Difficult to catch

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BMA

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I feel daft putting this on here but here goes....

I have owned my horse for 10 years, he has in the past been sharp (i think is the best word for it) to catch but as a general rule fine with me but can be a pest with other people...you do things his way fine...look at him differently and he freaks out. As a result he has pretty much always been turned out in a headcollar (reduces my scary arm movements which could karate chop him at any minute).

Anyway - this is my second summer at a new yard and this yard has much larger fields and much more grass (disaster!). Anyway in the winter to bring in he is a gent, comes when I call him (to be fair he usually is one of the last in) and if he's been in for a few days still not a problem. He also lets my husband catch him which is very unlike him as he is even more suspicious of men! Anyway - last May i went on holiday, my friend couldn't get near him, thought that was strange but he was HORRID. Several times I had to chase him out the gate into a passage way, in the end he ended up being put in a small field away from the others and he was ok but you could tell he wasn't really happy being in a field where he couldn't even see another horse. He even stated being horrid in a muzzle whereas at other yards he has had the...bring me in now attitude.

All had been going well this year...he's been turned out full time for 2 weeks, big field but not too much grass. Yesterday i got up to the yard and he had been moved, slightly smaller field, more grass and he stuck his hoof up to me, told me to stick my carrot up my bum and I couldn't get near him...i was pressed for time whereas tonight I WILL GET THE LITTLE DARLING IN but how can i get past this. He has been having a bit of time off since i finished hunting so i just want to pat him, give him a carrot.

Now...i used to compete in the summer as well as hunting him all season and the last couple of years we have both had more of break over the summer - do you think this is why?

I always give him tit bits when i catch him.

Can a horse whisper get them past this (I hate asking that question) but a horse that i cannot catch annoys me beyond belief and I just end up wanting to shot him or sell him!!!

Any suggestions?
 
Can you recruit a couple of friends for an hour or so? If so, this is how I have cured a couple of similarly behaved horses:

First make sure you have an hour or so spare. Go into field with your carrot and head collar and ask friends to wait at the gate. If your horse does not let you catch him then immediately send him away using your body language and head collar. Wave in your friends. All of you keep sending him away. He must NOT be allowed to put his head down to graze. Ignore the other horses. Keep going. It may be 20 minutes or more. If he starts licking and chewing avert your gaze and hold out your carrot and attempt to catch him. If he lets you - good, if not, then repeat the procedure. It really DOES work but you may have to do it three or four times. Each time it will be a shorter amount of time before he complies. It is a time consuming and tiring cure, but it is well worth it as it DOES work. If you don't have any assistants, it can still work, but you need a smaller paddock. Good luck.
 
Have you tried all the tried and tested - keeping him moving him away from you, walking him down until he gives up. Sitting on the fence and reading a book until he comes to say hello etc?

It could just be that's his way of telling you he wants some time off to stuff his face, mine went out 2 weeks ago and for 2 days my very good catchers walked in the other direction as soon as they saw my car - I gave them a few days of just doing visible field checks, my mare was soon back to normal - mugging at the gate for attention.
 
The advice above sounds good.

One note: do make sure his head collar is a field safe one if you continue to turn out in it. You might feel like shooting him sometimes but you probably don't want a broken neck for real ;-)
 
I know why he won't come in...GRASS.

But unfortunately me spending £100s a month on him and giving him the life of luxury. I want to be able to catch him.

He is very VERY nervy to handle. Not as bad as he just to be but still pretty bad. He would scare the S*** out a novice with his freak outs. I get the impression that he was weaned and pretty much untouched until he was backed in Ireland as a 4 year old...so I don't know if he was knocked about but he has a very feral/self preserving side.

Wagtail - i am happy to put the time in. He's the best hunter on the field and after 10 years I'm quite attached but due to his personality I am worried I'll scare the him to death
 
I have this problem. He's on his own because he is a bully & play-fights the others. Now he is on his own and nothing will get him in. Even if he is last and calling to come in, he then just flips 2 fingers and he's off. Headcollar makes no difference as you can't get close enough to his head and then he does the whole 'I'm a wild stallion never touched by human hands before' parade.

seriously annoying and a PITA, so I feel ya OP!
 
minky moo...last year I gave him the summer off as poor old boy hunts all winter, events in the summer as he's 14 and never had more than a 4 day holiday.

