HashRouge
Well-Known Member
I'm genuinely curious as to whether anyone has ever encountered a horse like this before and, if so, how on earth they dealt with it! My sister's horse has always been hard to catch, bordering on impossible at times. When he was stabled overnight it was always possible to get him at the end of the day when all the other horses came in, as he doesn't like being alone and knew his dinner was waiting for him in his stable. Since he has been living out, which is by far the best thing for him as he is a chronic crib biter, things have been slightly harder but we have, until now, managed quite well. When we rented a field and needed to catch him, we would take my mare (his companion) out of the field and hide her behind the hedge until he could be caught (usually fairly quickly). On our old yard, where there were other horses, we would simply bring my mare onto the yard and he would let himself be caught once she was out of sight, even if there were other horses in neighbouring fields. This worked 99.9% of the time, though there would be the odd occasion where he would be uncatchable unless all other horses were in.
Fast forward to now. My sister is living abroad and I have moved both ponies to the other end of the country. In many ways we have the perfect set up - 24/7 turnout all year round, plenty of grass, lots of natural shelter, plus the YO feeds and checks for me during the week, which means I don't have to hunt them down in the dark over winter. Very helpful for two grass-kept, retired horses and convenient for holidays too.
The problem - I have managed to catch my sister's horse once in the last 8 weeks
. When they first moved they were in the summer fields and not only could I catch him when needed, he was positively friendly and always coming up for cuddles and carrots when I was at the field. There were other horses in the neighbouring fields, but even if he was in a tricky mood I could catch him easily by bringing my horse out of the field. Then in November they moved to their winter field. It is on a different part of the farm and has a lot of grass and more or less from the first day he became absolutely uncatchable. I have tried everything I can think of to get him. He no longer cares if he can't see my mare - he will whinny to her but won't let himself be caught. I have brought in all the horses in the neighbouring fields, but he doesn't care because there is a field of young stock behind the hedge so he isn't really alone (they don't belong to our yard, but to a neighbouring stud farm, so not much I can do about them). I have tried herding him into a smaller section of the field then following him around until he gives up. This worked once, but since then he has decided that he can outlast me. I can't mentally manage more than two hours and he just won't give up, even if he is dripping with sweat and obviously exhausted. I have tried feeding and fussing my mare and ignoring him. I tried making a small paddock at the top of the field, herding him in and then withholding his feed for almost a week to see if he would get hungry enough to give up - didn't work (obviously he had grass, though not much). Needless to say I have tried all forms of food and bribery. You can't corner him as he panics and starts jumping fences or runs through people.
What on earth do I do with him? He has missed his vaccinations and his last farrier appointment. The vet has given me some ACP to see if making him dozy works, which I will try before the farrier comes again, but I'm convinced that even if he gets dozy he will wake right up as soon as I try to get near him. By the time the farrier comes again it will be 16 weeks since he had his feet trimmed, which I'm trying to convince myself won't kill him. I'm genuinely at a loss. I've known this horse for years and there has always been some trick that we can rely on to catch him, but none of our tried and trusty methods are working and to cap it all off I'm having to deal with him on my own as my sister is out of the country.
Does anyone have any suggestions, or has anyone had experience of a similar horse. Bear in mind he's more than just difficult to catch!
Fast forward to now. My sister is living abroad and I have moved both ponies to the other end of the country. In many ways we have the perfect set up - 24/7 turnout all year round, plenty of grass, lots of natural shelter, plus the YO feeds and checks for me during the week, which means I don't have to hunt them down in the dark over winter. Very helpful for two grass-kept, retired horses and convenient for holidays too.
The problem - I have managed to catch my sister's horse once in the last 8 weeks
. When they first moved they were in the summer fields and not only could I catch him when needed, he was positively friendly and always coming up for cuddles and carrots when I was at the field. There were other horses in the neighbouring fields, but even if he was in a tricky mood I could catch him easily by bringing my horse out of the field. Then in November they moved to their winter field. It is on a different part of the farm and has a lot of grass and more or less from the first day he became absolutely uncatchable. I have tried everything I can think of to get him. He no longer cares if he can't see my mare - he will whinny to her but won't let himself be caught. I have brought in all the horses in the neighbouring fields, but he doesn't care because there is a field of young stock behind the hedge so he isn't really alone (they don't belong to our yard, but to a neighbouring stud farm, so not much I can do about them). I have tried herding him into a smaller section of the field then following him around until he gives up. This worked once, but since then he has decided that he can outlast me. I can't mentally manage more than two hours and he just won't give up, even if he is dripping with sweat and obviously exhausted. I have tried feeding and fussing my mare and ignoring him. I tried making a small paddock at the top of the field, herding him in and then withholding his feed for almost a week to see if he would get hungry enough to give up - didn't work (obviously he had grass, though not much). Needless to say I have tried all forms of food and bribery. You can't corner him as he panics and starts jumping fences or runs through people.What on earth do I do with him? He has missed his vaccinations and his last farrier appointment. The vet has given me some ACP to see if making him dozy works, which I will try before the farrier comes again, but I'm convinced that even if he gets dozy he will wake right up as soon as I try to get near him. By the time the farrier comes again it will be 16 weeks since he had his feet trimmed, which I'm trying to convince myself won't kill him. I'm genuinely at a loss. I've known this horse for years and there has always been some trick that we can rely on to catch him, but none of our tried and trusty methods are working and to cap it all off I'm having to deal with him on my own as my sister is out of the country.
Does anyone have any suggestions, or has anyone had experience of a similar horse. Bear in mind he's more than just difficult to catch!
