Hard to catch tips and tricks

[AppyLover]

Hi all

Does anyone have any tips and tricks of catching hard to catch ponios.

My Boy who is only 2 comes to me without me even having to ask and this is what I'm used to with horses i've known in the past.

We got a mare about a week ago (She moved in about 3 weeks ago so I know its still early days and she's settling in) who is 11 this year but obviously hasn't come from the best of backgrounds, she's ride and drive and is brilliant to ride and a complete sweetheart just very can nervy and nose shy (the rest of her head is fine)

She's pretty easy to catch if she has a head collar on the min you get ahold of it she will stand quietly and walk when asked to, doesn't pull etc like she wants to run which was great and we were making great progress but a few days ago someone took it off and now she will come to you and let you give her some fuss and attention but not much (this takes a fair amount of encouragement) and after spending near 2 hours trying to catch her today to get a head collar on her I ended it on my terms by walking away from her not the other way round but she's still not in a head collar. it seems the min she sees a head collar or lead rope alarm bells go off in her head so I have been leaving them hung on her fence when I go in with her in a hope to try and desensitize her to them and not associate the sight of them as about to be caught or a beating etc

I have endless patients, I know that there isn't some easy fix and that this will some take time, effort and a general calmness I just wanted to know if maybe there where a few things that had worked for people that I could explore with her, or nice stories of peoples hard to catch ponios changing into those that are slightly easier to catch.

Thank you to anyone who read this far

 

[LovesCobs]

Ive just got my first hard to catch pony this week! I saw her being caught easily in her last home so I have put it down to settling in. So I spent all Friday catching and releasing. Having a headcollar on makes no difference as you can't get within 10 feet! Once you can get close then she's fine with you putting it on.
I used the send away approach so as soon as she wouldn't let me approach her I sent her away and I moved so I changed her direction as well. I was prepared to do this for hours. Thankfully it took one and a half hours first time. Once I had her and put headcollar on I took her for some nice grass, gave her a few polos and released her again. Repeated a couple of hours later. By the evening catch I was down to 20 minutes. This will be done at least twice a day until she is easy to catch.
I also step sidewAys or backwards when she has stood still enough for me to catch her. Stop if she moves but turn it into sending her away if she moves away from me.

 

[laura_nash]

My old mare came to me very hard to catch. She was an experienced riding horse. The solution that worked for me was walking her down. Basically I would go in the field with the headcollar (making no attempt to hide it) and simply keep following her until she gave up and let me put it on. The trick is to keep them moving so they can't settle or graze without being aggressive or chasing them. You mustn't give up, otherwise you just make them worse, so you need to have plenty of time available before you make any attempt at catching (took me about 4 hours the first time, nearly two the second, about 20mins the third and never had trouble again).

I've got a rescue pony at the moment who is also hard to catch and am doing something similar with him, though also doing advance and retreat (i.e. backing off when he stops and looks at me) and more general handling stuff like having him in a small space and catching him repeatedly just to give him a scratch and let him go. He's more complex than the mare was so hasn't been such an overnight cure, at the moment he can be perfect to catch for several days and then revert to practically feral overnight.

 

[Ladyinred]

Initially make a small electric fence pen and walk her into it to get her headcollar back on.

Then be prepared to spend many hours teaching her that people are nice and worth her spending time with. Go in and out of the field scratch her or give a tiny treat and walk away; go in and crouch down pretending to do something interesting, ignore her, and the chances are she will start to come to you which will be a huge step forward. Take her in and put the headcollar on and off with much fuss and treats when she stays still, if she tries to evade it then ignore her and quietly carry on in the same way. Google 'target training' and progress to using the headcollar as her target.

We bought an 'impossible to catch' 11 year old a few years ago and now even my 2 yo grandson can catch and lead her.. we have more of a problem getting rid of her for five minutes!!

Please also feel free to pm for further help.

 

[SpringArising]

I really feel your pain with this. There is nothing more frustrating than a horse who won't be caught! I had such struggles with my old gelding and in the end I did just leave a leather headcollar on permanently (field was about 20 acres, no chance of using the 'I won't stop until you do' method!).

The times it fell off I would just take a rope with me because he would spot the headcollar from a mile off! I'd walk up to him, but instead of going for his head, I'd bend down and pick up his foot. He wouldn't ever run away if I started crouching down from a little while away and went for his leg. I'd then slip the rope on his back with one hand (ferociously scratching him at the same time so he didn't realise when I was doing!) while the other was holding his foot up so he couldn't really ****** off.

No matter how long it took me to catch him, I would always bring him out for a carrot and then put him back right away. There were times when I'd spent an hour getting to him and I just wanted to ride, but I always felt it best to surprise him with a nice dinner and then let him go occasionally - especially when he'd been a little sod.