DISASTER

Wild to tack up...freaking out when i put saddle on, thats when i caught the dam thing, soon as I unclipped the rope...he would just look at me panic and stand up and run off backwards. So gate on yard had to be shut all the time...couldn't take up in stable as then we rear up hit our head and its naturally all my fault.

Maybe he just can't cope with doing nothing and although he is blissfully happy in his semi feral state he is then wild to handle....me thinks he needs to be in proper work again!!!

The leaving him on his own idea...although he wasn't happy when he couldn't see anyone he just shouted a bit. Didn't run round or panic. Now he's down with all the other horses if i left him in his field on his own he wouldn't give two hoots. More grass for me attitude!!
 
I have this problem with my pony - if she has grass then she's a nightmare to catch. Its so frustrating - if she wasnt so nervy I'd be tempted to try rugby tackling her! :D I either make her work in the field until she gives in or if she's quiet and I can get near her back end I pick up her back foot then while its up stretch my arm back and get her front leg, drop the back one and pick up the front one (can you tell she's small lol) then when her front foot is up put the rope on. It's a bother and I'd quite happily murder her at times - she may look sweet but shes not called the Ginger Menace for nothing! :D :D
 
where I am they do not like dividing the fields up. I would quite happily let him live on a postage stamp!! If I could could put him in a small paddock with little grass he would be fine...i don't have that option though.

Last year he was even a swine with a muzzle on.
 
BMA said:
where I am they do not like dividing the fields up. I would quite happily let him live on a postage stamp!! If I could could put him in a small paddock with little grass he would be fine...i don't have that option though.

Last year he was even a swine with a muzzle on.
Click to expand...

In the past I have caught reluctant horses by walking them down. You just follow them round and round the field until they give themselves up. No chasing, no scaring, just keep walking.
I find it takes a few hours the first time, but once the horse gets the idea you aren't giving up, the time gets short quite rapidly. And this is even in lush grass fields.
You do have to have a lot of patience and determination to do this, though.
And once you catch the horse, you have to be lovely to it - feed it, pet it etc. Which can be challenging when you feel like clubbing it to death. :p
S :D
 
"In the past I have caught reluctant horses by walking them down. You just follow them round and round the field until they give themselves up. No chasing, no scaring, just keep walking.
I find it takes a few hours the first time, but once the horse gets the idea you aren't giving up, the time gets short quite rapidly. And this is even in lush grass fields.
You do have to have a lot of patience and determination to do this, though.
And once you catch the horse, you have to be lovely to it - feed it, pet it etc. Which can be challenging when you feel like clubbing it to death.
S "

I've had to do this is the past with one of my horses . The last time being 3 weeks ago - it took me 2 hours and 45 minutes before he decided to give it up. The field he is in is 12 acres so by the time I caught him I felt like clubbing him to death and then eating the darned thing. It is so frustrating I wouldn't mind if he galloped around in a frenzy but he doesn't, he just trots off merrily on his way sticking two fingers up as he goes. By the time I got hold of him I made lots of fuss and gave him a carrot and told him what a good boy he is when all i wanted to do was beat him relentlessly with his headcollar.
 
ha ha...I hate that. You have to be all loving aren't you a good boy, have some carrots, clever lad blah blah blah and all i want to do is stab it with a pitch fork and scream "you unappreciative b*****d, do you realise how much time and money i spend you. You have 22 hours in a field from May to October, you have the best farrier, the best rugs, wonderful days out hunting, in the winter you still get 12 hours a day and you won't let me interupt your busy beeping day beeping day eating you absolute beeping beephole"
 
BMA said:
I feel daft putting this on here but here goes....

I have owned my horse for 10 years, he has in the past been sharp (i think is the best word for it) to catch but as a general rule fine with me but can be a pest with other people...you do things his way fine...look at him differently and he freaks out. As a result he has pretty much always been turned out in a headcollar (reduces my scary arm movements which could karate chop him at any minute).

