Colt help please

Ellies_mum2

Ellies_mum2

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Daughters 11 month old colt has decided that he doesn't want to be caught for the last two days after coming to call for the last 5 weeks. I think its probably him finding his feet and he has his little 'herd' of 2 young fillies and a gelding. We have tried keeping him going when he runs off and tried ignoring him. Tried bribery too.Whatever we try he ain't bothered and thinks its all good fun :mad: We were muttering about glue factories yesterday :p Ideas please?

It isn't practicable for him to be kept apart from the other youngsters that he's with at the moment due to lack of land. He is being gelded next month but it would be nice to have him back to where he was with being caught and going out for a little walk

I should add that we are taking our time and acting as though we have all day even if we don't


Heeeeelllllppppppp :(
 
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I know you are not going to like this. But Traveller friends of mine put headcollar on with a long thin rope, which believe it or not doesn't get caught round their legs, and when they want to catch said pony put food down, stand away until they can get hold end of rope and gently reel in, said pony gets use to it and no trouble, it works believe and very little hassle and they only use the method for a very short time.
 
Thanks for the idea johnrobert.

We managed to catch the little sh*t today by being very sneaky but its not a long term solution.

Will pass on your tip on to daughter. Thanks again
 
Bring the others in first? Or just catch up one of the others and start to take it out, see if that gets his attention? Longer term I'd change his expectation of being caught. I'd go to him in the field, give him a treat, leave. Sometimes just give him a rub and leave, sometimes give him a treat. Take a small rope folded in my hand, drop it over his neck, give him a treat, leave... On and on, headcollar on and leave. What happens to him when he comes in? Does he come in for the night? Or get a feed and go out again?
 
*shudder* headcollars in the field.....No.
Am having the same issues with Ollie at the moment. He has decided playing with Little Stig and the gang is far more fun than being caught!
We are catching, giving a pat and a treat, and turning back out.
When he first arrived, we were doing that as many times a day as we could fit in.
 
Tinypony said:
p.s. Don't stress about 30 views and no answers. They could be lurkers, not logged in.
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Hadn't thought of that to be honest :o



We are at grass livery so all the horses live out. He generally comes in to be fed, groomed and generally get used to being handled. Sometimes he will go for a little walk with Bella to get him out of the field. Nothing too taxing for his little brain :p :D
 
I know you have tried keeping him going but this is how I have always managed to catch the cheeky ponies at work by using this method.

This was written in reply to another user so it may not all be relevant to your colt!

So this is what you need to do -

A. Turn him out in a field safe head collar always!

B. Keep him in the smallest field possible (you may want to start of with him on his own or you could keep him with a few others.

C. You need to set a side ALOT of time.

You need to basically shadow him around the field, follow him where ever he goes, do not let him stop but just keep pushing him forward, You can make him change direction by getting in front of his eye line etc, you are then controlling the situation rather then him.

You may have to do this for hours (it took me 40 minutes of 'shadowing' a pony at work until he eventually gave in - he wasn't as bad to catch as yours though (he was in a 4 acre field which didn't help either).

He will eventually start to tire, should start lowering his head and you will be able to see that he want's to stop. Allow him to stop but if he goes to move off when you approach him start pushing him forward again.

When he will let you walk to his head without an issue quietly give him a treat, a gentle pat/rub and walk away from him.

You will have to repeat this over and over again, if you can start at the weekend or when you have a day off you could do a few sessions during the day. Gradually it should take less and less time for him to allow himself to be caught.

Once he is not taking so long to catch you can start bringing him in for a groom/feed. He has got to associate being caught with a positive experience though so I wouldn't do to much work with him until you have got the catching under control!

It took me about a two weeks to completely cure the little bugger at work, now he will just walk over to me when I go into the field. He is always given a treat and we still leave his head collar on.

It is hard work shadowing them for so long but I do think it is the best way to try and solve the problems.

I hope this helps you in some way and good luck with the catching :)
 
It's probably the time of year too, plus I'd take away the fillies now - he will get them in foal, he needs to be away from them for six weeks after gelding too, they will be coming into season now so will turn any colt into diddy stallion and will make colts want to stay with their herd and basically make them behave as a wild little man!!!:D

After he is away from the girls I would keep going into field with no intention what so ever of catching him and just ignore and wander about - curiosity usually gets the better of them, make a fuss when he does come near you and then walk away - if every time you are going into field just to catch him, then he will always want to avoid you. If he is food orientated then all the better, just reward him for coming near you and just scratch him all over working your way round his face so he really likes you going near his head - gradually re-introduce the headcollar and just put on and off, reward then walk away.
 
Echo above,... If his testicles have dropped! And he's out with fillies, then liklihood is that this is what's causing your problems, the recent weather we've had will have kicked the fillies into cycling (or soon!) added to that spring grass!! and he's probably taken on the Alpha male role of the herd! Is there any reason for waiting a month for castration?? I'd separate him or fillies asap. Get him castrated, then once that's done and if you still have a problem catching then seek advice.
 
one of our colts was a sod for not having his headcollar put on and bogging off before we could get hold of him, like you I won't leave headcollars on in the field. I solved this in about 2 days by putting the heacollar on, giving a treat, taking it off giving a treat and so on about 10 times each go several times a day, by the end of day 2 he was putting his nose into the headcollar and waiting after it had been taken off for a treat, later replaced by a scratch. They can be little horrors these boys!
 
Make sure you give yourself plenty of time (hours if possible) and never let yourself get frustrated. Approach him quietly but confidently, making your intention perfectly clear, and if he backs off just follow him (but don't chase him/encourage him to keep going if he slows down or stops as it'll be counter productive). The moment he so much as looks towards you, slows down, moves towards you or even stop,s then you should immediately stop and back off. Turn away from him, ignore him, and simply face the other way or "graze" for a while. Then try again. This will reward him for even acknowledging you and, when repeated consistently with accurate timing, his curious will probably overcome any fear or other motive. The second he allows you to catch him, simply give him a rub and/or a carrot, and walk away for good. Try this over a series of days and you'll find his behaviour changes quickly and dramatically. Make sure that you don't always catch him to work him or bring him even. Sometimes - especially at first - just stroke him or bring him in for a feed or a groom, and then turn him back out. This will help him to develop a positive association with being caught, and long term will encourage him to even want to be caught and spend time with you.
Leaving a headcollar or rope on the horse is unnecessary and encourages the handler to use "sneaky" tactics which will cause your daughter's colt to mistrust you and be even less willing to be caught. It also doesn't make the horse any easier to actually catch!
Using reverse psychology as described above has always worked every time I have used it.
 
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