Good luck!

 

[Princess16]

I do target training with mine who has been a nightmare to catch since moving fields. It's the lead rope he doesn't like so I put that round my neck, wait for him to come to me ( which he does eventually), hold collar out and tell him to 'touch', thus rewarding him each time. After a while he is offering himself to the collar whereby I can put it over his nose whilst still not forcing it on him, rewarding and taking away until eventually he waits patiently whilst I put it on. I then attach lead rope.

This now takes approx 15 mins to do so a complete turnaround from where we were when he first moved fields.

Bl***dy stubborn creatures aren't they

 

[AppyLover]

Thanks everyone looks like I will just continue as I am and maybe try the keep her moving technique which I did consider but not knowing her background I don't want to scare her/winder her up even more than she already is but I guess she will just have to learn that not all humans are bad, She doesn't have a massive paddock which is good but she can be bloody fast for her size when she wants to be (She's a heavyweight Cob). My goal is to get her leather head collar on and leave it on until she's happier to be caught and work a lot with her being happy around people more, its like once the head collar is on she forgets its there or something. I am hoping that when she eventually goes in with my boy she will follow him when he comes to me or at least starting thinking if he's going maybe they aren't so bad. I guess i've been spoilt by my boy he either comes to call or sees me and comes over by himself even the day he arrived from his breeders its like he knew who I was

I've dealt with cobs from bad backgrounds before and i've never found one so hard to catch oh well I guess i should just take it as extra exercise haha

 

[siennamiller]

Might sound bizarre, my mare has the odd moment. She decides she will trot off. And I found if I go to catch her with my head down, looking at the floor, shoulders rounded, basically completely slouching, then she will let me catch her? I guises because it is less aggressive, a more subservient posture?

Eta. In the past, I have walked something down, as someone else said, don't let them stop, you don't need to be aggressive. Just keep them moving away from you, can you temporarily tape of of some off the field?

 

[9tails]

I walk in, pretend to study the ground and step back and away when she's running. Usually these are circles around me, she thinks this is a great game until she realises she's exerting all the energy and I'm standing still. I don't chase her, I don't want her going any faster and getting really wound up. Once her adrenaline is down I can get closer and slip the rope round her neck before putting the halter on.

 

[AppyLover]

She let me get pretty close to her earlier with the lead rope and head collar as I was completely ignoring her and wandering around looking at the ground, not making eye contact with her and making sure my body language was relaxed. She did make her way over to be while I was fussing my boy over the fence as their paddocks are next to each other to see what was happening so I might have to use him to my advantage . Hopefully once I can get her head collar back on no one takes it off

 

[Barnacle]

Some suggestions: http://intheequinemind.blogspot.co.uk/2015_01_01_archive.html

 

[Dry Rot]

The walking down technique never worked for me and I don't know about others but my horses have twice as many legs and a lot more muscle than me so I tire before they do!

On the other hand, food DOES work but then I don't use it the way the writer warns against in the above link. I do not reward a horse for moving away but doing the opposite. The first job is to get the horse thinking you are good to know. If that means initially going into the field with a bucket of feed, so be it. Though I wouldn't try this with several horses in the field, though it can be done. If there are others in the field, I'd be tipping out small heaps of feed to spread the herd and not get mugged. I don't attempt to catch at this stage. After a few days of this, the horses are going to be looking forward to your visit. Then you can start targetting the shy one, perhaps by tossing a carrot on the ground in front of it's nose. Then carrots from the hand. Then a carrot from the hand holding a head colar. Then a carrot when it allows me to brush the head collar against his head. Each day another small step. Then rubbing the head collar on it's head and neck. And so on. I've a video on YouTube showing a head shy youngster treated in this way and she is finally pushing her head INTO the head collar, even when it is on the ground! Just be content with small steps and once caught, let the horse off again and don't go doing anything with it that it might not enjoy. Yes, I do have a lot of patience, but then I've trained hawks for years, some fresh trapped from the wild, and they are a LOT spookier than horses.

 

[Princess16]

If that was my post you are referring to I do not reward for him for moving away I reward him for touching the collar but then take it away after he has touched it so as not to force it on him. I want hiM to know it's not a bad thing, so by touching it he's getting used to it. As you rightly say small steps, so it can take up to 10 touches of collar before he is patient enough to let me put it on. I know full well if I try and force the collar on after only a couple of touches he will run off.

It works for me

 

[Meredith]

This-"""Might sound bizarre, my mare has the odd moment. She decides she will trot off. And I found if I go to catch her with my head down, looking at the floor, shoulders rounded, basically completely slouching, then she will let me catch her? I guises because it is less aggressive, a more subservient posture?""" Someone told me years ago to pretend to 'graze', pony comes to see what you're interested in. Best of luck, you need as many suggestions as possible so you can find what works for your horse.

