catching horses that wont be caught - with a difference!

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catherine22

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I have a horse at my yard who will not be caught, some days shes an angel and you can walk straight up to her, other days you cant get near her so leaving a headcollar on her made no difference.
Generally you cant catch her at all if other horses are still in the field, so I have to wait until all the horses are in before I can even try (which is about 8pm)

The problem being, she on full livery so I turn her out, muck out and try and bring her in, her owner just rides her (when she can catch her!) Her owner has said she doesnt mind her being left out if I can get her but I dont feel right leaving her out (in just a rain sheet overnight) especially considering how much her owner pays for her livery even tho its not my fault I cant catch her.

its only me and her owner that catch her so we know nothing bad has happened to her to scare her.

Tomorrow we are going to try and put her in a field on her own to see if we can catch her then (and maybe electric fence a small area off to give us more of a chance!)

any one else have any ideas xx
 
l had a horse that you could not catch and if you cornered him he would jump out.In the end l turned him out with a very long piece of rope attatched to his head collar,not ideal l know but it meant he could go out and as soon as he knew l had hold of the end of the rope he gave in and walked in like a lamb!!!He was the loveliest horse in every other way!!
 
umm, pony nuts in a bucket, maybe following her around (this worked with a mare i had... she'd do big circles round me as if being lunged and eventually give in!), or standing with your back to her and rustling polo mints in pocket.
tbh if the owner's fine about it, i wouldn't feel guilty... the daft horse must understand that if it lets itself be caught it gets a nice warm bed for the night!
 
My mare did this when we got her. She didn't care if you followed her around all night, she wouldn't give in.
The trick I found was to get a carrot and throw it up and down abit and then toss it a few feet in front of you, and just carry on doing that..
 
we used ever decreasing circle of electric fence to catch taz at one point...toook agggges

also tried rugby tackling him, which did work, but he was only 10hh lol
 
didnt think about the long piece of rope, would that work tho with other horses in the field or only if they were out on their own?
have also thought about the electric fence circle but she does tend to gallop around and i'd be worried that she'd go straight through it. shes 14.3hh but suprisingly strong!!
 
we have one that either

chase after you and goes for you or rears up when you get near him to clip rope on (have to leave headcollar on) or spins round and runs off

If he does that I run at him and chase him away til he goes in a circle round me and then I turn my back on him and then he just walks up to me... its all a big game with him but if you don't no how to do it he will not let you catch him.


or he is a good boy and come like a kitten.

we have him in a smallish paddock and try to get him in at the same time everyday but if you try earlier then he will play up.

Bless him all 17hh of him
 
April used to kick out at people who tried to catch her which was very frightening if you couldn't get her over the fence!

We used feeding to encourage her over and then as she seemed to be a bit over schooled we gave her a fun and varied routine so that she didn't dread being caught.
Now she comes running over to me straight away as soon as I call and I haven't had to walk up to get her for over a year but she still often won't come for people she doesn't know well. My poor mum gets very offended if she blanks her lol!
 
our ponys the same waste of time with food, try to make a point area and shoo them into there. they cant escape then. my daughters pony is a pain with everyone but her. We shoo him into the corner and hey presto!!
 
the trouble with the long piece of rope thing is if they tread on it while grazing and then yank their head up against the restraint = damage to atlas/axis = chiropractor requd to put it right...
advance and retreat works with just about everything if you're patient enough, tbh!
 
if u walk with in about 20metres of her she'll just gallop off and round and round every time you move towards her. just doing know what to do, hopefully fenceing her in a small field on her own will give us a chance!!

Thing is as well she slightly on her large side, bless her so shes only given a handful of chaff and 1 section of hay when she comes in and shes only ridden bout 2/3 times a week - if you can catch her.

so the other problem is cant make dinner etc more exciting to come into coz she'll put on even more weight and you can catch her to ride/excercise her!!
 
What about just carrots and apples, they are quite exciting and won't be too fattening. You might just need to make it worth her while!

Does she get better when the summer grass starts to go or is it a year round problem?
I find that even the reluctant catchers tend to congregate round the gate in the wintertime!
 
its all year round, and is worse when its raining! - not the cleverest horse!!

her owner has brought some carrots up for her dinners today so hopefully we can make it more excting. she wont even come to a bucket of feed. she used to come when we ignored her and rustled packets in our pockets but now you cant get her attention for long enough to get her interested!! grrr!!
 
Gypsy was a complete nightmare to catch, i used to sit in the middle of the field and watch her, she would eventually give up and come over.

I would bring her in and give her fruit and veg, so she thought getting caught meant good things. Now she walks over to us when called. She still has days when we have to bring another horse in before her. However she doesnt run off anymore when i go to catch her!!
 
The best thing I found for my horse that is sometimes bad to catch........................ was to buy another one!!
grin.gif


Jealousy is a very powerful thing
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Moo hates thinking that Mummy and Beans are going off without her
smirk.gif
 
When you mentioned the mare being more difficult to catch in the rain....well one of mine is worse in cold weather to the point that when I've finally managed to grab her, she looks absolutely terrified when I go to put the head piece over her poll. I think she must suffer neuralgia, or sensitivity to the top of the head area in chilly weather. (Having had neuralgia of my jaw I know how painful it is)

I never just chuck the headpiece over her head. Always pass it from one hand to the other, dragging the headpiece down her neck a little which is less sensitive.

She's slightly better with a neck cover on.

She has and still does sometimes run rings round me, and will jump out if I corner her.

Best thing I find is to keep her moving away from me until she's bored/fed up, then creep up slowly whilst talking to her in a lovey dovey voice (even though I want to kill her!) and be really gentle when putting the headcollar on. She'll often let me tickle her back/withers, but when I creep towards her head she panics and runs away.

Very frustrating!
 
My horse is terrible to catch, and loves waiting until you are four feet away before galloping off! I think she enjoys doing it, and I know that shes not scared! As she is slightly on the large side, I found that putting a grazing muzzle on her worked with helping me catch her, when I go to bring her in now, she runs up to me as she hates the muzzle and loves it when she comes in and it can be taken off!!
 
I do the same as eventersrus, I have one that is out all the time with a headcollar and long rope, we use a nylon rope and make sure that there is no knot in the end so if he does tread on it he can pull it through his feet. Also we tie it to the headcollar we don't use clip on ropes as the clips can break.
 
we did think of a grazing muzzle, that will be the next step if she keeps it up.
have put her in a field on her own today and electric fenced off a small area so she cant get too far away from me tonight! I'll keep you all posted!
 
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