do you use anything to catch your horse with ie carrot ?

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PaintboxEDT

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ive been taking a carrot with me to catch him everday since hes been here (1 and a half weeks !)
now tonite i went up to catch him but didnt take a carrot with me and the monkey kept walking off ears back saying i dont think so !!!
well i dont wont to argue with him as hes a big old boy,so walked away,luckily id brought feed and grooming kit with me to do him by the gate so walked back got a handfull of food then went back he still walked away !! until eventualy i shouted stand and he did then realised i had a bit of food !!!
the monkey he was fine once id caught him albeit in a hurry for me to let him go again !!!!
do you use anything to catch your horse or just have headcoller ????
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try not to use anything, but if the horse is known to be apain, will take something but they dont get it till headcollars on and out of field, and make sure its v small tit bit
 
Just a headcollar - but I fear your boy has got wise to the carrot & now thinks "why the hell should I be caught when you don't have a carrot?!!"

Mine occasionally stages a token walk off, but I just walk very slowly after him, then he lets me catch him. Although today he came when called - probably because he was too hot & fancied coming into the shade.

My advice would be to persevere without food - he will eventually get the idea.

ETS - agree with Tinkerbee - a good starting point would be to only reward once caught.
 
I usually don't because if my horse gets used to getting carrots or similar be begins to start nipping so I op for the 'follow him around the field until he give up' option!
 
Why not take a tit bit, what harm can it do? As long as you dont feed him by hand at other times so he doesnt get nippy.
 
I give mine a small treat when being caught. I know alot of people dont agree with it but ive always done it and as a result have never had trouble catching anything, they always come to me!

The only time it may not be suitable, is in a large group of horses because you may get mobbed if they see you with treats and could start squabbling with each other!
 
No, I can catch all three of mine even with a wormer syringe in view.
But I'm careful always to turn them back out after a good experience - a few minutes grazing in the lush grass in hand, or a treat when I let them go.
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I started out with a carrot to catch my ned when I first had him cos he was quite nervy and wouldn't come near me the first few days - however, this means that he always expects a carrot now, although a while back I made the mistake of giving him the carrot first before headcollar and he buggered off! he gets a carrot when I turn him out too, just as a treat really.

I did go to catch him the other day and he started walking off so I said 'well, I suppose you won't be wanting this carrot then' to which he stopped in his tracks and came ambling over - sucker! heh heh
 
I give my girl a carrot or treat when I catch her, she is not nippy at all. When I first got her I could not catch her, she was a monkey and sometimes it took 1/2hr or more to get near her. Now she comes straight to me and I reward her for that.
 
i break the carrot in to 3 bits and keep them in my pocket and he doesnt normally get it untill headcoller is on !!!
hes 21 bless him so i dont think hes gona get in to any major habbits just had bad probs with 2 ex horses when catching and would rather give a little treat than get booted or charged at as thats what on old horse did everytime i caught him and i never gave him any treats when catching him !!!
so am a bit nervous when catching now !!!!
 
No, I don't take any titbits,mine sometimes do a 'token' refusal to be caught, but they very very soon give in.
 
I don't take anything, I don't want to bribe my horse to be caught. If she doesn't want to come with me I'd ask myself why!
Taking a carrot to my horse in the field would be pointless, she has 10 acres of lush grass under her feet and would chose that over a carrot anyday!
 
I am sure it will do little harm then, under the circumstances. Better to be safe than sorry!! As long as he doesn't get nippy!
 
I take a small treat, otherwise it is about 50/50 weather i get him or not. If i dont take a treat i give him one in the stable. He is not nibbley, so for him it works.

Haz
 
maybe he was having an off day i mite try and not take a treat tomorrow when i catch him and see what he does,if i can catch him ok then i wont give him it until im out of the field !!!!
 
Nope my boy is very good - well saying that I have been known to trapse around the field for 40minutes while he gallops about squeeling but thats rare and even then i wont resort to having a treat as he'll soon realise " aha, refuse to get caught and she'll return with food".
 
My youngster watches my car down the drive then races to the gate. I never feed treats to catch horses with, they need to want to be with me for me and not for food! He is always ridden but gets a feed after sometimes. Only very very rarely have I ever had trouble catching a horse. xx
 
I do take a carrot with me, but it's more of a treat than a bribe.

It doesn't cause problems as I only bring him in at weekends as he's on assisted DIY so staff bring him in weekdays without a treat and without a problem. I just like to do it and the odd time I have forgotten the carrot he will still come to me anyway - I just think its a nice way to say hello, nice to see you !
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He will also now follow me onto the yard and to his stable without being attached to a leadrope, which is really nice
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although today I did lose him to a bale of hay someone left out !!
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Just a head collar and lead rope.

On the occasions that Bert thinks it is entertaining to walk away from me and not be caught I turn my back on him, which 90% of the time works as he cannot stand to be ignored. The other 10% of the time he is sent around the field until he realises it is much easier to come in first time. (I have only had to do this twice)

I cannot take treats into the field as he will literally mug you for them. On occasion he will get a treat once his head collar is on and he is out of the gate.
 
No I would never even consider taking anything in to catch any of mine - the only thing I use is my voice; I call them, and they come.

I don't believe in treats being fed by hand though so none of mine are used to this sort of treatment. They come because they want to come, not for a bribe.
 
Mine comes to me when I appear at the field, if he doesn't see me I whistle or call his name and then he walks over and follows me to the gate. Thank goodness he does because the field takes about 20 minutes to walk to the far end!
 
I tend to take a handful of mix but I don't know why TBH. Polly will either be caught or not, it is entirely her decision and rarely seems to reflect the presence or lack thereof of a treat or titbit

Actually, I am being unfair to her, she has only staged one token Walk Off this year and it only lasted about 30 secs before she agreed to come in.
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When I first got her she was AWFUL, had to be T/O in a headcollar and only catchable with a SCOOP of nuts (total nightmare in a field full of large, pushy, greedy mares) but she seems to have decided I am OK now and doesn't give me too many problems
 
My gelding is still on field rest, and so I catch him and feed him outside the gate, then turn him out again. Since I've been doing this he makes a beeline for me as soon as he sees me - bless him


xx
 
No I don't tend to take anything with me on a daily basis.

Bel is an angel to catch - you can't get rid of her
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But Star has always had catching "issues"
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so I tend to have a bucket with a tiny feed in for her waiting in the yard so once she's in she has a reward. Occassionally (i.e when she's hormonal
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) I use the bucket to catch her. But having said that, her "issues" aren't so bad since I got Bel cause the jealousy is too much for her
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