary wormer/lice treatment/vet checks and knew about feed, etc.

Then and only then, they went out into a small group of other youngsters the same size and roughly the same age. The other youngsters were incredibly friendly and easy to handle. Even then the previously feral youngster would go back over for a week or two until it learnt that actually people were nice no matter what the location.

I dont believe for one second that this youngster has been stabled for a month. If he had he wouldnt be unhandled and wild still. So Im working on the basis that he was run up into transport and dumped into a huge field with an adult herd. I am stunned that anyone thought it would be ok to throw and unhandled youngster out with 17 adult horses then post sad faces that the other horses are being mean to him. What on earth did you think would happen?! You are very lucky hes not been hurt. Then you really would have an emergency situation on your hands.

As it stands the only option has been suggested several times already and thats to sedate him by somehow feeding him, although if he is truly unhandled he wont have a clue about feed or treats and the other horses will just run him off anyway, so good luck with that!

If you contact your vet they may know someone who will come out and dart him, but it wont be cheap and I'm not sure if they will agree or not, if its just for you to delouse him. I suggest you go to your YO and say that you probably wont be catching him this weekend, but that you will be there from dawn to dusk every single day until you can catch him.

I'm very sorry that you feel the forum hasnt been helpful to you but unfortunately people sometimes create situations so mind bogglingly stupid that there isnt much positive advice you can give them.

 

[Leo Walker]

So hes not really unhandled at all then if hes letting you touch him and hes eating carrots. This story hasnt half changed a bit from the OP!

 

[Tigerlily100]

Leo get off your high know it all horse!
Now you strike me as an intelligent person, intelligent enough to know a person can only go by what they have experienced or are told.
Let me fill you in on some facts - so you can remove your presumptions of which there are many.

I went to see this horse in February and he was in a herd and we couldn't get within 6 feet of him. But he appeared placid in nature and happy in a big herd - got that bit? It was in the East Midlands and I live in London - have you got that bit? It's really important you get this bit as it explains why I wasn't present between viewing and delivery.....

So between viewing and delivery I was told he was caught, put into a stable and handled and vaccinations done - his passport confirms vaccinations were done so this part is true. Prior to being caught I was told he had spent his life in the field, untouched and unhandled and after tracking down the breeder, I discovered the time this man got the horse and the time the breeder sold him was the same - so I can deduce from that, 1 owner and unhandled since leaving breeder.

The next I see him he's delivered and he is very upset and distressed and was a handful to the extent we were concerned for our safety so chose to put him out - why did we do this? Because I had no other option.

Did I expect a horse off the trailer like that? Absolutely not.
I expected what I saw today in him - ie. a little nervous and it will take a little time.
Did I expect lice? Absolutely not.

Yesterday I was very upset and I posted literally out of desperation and you know why I omitted lots of information and just wanted suggestions on how to catch him in large field - because of judgemental people like you who think they know it all and are the self professed worlds expert.

Moving on and after seeing him tonight, I have seen a very different horse to one that arrived and it's a huge relief.

The point to note here Leo is I have seen this horse twice up until I posted - once briefly on viewing and once on arrival and I can only go by what I have seen and experienced and what I have been told by it's previous owner.

Now do go back like a good boy and re read every single word written, find any contradiction so you can steam back on in and tell the whole world I am lying.

Hell maybe he doesn't even exist, maybe I am a silly 14 year old school girl who made it all up because I am lonely...whatever floats your boat to call me a troll, a liar, whatever pleases you.

The point you have totally missed is I only posted out of desperation, for the first time in a very long time of having horses I thought shit, what the hell am I going to do?
I was utterly dejected earlier today, but thank you so much for being such a top bloke!
I'd like to tell you you've upset me, or bothered me but I'd be lying again.

 

[Leo Walker]

I'm not a bloke And nothing you have posted means what you have done was remotely acceptable in any shape or form. Hopefully next time you think about doing something like this you remember how dejected you were feeling this morning and rethink it.

I didnt post for your benefit, your story has so many holes in it I'm surprised you can keep it straight to be honest. I posted in case anyone else ever stumbles across this thread and is thinking about doing anything remotely similar in the future.

 

[Tigerlily100]

Thanks for everyone who offered genuine advice and tried to understand I found myself unintentionally in a difficult situation.
It's not over, we've a long way to go and the pressure is still on, but I've now got hope we can do this and after that, we will go back to the original plan of take it easy and at his pace.

