Help Catching

[browbrow]

Hello

My poor fiend has got the most awful dilemma

So here goes

Horse is a 15.2 TB gelding which she has owned all his life - and suddenly he just will not be caught !

They are runnning out of ideas - they have never just caught to be ridden, so its not that but she hasnt been able to catch him with 2 weeks!

Its awful - he wont go near anyone and just walks out of reach each time - they cant even catch him to put him in a smaller field.

This horse has been bullied in the past by other horses - now lives with three others and seems ok.

They have tried loads of stuff - but he just isnt interested - even when they bring all the other horses inside - he still doesnt care?

Has anyone got any suggestions/experiences on why he may not want to come in or how to catch him?

The only thing that has worked in three week was to bring my mare over to his field (we were hacking) and he was interested in her so I managed to catch him!! LOL

Any ideas? He is regulary teeth, back, tack checked - last checks were end of april.

Thanks Brow

 

[threeponies]

Go into the field and sit down. Eventually curiosity will get the better of him. Obviously stay safe and be aware of the horses around you, better still take the others in first.

 

[trundle]

I'd catch and bring in all the others in the field first, so his friends aren't around to encourage / distract him. Then get a bucket of feed, a book and a folding stool, and go and sit out there with the feed bucket between feet, read the book and wait until his nosiness gets the better of him. Obviously this works better if it isn't pouring with rain....

PS. Don't take a book that is TOO exciting. I did this once, adn got so engrossed in my book that horse ate half the feed and b*ggered off again before I realised he was there ! I felt like the world's biggest muppet coming back to the yard....

 

[fine_and_dandy]

i used to help out at a place where one pony in particular was really wiley and used to take forever at being caught. We used to keep a headcollar on him with a small "catching rope" a couple of inches long on it, approach him with the bucket of feed in the left hand and the right hand underneath and when he put his head in, slide the right hand up underneath the bucket and hold the little bit of rope

don't know if that is of any help to you unless you have already tried it?! could you not put him in a smaller paddock where there is a part that you would be able to herd him down into and then approach him with some feed?

 

[madlady]

I've tried the sitting and waiting and it does work. I've also tried leaving the uncatchable horse in field on it's own and then doing something like walk the fence or find something else in the field to check and let horse come to me - then push it away and walk off - horse got to the gate before me cos he thought he wasn't wanted. Still wasn't the easiest to catch but got better.

I'd be worried though that this one has previously been OK to catch - could just be all the juicy new grass coming through and him deciding he's having a holiday or could be something deeper to why he doesn't want to leave his field. Has anyone apart from his owner brought him in? Has he been hurt coming out of the field? Could it be possible that some yobs lurking around at night have done something to him or scared him while he has been near the gate?