 

[Dry Rot]

Princess, I was referring to the blurb in the link. There are a lot of good hints on here but I did not identify with that advice.

 

[Princess16]

Princess, I was referring to the blurb in the link. There are a lot of good hints on here but I did not identify with that advice.

No worries lol. I Mess up alot to be honest but I was just trying to help as that way works for me ! Guess we all have our own ways of doing things and what works for one doesn't always work for another !

 

[Pearlsasinger]

We bought a youngster who we were told was difficult to catch but who has never been difficult for us. She was very wary of the headcollar and, as she is very reactive to noise, we think the rattling of the buckles etc put her off. However we always use halters to catch our horses and she has never had a problem with that. She was in a field with just one companion and got the idea of being caught when the other horse came in.

 

[oldie48]

I have used the " keep them on the move" technique with great results but I don't walk them down, if the horse moves away from me I send it away with a flick of the lead rope in it's direction. I don't allow it to walk either, it trots or canters, every time it stops to eat, it gets sent on again, quietly but assertively. Its easier to do in a smallish paddock but if you have to do it in a big field, prepare to sweat. Eventually the horse gets fed up and turns to face you and will lick and chew. At this point approach the horse in a non threatening way, ie at the shoulder and not looking directly at it. If it starts to move away, immediately send it away and start again, if not put on the head collar. I bought a horse that had been turned out on his own in a small paddock for years because he was so difficult to catch, pretty soon he was out with the other horses in 7 acres. On the rare occasion that he went to walk away from me when bringing him in, I immediately sent him away and he'd stop, turn towards me, lick and chew and allow me to walk up to him. Food did not work with him as nothing was as attractive as a field full of grass and his mates. Worth trying but make sure you have shoes that you can run in!!

 

[huskydamage]

My mares one vice is that she is satan in the field. She runs at me with teethbared so following her round not an option! I always leave the headcollar on and don't take a rope with me. I enter under the guise of doing something else poo picking with wheelbarrow, checking fencing etc she comes over to see what I'm doing and like a panther I strike! Lol. If I don't have time for the charade I wait on the other side of fence with my 'bucket offering' after galloping around pulling faces she eventually comes over to bucket. I do not enter! But I will call her whenever she stops, which makes her keep running, thus I am an annoying presence that does not leave so she just gives up in end and comes over. This needs a smaller pen to work though so I can get close enough to 'annoy' without being kicked. Once she comes over I have no problems just take her to lead rope which I leave at the gate.

 

[AppyLover]

Thank You everyone for the really helpful advice the keep her moving technique doesn't seen to faze her she just keeps going a lot longer than I can, I cant work out if she's been beaten or has been taught that running away is a great game Im guessing the beating is most likely tho . Went up this morning with head collar in my hand and she was a lot better she would come to me and I would reward her with a treat and then got her to sniff the head collar and let it touch her nose and if she didn't freak out given another treat. She had a few moments but she would just trot in a circle around me and then after a little encouragement come back to sniff my hand and head collar again

Went up earlier and she has been caught by YO as we asked for her to be hogged and clipped before be started paying for her so the head collar is back on again but she hates us all a little at the moment when her feathers came off it revealed quite a bit of mud fever so her legs are a little tender at the moment, its funny I always seem to end up doing the horrible jobs for my sisters horse and she ends up doing the horrible stuff for mine haha

Hopefully when she learns her name it will help also I don't think she's ever really been shown any affection let alone been called anything, she's only had a passport for 3 years and I think that only happened so that she could came over from Ireland.

 

[Princess16]

Aww bless her sounds like you have your work cut out but you will get there. Patience is the key and once they 'get it' it Will be so much easier for you. Good luck

 

[AppyLover]

Shes a complete sweetheart, bombproof, kidproof, dogproof everything proof it seems which is one of the reasons we fell for her once caught she just does as shes asked and a complete plod to ride (Which is what I need before my boy is backed next year) so once it clicks in her head that these people on 2 legs only want to squeeze and cuddle me she will be completely perfect my boy will be going in with her soon which I think will help as he sees you and he's waiting by the gate for love and attention and will do anything to please me even at 2

 

[Dry Rot]

No worries lol. I Mess up alot to be honest but I was just trying to help as that way works for me ! Guess we all have our own ways of doing things and what works for one doesn't always work for another !

I think there is a misunderstanding here as I was not referring to your post but the article at Barnacle's link! Just an opinion so don't lose any sleep over it. I can sometimes seem abrupt but I'm nice really!

 

[AppyLover]

Thought I would post a pic of the hard to catch girlie, Relatively easy today I think she had a pretty decent life before she game to england so hopefully we only have 3 /4 years of bad treatment to undo not the whole 11 years of her life.

After her hair cut yesterday