Coming to call

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Liane

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Now dont get me wrong I am really really pleased that our horses love our new field so much that they never hang around the gate, are always keen to be out and have plenty to eat however I am not liking the fact that every night they make me trudge down to the bottom of the (very large and on a hill) field before they all gallop up to the gate and wait to then be brought in!!!

My horse has in the past (in various different yards/fields) always been at one to be hanging around at the gate at coming in time or at the very least you call him and he gallops over to the gate. But now I can call for as long as I want and he might look up at me but will not move until you get to the bottom of the field.

Have you taught your horses to come to call? Any ideas to help me avoid trudging around the field in the dark looking for them?
 
No, never taught a horse to come to call. Simply for the reason that I don't want them galloping up the field and trashing it.
 
Mine come when they want something. I've had my mare 22yrs in spring, yet in summer when there's plenty of grass, at least half the time she only bothers to walk over to me when I'm a few feet away. Unless I'm banging a feed bucket on the gate, but that only works if you can actually feed in the field. Plus, she loves her grub & always gets carrots when she comes over, so food isn't always the answer.
 
every time you go to catch shout the same sound or whistle eventually some click to come in on that sound. was nearly successful to teach two different horses different whistles so they can be brought in seperately
 
Mines normally waiting by the fence or walks over when he sees or hears me. He has a small electric fence gate and (as he is in quite a boggy field at the moment) the gateway is disgusting and it would be suicide going in there in the pitch black. I hitch the fence so it is off, he comes over, sticks his head over the fence for me to put bridle on and then we open the fence. After a couple of times doing this in the light he now just automatically does it. Works for us :)
 
Currently my horse comes to call as he has been put in a field on his own with limited grass because when out on good grass with friends he is pretty much impossible to catch!
 
I better just add he is not being starved he turns his nose up when hay is put out and comes in to adlib hay at night :)
 
Yes mine come to call, not just to the gate or to feed, but if I summon them they will come.

It sort of gets programmed in to them over a period of time. Me calling them means something to their advantage so they come :) I let them into their new field the other day and they were just trotting off heads down when I called my dog - Purdey, my gelding obviously misheard and thought I said his name - Bluey and came straight back to me. I thought it was really sweet of him to do that.

It is very useful in an emergency (I don't over use it) as they will just leave what they are doing and just come.
 
The ponies come to call! They don't gallop over, it's a very military style procedure! YO calls and they all look up and they all follow one another from the field, to the school :)
 
Try this. Walk part way, call them and then turn away and start to walk to the gate. They should come hot hoofing it across the field after you. If they don't, you may have to call their bluff and leave the field. Do a few yards jobs and come back later and repeat.

Once mine see my back is turned they come immediately, although Fat Boy, who's a professional grazer will leave it til the last moment before arriving at the gate with impeccable timing and admirable agility.
 
Mine come to me with a whistle. Have notice that the foals that are out in the day opposite my stable block have clocks as they all mill around the gate way ready to come in for there tea and the night. They seem to gather about 10 minutes before the yard staff start getting them in. There are 10 of them and so well behaved in calmly waiting there turn to be brought in in twos.
 
All my animals come to call, not just the ponies! The key to remember is never to waste their time. I'm serious. I call when I give hard feed which isn't very often. I call when I open a gate so they can get fresh grazing. I call when they are to be moved to meet other ponies. The dog is called whenever something is about to occur that SHE likes (a car trip to town, a plate to be licked, a mouse to be caught, etc, and if nothing else -- a good fussing and a game!

I used to let some of my fields for summer grazing for cattle. When the owner came to collect them at the end of the summer, he'd find them all securely corralled in the loading bay. Exactly the same psychology is employed. He tells me that after being here for a summer, they remember the call for years which he finds very handy!

Maybe your horses don't want to come in and would be happier left out?
 
My two come to call, but they walk so don't trash the fields. I agree that you have to offer something when they come - every single time, at least at first. However, my TB comes because my youngster comes (and TB doesn't want to miss out!). On his own the TB will never come, despite knowing what 'the call' means. I guess it's just different personalities.
 
In their new routine of 24/7 turnout, mine seem to recognise my car pulling into the yard, and amble over to the gate when they see it. If there's a big bale out in the field for them i may need to give them a quick shout, but generally they're either on their way over or waiting patiently for me... particularly the new lad who is a real people person!
 
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I've got two herds (one mine) in one field (35acres)

Mine come to a whistle, the other to a call. Most of ours will come individually to their names.

None hoon over, they tend to trot or walk up to see me... no way I'm trudging round 35acres to find them all! I wouldn't call in on a downhill or mud area though.

Half have never been treated for it, just time spent with them with a call, then I'd go over. Any feed off the tractor was accompanied by a whistle then chucking off. Littlun has always come over as soon as she clocks me for a scratch and asbo has always come over to make sure she sees me before anyone else gets a look in.
Littlun was always called back after I'd spent some time with her (from other end or halfway down the field) and given a handful of grass. Very handy to be able to recall after turning out!
 
Not sure about galloping up the field and trashing it .... I have never had this problem. Usually start calling when I am on my way to the field and by the time I get to the gate my girlie is waiting for me (and her carrot)

If you always make sure they have a carrot when they come and when they are turned out they will usually get the message pretty quick.
 
Ours don't gallop, because they weren't trained to gallop ;)

Process is simple. Choose a unique sound (we didn't use different ones for different horses but you could do that) that they won't hear at any other time. A dog whistle is a good idea because it can be heard for a long way in different weather conditions.

Arm yourself with a few tasty rewards.

Stand near horse and alert it to the fact that you have something tasty on offer. As they start to move towards you, whistle. Wait till they arrive, and feed. Move away a bit and repeat.