I may or may not pop back for future advise, and if not needed maybe just for entertainment

Thanks all and good night

 

[BeckyFlowers]

Hi Tigerlily100, glad to hear that you have made some progress with your chap, and that you seem to have found his Achilles heel with the carrots. Just one thing to add really: a) have you used Deosect before, and b) do you have a choice about using it, or has the YO said you have to use Deosect specifically? I only ask as I used it on my horse once, prepared it to the recommended dilution and used a pump bottle that produces a constant spray. He reacted badly to it - it was like it was burning or irritating him so badly I had to get the hose on him and wash it all off. Our mare was fine with it. Just thought it was worth a mention as you may have to be prepared for a reaction. Hope it all goes well!

 

[ihatework]

I'm not a bloke And nothing you have posted means what you have done was remotely acceptable in any shape or form. Hopefully next time you think about doing something like this you remember how dejected you were feeling this morning and rethink it.

I didnt post for your benefit, your story has so many holes in it I'm surprised you can keep it straight to be honest. I posted in case anyone else ever stumbles across this thread and is thinking about doing anything remotely similar in the future.

Do you know what, it is acceptable just to back off and keep quiet sometimes! I can completely see how this has planned out.

 

[Tigerlily100]

I can tell you how I caught the feral colt I bought years ago. You need to set aside as many hours as it will take. You have with you a bag with drink and sandwiches for yourself and you are prepared to walk all day if necessary. You walk quietly towards the horse, he starts moving away and you follow. You are not staring at him, you are relaxed, and you just follow him so that every time he tries to stop he has to move on. Depending on the horse he will eventually starts getting pretty fed up and may mock charge you to get you to leave him in peace, just send him away with the minimum degree of arm waving or whatever is necessary and carry on. He should eventually start walking in large circles with you at the centre.
He will at some point stop and you can attempt to get close to him. If he moves away start walking again. Eventually he will let you go right up to him. Now you scratch him gently on the shoulder and neck and bribe him if he will take food (be careful of the other horses) and attempt to thread a longish rope through his head collar and to lead him. Do not fasten the rope to the head collar as there is no guarantee he will not panic and break away. Next day you start walking again and what took hours yesterday should only take minutes. You do this every day until you can catch him straight away. It will take hours and a great degree of do or die attitude but it works. Good luck.

I was just reading back the replies, thank you, some really useful advise and sorry I missed it the first time around.
You're right about the other horses, they kept chasing him away from us so we worked as a team, and I became the "other horse" distractor.....if there is such a word!
We pretty much did exactly as you suggest tonight and about an hour in he was so interested in my daughter (or the carrots) he started following her everywhere and eventually ate out of her hand.
I cannot tell you the relief I felt and it was huge progress.
We now have a plan, she will work with him, I will distract the others and we are prepared to spend whole days there and yes, pack lunches be going with us

 

[Mrs. Jingle]

I have a lot of experience with semi feral rescue youngsters and totally understand where you are coming from OP. And your latest update sounds very positive and if it helps at all, I have often found the most wild and unruly youngsters that come steaming off the lorry breathing fire are very often the quickest to settle and accept normal day to day handling including catching them up.

I dont think the yard/field set up is the most ideal but like most horse owners sometiems we have to cope and work around the given circumstances on any situation that arises. It sounds to me as though you will get this sorted and it will all settle down and your YO will get off your case. Pity some on here can't do that too. Good luck and please update as I am genuinely interested to see how this all pans out for you and your new horse.

 

[windand rain]

Walking down is the very best way of catching a pony or horse but it does take a lot of time. The lack of time was the reason I suggested a small solid pen It worked for my feral foal she was impossible to get near until she was contained at which point you could get her on a headcollar. Once caught she was very easy to handle as she seemed to realise she was getting a lot of gentle fuss and was happy to be touched but it took a very long time of walking down. penning her and feeding her seperate from the others as they bullied her away from food. She is 13 now can still occassionaly be a madam about being caught but walking down is a matter of minutes rather than hours now. We always teach walking down if the horse moves away it can be very useful even if they are normally easy to catch as contrary to popular belief the pony can indeed be naughty if it is to their advantage. Escaping into lush grass is often the time we have to use walking down to catch them as they really do not want to be caught and removed from such a tasty area

 

[Lurfy]

Some great advice here. I also have used the walking down to catch technique and keeping the other horses at bay using other quiet, experienced people. I have done this in 100 acre paddocks so time consuming, but very effective. OP your horse sounds like he will come around well if you and your daughter made such good progress already. Onwards and upwards.

