Hard To Catch Pony

tonitot

tonitot

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My pony is really hard to catch. He used to be fine but one day he ran away from me when i tried to catch him but he let me get him after a minute or so. Since then he's gotten worse and worse and wont even let me near him just to stroke him. I use food to get him but hes starting not to even come in for that, and hes in quite a big field so going round after him trying to get him in tires me out far quicker than he does! any tips?
 
nothing more frustrating is there? I just sold a 100% horse in every way for 500.00 inc tack as he was so hard to catch. Food does help but a smaller paddock helps more, chasing him doesnt work believe me I have tried and they will always outrun you. Hunger is the only sure method I had, when he was hungry he was there like a shot, good luck x
 
A smaller field?
Leave head collar on.
Bucket of 'shakeable food' /polos/ carrots
don't always catch him when you want him, allow plenty of time. Catch - reward - release.
Get friends to help?
Use another pony to get close to him?

failing that ... are you any good at lasooing?? LOL
 
what has worked for us before is chasing them a bit on a quad (sounds harsh but they where in hudge feild) this one pony would let you just toach him then he would bugger off and try and kick you so he had 2 lern the hard way although all of our horses are given a small somthing when they are caught and they are all fine
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Kelly marks does a fab little book on catching ponies / horses it's only about £3.99. Can you make him a holding pen? I used electric tape to make a smaller paddock and a bucket of food as enticement. Then there is your body language, my youngster didn't like direct eye contact of face on body language. I have to look at the floor and gentley hold my hand out for him to sniff then immediately back away, being a nosey parker he would follow me. But the smaller paddock was definately the first step. We followed the book anyway and he is now a dream to catch and a real people person quite some going from a wild forest born pony who was scared of anyone! It's called " catching horses made easy" Good luck
 
I always feed mine as soon as they come in, even if they don't need it. If I am going to ride, I just give a small feed. It keeps them keen, so you could try bringing him in and feeding him and turning back out again for a few days, to see if that changes his mind about being caught.

I bred my horse and he has been brilliant to catch for 11 years, then suddenly one day he saw me coming with a riding hat on, and something twigged, and he realised it meant he was going to have to lug me about for an hour or so, so he whipped round and trotted off. Ever since them he has been tricky to catch, so I guess once they have realised they don't have to stand like a rock to be caught then we've had it!
 
Put a muzzle on him if hes only out at day, then he'll be starving and pleased to see you. Just give him more hay overnight to make up for it.
 
thanks for all the advice .. although its tricky as i loan him and his owner makes me leave him in so she doesnt have to catch him in the evening. i think this might be making him not want to come in as there are only 3 horses where hes kept so hes in on his own : / having other horses around dont make a difference .. theyre all buggers to catch too so they all canter around me together while i stand in the middle like a numpty. i dont think leaving a headcollar on would make a difference cause i cant get close enough to touch him although ill try it .. ill try all the methods i can and ill let you know how it works : )
 
My mare was a nightmare to catch when we first bought her. I'd go down to ride her and would be chasing her around her field for hours on end and have no luck at all. We tried everything, from buckets of nuts to field safe headcollars but nothing seemed to work. Then someone suggested to us that if she respects electric tape then get a really long strip and two people walk towards her slowly and try and corner her in the nearest corner of the field. This may sound harsh but we have never had any trouble at all with catching her since because she now knows that we will get her eventually
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Things I have tried and that have helped over the years with darling ponies!!

* Smaller area
* head collar on, with a short baler twine braid on the ring that you clip the rope on normally so that you catch and lead him a short distance but can hide the lead rope till you've got the little b****r
* food once in
* hide a lead rope in a bucket till they stick their heads in (riding hat works well in an emergency)
* turning away and making out you don't care, fiddling with something and making sure that he can't see what you're doing, when he gets interested and comes over to see what Mum is up to keep turning away as if it's special and he's not allowed to see, eventually let him come round to you and give him a treat while you catch - timing can be tricky though as there's a fine line between 'I won't to know what you've got' and 'I don't care and I'm going to go and eat again' and also you need lot's of time
* another time consuming one - better in summer too - sit in the field and let him come and see you and then treat

both the last two need lots of repertition but they did work

Hope you find something that works for you, lots of (((vibes))) as I know how frustrating our little darlings can be
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thank you
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it tricky as theres normally no one around to help me although if there is then ill try the electrical tape one
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although i dont think we actually have any ... im willing to try anything no matter how long it takes lol .. i just want him back to how he used to be! it was lovley having a wonderful to catch pony haha
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[ QUOTE ]
My mare was a nightmare to catch when we first bought her. I'd go down to ride her and would be chasing her around her field for hours on end and have no luck at all. We tried everything, from buckets of nuts to field safe headcollars but nothing seemed to work. Then someone suggested to us that if she respects electric tape then get a really long strip and two people walk towards her slowly and try and corner her in the nearest corner of the field. This may sound harsh but we have never had any trouble at all with catching her since because she now knows that we will get her eventually
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I'm so glad you do that too - I used to do that and people on my yard thought I was bonkers, but it really works! It was the only way you could catch my old mare. Believe it or not, after a good few months of struggling, I saw it on French and Saunders who used to do that sketch about the pony mad girls and who rounded their pony up with a long length of baler twine, and I thought 'aha!'. Mine was so 'respectful' of string that by the end I could do it single handed with one long length looped over a fence post in one corner then wind it out and just gradually corner her. It wouldn't work for all horses as I guess some might try to charge it which could be a bit dangerous, but I knew she'd never have done that because she literally used to stand there stock still. By the end, she'd watch me start winding it out and would just stand there, knowing the game was up. It's great to crack it, there's literally nothing more frustrating.
 
The pony agreed to being caught today
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i left his head collar on and when i wanted to catch him i walked towards him and stopped and turned around and started playing with a rustly wrapper i had in my pocket. I gradually walked backwards towards him still rustling the wrapper until i was real close to him ... he spent most of his time watching me curiously but was too smart to come towards me haha. But once I was right in front of him i turned round, gently caught him, made a big fuss of him and gave him a small feed as soon as he was in
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lets hope it works every time!
 
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