Repeat this a few times on different days and in different places - after the first few times, use the whistle first and then let them see you have food - you want the whistle to predict food in their heads :). Then start to increase the distance they need to walk to get to you.

Eventually, you shouldn't need to be in sight, just within hearing. Since the initial training was just a gentle walk, that's what you'll get as you increase distance. If you want them to gallop, you need to encourage faster movement at the earlier stages of training.

TBH, we're only in a 9 acre field just now, so we never need to call, but we used to have a herd of 5 in 20 acres with two woods, a stream, a waterfall and several valleys - trying to find 5 horses in the dark would have taken hours, so it was essential to train.
 
horserider said:
Try this. Walk part way, call them and then turn away and start to walk to the gate. They should come hot hoofing it across the field after you.

Once mine see my back is turned they come immediately
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I do this, my OH finds it hilarious! The boy comes anyway (unless it's high summer) but if I turn away, oh, the panic as he thunders up to me! He has impeccable timing and always skids to a stop a polite distance away. :D
 
My horse always gets given a carrot when I catch him even when I have had to chase him round the field for half an hour and really want to throttle him :) He also gets a carrot when i turn him out in the hope he relates me to carrots. I have had him for 11 months and for most of that time only myself and my yard manager have been able to catch him but in the summer he still became pretty much impossible to catch without the half an hours join up attempt when in company or plenty of grass. We think he may have had a bad experience at sometime because he was even worse in the rain when you would think he would want to come in. Believe me the join up was a last resort I have turned round difficult catchers before but he really pushes me to my limits. I feel bad for him being in a field with no company he has horses surrounding him he can scratch over the fence and with minimal grass but he is always pleased to see us and seems happy enough and obviously not starving as he is a good weight and often ignores the hay I put out for him. I am hoping that a winter of a regular routine of coming in at night and come summer he'll be able to return to his usual field and field mates. I think I might try clicker training or something with him or perhaps whistle when he comes to me and then maybe he'll come to call!
 
I think I might try clicker training or something with him or perhaps whistle when he comes to me and then maybe he'll come to call!
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When your horse is in, use clicker training to teach him to touch a target. Get him good at it and enjoying the game - then bring the target to the field. You should find he'll come up to you to touch the target where he might not have come up to you before. It's also possible to get a horse to "target" their headcollar - but I would keep the two things separate if I were you.

Just google "clicker", "horse" and "target" - I think Shawna Karrasch's site is the first to come up, but you could also look for Hannah Dawson's videos.
 
Thanks brightbay I might give that a go although I might have to take it to another level of getting him to put his head in the headcollar as we can get near him but if we go to put the headcollar on or even just get hold of it if we leave it on him then he swings his bum round and has been known to double barrel!
 
Thank you for all the ideas and comments, the thing is they always used to come to call, I would call them or tap leadrope clip on gate and they would come over (either a walk, trot or gallop depending on how eager they felt) but since moving to the new field they have no interest!!!

I have tried leaving them and waiting longer but they are still not interested, last night they didn't come in till after 8pm! and that was only after I found them at the bottom of the field.

I think it is because they have plenty to eat and even though they sometimes come straight in to feed/haynet they are just not that bothered. Although what does get me is that when I find them in the field they then run up to the gate and wait as if to say "oh you wanted us to come in, why didn't you say"!!!

I will have to have a practice over a small distance with the lead/dominant horse at the weekend and see if that helps.
 
Tilda said:
My horse always gets given a carrot when I catch him even when I have had to chase him round the field for half an hour and really want to throttle him :) He also gets a carrot when i turn him out in the hope he relates me to carrots. I have had him for 11 months and for most of that time only myself and my yard manager have been able to catch him but in the summer he still became pretty much impossible to catch without the half an hours join up attempt when in company or plenty of grass. We think he may have had a bad experience at sometime because he was even worse in the rain when you would think he would want to come in. Believe me the join up was a last resort I have turned round difficult catchers before but he really pushes me to my limits. I feel bad for him being in a field with no company he has horses surrounding him he can scratch over the fence and with minimal grass but he is always pleased to see us and seems happy enough and obviously not starving as he is a good weight and often ignores the hay I put out for him. I am hoping that a winter of a regular routine of coming in at night and come summer he'll be able to return to his usual field and field mates. I think I might try clicker training or something with him or perhaps whistle when he comes to me and then maybe he'll come to call!
Click to expand...

I find all of mine worse in rain or bad weather. You're asking them to aim in a direction quite often not with bums in the wind and wander round in rain when most of ours will be grazing or sheltering. They'll come but they're never as happy in bad weather.

Use the carrot as a sound if you are close enough. In a 3-5 acre field I could take a bite of a carrot and our old liveries bad catcher would be straight over.

Without fail I've found all mine worse with no company, alright with 2 or a small herd and great with a large herd. Any reason he's by himself or because of the catching? (The only one worse in a field with herd was when she became field leader, she was removed and put in with something above her).

I'd never bother chasing a horse round a field. I'd sit it out. Normally munching on a load of carrots with a good book. Let him come over, give him a little piece of carrot and then wander a few steps away and let him come to you again. When you do catch him, vary what you do. Bring him in for a feed or a groom. Or the best for confusing the liveries was to pop a headcollar on and take it off again or pop a leadrope on, lead them a couple of strides, then take off and reward. Don't always work or stable when caught though.
Used to take almost a full day at first with liveries for a fair while (it didn't happen overnight!) and then could catch the second I walked into the field after a lot of time put in and reward. Lots of cuddles and scratches and time to just be without having to do something for the attention.
 
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