 

[Tiddlypom]

You're definitely braver folk than me if you single out one low ranking horse turned out in a herd of 17 others to feed carrots to .

 

[southerncomfort]

Please please always make sure you and your daughter wear hard hats if working with him in the field. I do understand the limitations you have but the whole thing sounds really dangerous to me.

Having had a feral youngster myself I know how quickly a situation can change and become very dangerous particularly if you have lots of other curious horses milling around.

I don't understand why on earth your YO isn't being more helpful. Surely separating yours from the herd for a while until all the lice are gone is just common sense?!

When I had my youngster I had a small corral which I brought him in to each day to give him a feed and start some basic handling. While just hanging out in the field with a feral pony can work, it is very slow going and it might take you months to get anywhere with him. Once the grass starts coming through he probably won't be as motivated by carrots either.

I really hope things work out for you but please be careful. This situation has the potential to go very badly wrong very fast.

 

[AdorableAlice]

OP, may I respectfully suggest you don't attempt to coral a nervous/anxious/unhandled horse with the use of electric tape or lunge lines. A truly frightened horse, and I speak from experience learnt handling a very large feral youngster, will do anything and everything it feels necessary to break through the enclosing area that you are making around him. They will look for light and space and will simply plough through or go over the top of you.

Attempting that in a field would be very dangerous and even in a barn would present a very real danger. The risk of the horse getting caught in the tape/rope also needs to be considered, he will panic and could easily take the tape back into the herd which will result in more chaos.

IF, your horse is truly feral you have two options. The first and easiest is to catch the other 17 and let the feral horse be carried along in the bunch into a small area to be contained whilst the others are led out again. Or, speak to your vet about sedating him orally or with a gun.

 

[Templebar]

I think the problem people have with answering your question is that there is no answer that is a safe and easy way to do it for you or him. Every way you go is going to be stressed for you both and could lead to people in hospital or him need a vet.

If your yard owner is requiring this but letting you put nothing up then i would ask them how to do it. Say how you want to do it by time and put emphasis on safety. Then if they want to do it another way and someone gets hurt that's their lawsuit. I understand you realise its going to take time and not be easy which is fine but under pressure things can go horrifically wrong. If you decide to corral him make sure its study so he cant run through or jump out and dont under estimate him.

Good luck. Let us know how you get on.

 

[Tarragon]

I agree with Templebar in that I find it difficult to understand how the YO has let this situation occur in the first place and is also now providing little or no help or support to allow you to manage the situation you find yourself in safety.
Plus I do wonder about this need to de-louse. I do not think that your little pony could be the source of it as there really hasn't been enough time or contact for it to have happened.
Perhaps have a conversation with the YO about it and the other liveries if you can, to see if it can be handled collectively rather than thinking that it is a problem you have solve on your own?
I do hope that it all goes well and it does sound like you are making a good start.
Please let us know how you get on.

 

[Floxie]

This reminds me of my previous yard's policy on quarantine. New horses in isolation for two weeks, no question. Rigorously enforced.

But then as soon as the two weeks are up, off you go, carry on - no inspection, no questions, probably nobody would notice if the new horse was hacking up a lung let alone carrying lice, certainly nobody thinks or cares to see if there's evidence of vaccination in the passport But you've done your time, so off you go.

I have absolutely no idea what they think those two weeks in quarantine are actually for (I certainly can't figure it out!). Presumably if the horse drops dead then it isn't allowed to integrate with the herd.

 

[LaurenBay]

This reminds me of my previous yard's policy on quarantine. New horses in isolation for two weeks, no question. Rigorously enforced.

But then as soon as the two weeks are up, off you go, carry on - no inspection, no questions, probably nobody would notice if the new horse was hacking up a lung let alone carrying lice, certainly nobody thinks or cares to see if there's evidence of vaccination in the passport But you've done your time, so off you go.

I have absolutely no idea what they think those two weeks in quarantine are actually for (I certainly can't figure it out!). Presumably if the horse drops dead then it isn't allowed to integrate with the herd.

I don't understand most yards rules regarding Quarantine.