Anyway - this is my second summer at a new yard and this yard has much larger fields and much more grass (disaster!). Anyway in the winter to bring in he is a gent, comes when I call him (to be fair he usually is one of the last in) and if he's been in for a few days still not a problem. He also lets my husband catch him which is very unlike him as he is even more suspicious of men! Anyway - last May i went on holiday, my friend couldn't get near him, thought that was strange but he was HORRID. Several times I had to chase him out the gate into a passage way, in the end he ended up being put in a small field away from the others and he was ok but you could tell he wasn't really happy being in a field where he couldn't even see another horse. He even stated being horrid in a muzzle whereas at other yards he has had the...bring me in now attitude.

All had been going well this year...he's been turned out full time for 2 weeks, big field but not too much grass. Yesterday i got up to the yard and he had been moved, slightly smaller field, more grass and he stuck his hoof up to me, told me to stick my carrot up my bum and I couldn't get near him...i was pressed for time whereas tonight I WILL GET THE LITTLE DARLING IN but how can i get past this. He has been having a bit of time off since i finished hunting so i just want to pat him, give him a carrot.

Now...i used to compete in the summer as well as hunting him all season and the last couple of years we have both had more of break over the summer - do you think this is why?

I always give him tit bits when i catch him.

Can a horse whisper get them past this (I hate asking that question) but a horse that i cannot catch annoys me beyond belief and I just end up wanting to shot him or sell him!!!

Any suggestions?
Click to expand...

Not really a massive problem this, I know lots of people who have had problems catching their horses in the past, who have been successful in sorting it. There are some psychological games to play with your horse which solve this pretty quickly.
 
Shilasdair said:
In the past I have caught reluctant horses by walking them down. You just follow them round and round the field until they give themselves up. No chasing, no scaring, just keep walking.
I find it takes a few hours the first time, but once the horse gets the idea you aren't giving up, the time gets short quite rapidly. And this is even in lush grass fields.
You do have to have a lot of patience and determination to do this, though.
And once you catch the horse, you have to be lovely to it - feed it, pet it etc. Which can be challenging when you feel like clubbing it to death. :p
S :D
Click to expand...


I've used the 'walking them down' method with some success in the past. Last time the baggage decided she didn't want to be caught I thought 'Yep we will do it again' :rolleyes: The sod had other ideas and promptly trotted over to my daughter who was poo picking and stood the other side of the barrow. I went one way horse went the other :eek: This went on for a couple of minutes, playing dodge until in the end I was laughing at her as she looked so flipping pleased with herself :D :D Then she decided she had had enough of playing and wanted to come in for a groom and followed me loose up the field :D
 
Yes, I expect he let you catch him due to the temperature drop. If you rarely ride in the evening that's also why he let you catch him.

I agree with shils about walking behind him and not letting him graze. As stated, it can take several hours. Mine is easier to catch if I keep him trotting. He's also quite sensitive. Don't allow yourself to get angry as this will only reinforce his choice of avoiding being caught.

You need to be persistent and to get into a routine as this will make it easier. It used to take me 2 hours everyday throughout the whole of last summer to catch mine. His previous owner would try for 10 mins then walk away - this type of attitude made it harder for me as he thought I'd do the same. He's a lot easier to catch now :) As some others have said, it isn't an issue that can't be overcome.
 
I have recently had exactly this problem,Bob the not a cob,turned into an uncatchable neurotic lunatic(even afraid of carrots).Four days of a Magnesium suplement and he was back to his old self. Spring grass is notorious for being short of Magnesium.He now gets Magnesium oxide in his feeds daily.
 
Do you know, this has made me feel much better, just knowing I am not on my own :-)

When I try to walk my girlie down she moves the other horses round and it can get a bit dangerous, I have to catch them first in order to try and then more often that not she will come in anyway. Fortunately there are only 2 other horses in her field.
 
caught him again this morning no problem so he's in ready for the farrier...interesting about the magnesium. He is bonkers and a headshaker and as a result very sensitive to the weather so i could imagine he would be sensitive to a drop in something in the grass.
 
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