Take my share Horses yard for example. New Horses must go is isolation for 2 weeks and be swabbed for strangles. They are only allowed to use the outdoor schools and not allowed in the indoor school. Same yard runs weekly shows with visiting Horses, in the indoor school. Go figure.

 

[Auslander]

OP, may I respectfully suggest you don't attempt to coral a nervous/anxious/unhandled horse with the use of electric tape or lunge lines. A truly frightened horse, and I speak from experience learnt handling a very large feral youngster, will do anything and everything it feels necessary to break through the enclosing area that you are making around him. They will look for light and space and will simply plough through or go over the top of you.

Glad it's not just me! I have never met a feral one who has the faintest idea what electric tape is - and they absolutely don't see it as a barrier - whether they're frightened, or just adamant that they won't be hanging around to find out what's in store for them! I don't trust anything that is low enough for a horse to get its head over (when it's on its hind legs) - if it's scared/het up it will exploit any perceived loophole.

 

[pansymouse]

I can catch anything but it takes time sometime a long time. Remember there are no short cuts that end well - penning or trapping is a very bad idea and sets you up for a lifetime of catching issues. The only thing that works for a good long term outcome is walking down in a very calm frame of mind - if you are tense or angry you will be transmitting that to the horse and you don't have a hope. Never shout or raise your voice but keep up a steady fairly monotone stream of chatter - you need to imprint your voice on them to work towards the point of being able to call them from the gate and getting them to come to you (it can seem like a wild dream to start will but do it right from the outset and it will happen). Greedy horses are much the easiest - as soon as they twig being caught equals a treat or a feed you'll be home and dry as long as you never treat or feed unless they have been caught.

 

[MotherOfChickens]

Glad it's not just me! I have never met a feral one who has the faintest idea what electric tape is - and they absolutely don't see it as a barrier - whether they're frightened, or just adamant that they won't be hanging around to find out what's in store for them! I don't trust anything that is low enough for a horse to get its head over (when it's on its hind legs) - if it's scared/het up it will exploit any perceived loophole.

the whole idea is horrific, even if the horse got out and there were no injuries (on either side) its setting you up for at best, months of distrust and catching issues.

 

[Sukistokes2]

When I picked up my little traditional he was feral. He had never been touched and had lice and long feet. He was caught by a large gypsy lad and then three more got hold of him, they stuck a halter on him, carried him up the ramp , several more put the ramp up and the others excited trough the jockey door. We drove him home and he was isolated in a stable. He promptly jumped out, jumped the fence and got in with my mare. As I had bought him for her and she instantly mothered him I had to give in and leave him be. The fact he had lice was a positive as when he found out I could scratch I was not so scary. Over the course of a couple of weeks he was much better and I got him leading. The farrier said he would be fine until he was more settled. I got him gelded and kept on handling him. Once he was cool I tackled the lice and washed him. He was shocked by the process and so it was quite easy to do. I did all my other horses as well, just in case. One treatment did it and i never saw the lice again.

 

[MagicMelon]

Hmm I wouldn't have put him in the field to start with as straight away your job is extremely difficult. Id ask (beg) the YO if you can make a little corral with electric fencing to put him in for a few weeks until you can tame him (or ask if theres a small paddock or anywhere you can put him on his own (but beside other horses) for a while). The only way I can see you taming him is just going into field with a field bucket and trying to gain his trust but there's no way you can obviously do that with 17 other horses around. The only way to split him now if he wont come to you to catch is by force - chasing him around and trying to split him from the rest of the herd which is certainly not going to do anything for his trust. If your YO wont allow you to have him in a small area then I would look for somewhere else, as I really really dont see how you can work on him in this situation.

Id also suggest it is urgent you get his feet done, saying they're terrible and that it wont do any harm to leave them is a bit crazy IMO. It could lead to all sorts of strain on his joints etc. I'd be sedating him and getting the farrier and doing anything else that needs done to him urgently (like de-flea stuff).

I've had one pony who basically lived on a hillside his whole like and didnt even know how to lead in a headcollar. He was semi-feral, you could vaguely get close enough to touch him but it was a struggle to get the head collar on. I put him in a paddock with one of my others, then I'd just bring in my other one and he'd follow into my yard where I could work on him simply by offering him bits of food and encouraging him closer, stroking him then moving away before he did, working up to a lead rope on him etc. Didn't take long at all to gain his trust and he became really friendly, BUT I did do this several times a day. I just dont see how you can do this in your current setup.

 

[AmyMay]

Did you catch him?