Impossible to Catch Pony. Any ideas?

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sazzle44

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Okay, so I'm the very lucky loaner of a gorgeous 14"2 skewbald gelding. I have had him three years this December and he's gone from falling over the top of the blocks to flying over 1.20, unable to canter a 20m circle to learning half pass and pirouettes!! He's very well mannered in the stable, good to load, be shod, clip, dentist etc. He's well behaved at competitions, lovely to hack. Can't really fault him. Other than when trying to catch the sod!
He's always been difficult, even when his owners first got him. They had as good as rescued him. He was in terrible condition and has clearly taken some whacks. So basically he's very suspicious of coming in, and the longer he spends not being caught the more worried he gets about. Once you have got him, if anyone tries to go near his back end he leaps about and HATES if anyone grabs him to be caught. Saying this, he can be perfect for weeks, coming trotting right over to you. Then he has a bad week and won't come in and we start from scratch again :( So basically just wondering if anyone has any bright ideas I haven't already tried? thanks for reading x
 
Hi we had this problem with our old loan pony, i know how annoyin it is, have you tried puttin him on a field with less grass on it, what do you do when he comes in, do you ride him everytime ? If you do, maybe give him a few days of just comin in, havin an nice pamper an his tea, he could be protesting about bein ridden everytime he comes in, also, get a field headcollar on him, least it gives u somethin to hold while you get his headcollar on if he doesnt like to be grabbed, also take a few treats out in your pocket an give him a few when he allows you to catch him xx
 
Field with no grass and no friends makes most horses quite friendly !

Then treat every time you see them - so they think people = food, and don't always go to catch, which will limit the anticipation.
 
go into the field and shout him over, if he doesn't come then follow him and don't let him graze, keep him moving but don't actually try to catch him. eventually he will give up and turn to you, you should be able to put a headcollar on now but if he goes off again, just keep on moving him on. it may take some time but it really works. Whatever you do though, don't grab at him.
 
chestnuttymare said:
go into the field and shout him over, if he doesn't come then follow him and don't let him graze, keep him moving but don't actually try to catch him. eventually he will give up and turn to you, you should be able to put a headcollar on now but if he goes off again, just keep on moving him on. it may take some time but it really works. Whatever you do though, don't grab at him.
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I'd second this. My boy was treated for sarcoids before I bought him and was awful to catch, presumably because he thought I was going to paint nasty chemicals on him.... It took me 2.5 hours one day doing what's described above, and when I finally caught him, I put the headcollar on, gave him a polo, and then let him go again. He has never been a problem since. I know most horses probably wouldn't get over their fear that quickly, but if you persevere it should work.
I have another one who plays the game of running away when he thinks it might be riding time, but a carrot sorts him out - hold it up to him and he just can't resist! No other treats work!
 
Thanks for all the ideas. I forgot to say we have literally tried EVERYTHING we can think of. He isn't particularly interested in food. He spent a week out, on his own over night, last winter because we couldn't get near him even when there wasn't another horse in sight. He's been followed patiently for hours, the Parelli/Natural Horsemanship gang on the yard have tried chasing him round, once just on foot and once with a ''carrot stick'' which really didn't help as the poor boys VERY whip shy. He isn't always ridden, quite often he's exercised, gets turned out, then comes in for a groom, an enormous feed and a very cosy stable with plenty of hay. He loves his stable once he's there. My mum went away for the weekend and as she's usually the one who can catch him most consistently we decided to keep him in for that time. He was more than happy to stay there, he's so not interested by other horses etc. We've all done join up with him which works really well but then he can still be funny to come in. I've been out there for hours on end with him stood literally three feet away, but a step closer and he takes a step away. I've been out with around six people and more or less cornered him, when he's given in and come over to me, but obviously I can't expect to have a whole gang to help me everyday! I've ridden another horse out to the field and caught him from up there. Basically, my problem is that we always get him eventually catch him, but its always in his own time. There are days where I think he's just playing a game, but others where he's genuinly worried. This is the problem. Its so inconsistent. We make sure we go out at the same time every day (give or take 15mins), always have a carrot or apple, he wears a field headcollar, he's on a very sparse paddock with my other horse so they always come in and go out at the same time etc. Thats what makes it soooooo frustrating. This is the one thing that really makes me think twice about keeping him & I hate that it makes me feel that way because he is so wonderful in other respects. But thankyou for all your replies :)
 
Does he respect electric tape? I have a companion pony I can't catch. We have made a coral in the corner of his field, this is a friendly place where I leave food or hay sometimes, there is enough room to turn round no more. When I want to catch him I put food in the coral and then put tape accross the back. In a small space I can then catch him no problem although the key with him is although happy to be in that area is very respectful of tape (current is never on the coral) and wouldn't charge through to get away. The only thing that works with him.
 
hmmm....that might be a tactic worth trying. He's VERY respectful of the electric fencing lol but has been known to pop a 4ft6 set of rails from a stand still when he really really hasn't wanted to come in...I have a feeling the solution I'm looking for might just be non existent! lol xx
 
sazzle44 said:
hmmm....that might be a tactic worth trying. He's VERY respectful of the electric fencing lol but has been known to pop a 4ft6 set of rails from a stand still when he really really hasn't wanted to come in...I have a feeling the solution I'm looking for might just be non existent! lol xx
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You could get some 5ft poles for the coral
 
The only way I could catch my chestnut mare was to chase her away.

Feed the other horses some treats, fuss over them, but when she came near id walk away from her.

When she'd come up close id shoo her away.

Eventually she'd follow me around like a puppy, id stop walking away and pet her once on the shoulder, then walk away again.

Takes some time but eventually the reverse psychology and her curiosity got the better of her and she would come over no problem.


Just an idea. :)
 
Frustrating!

HAve you had him checked over for any underlying soreness. One of mine was like that and eventually we tracked down why he would be reluctant to be caught, the chiro fixed it eventually and then he was like a rash - he enjoyed coming in.
 
My pony was awfull to catch, she didnt fall for a bucket of feed, i found shooing her worked for a while and then it wouldnt sometimes i would have to resort to using a lunge line to get her into a corner. She would sometimes come straight over other times she would just let you get no where near her, i found that if she had a muzzle on (she was very fat) she would come straight in and also i kept her in a small pen and she was fine. I found the more work she did the better she was, i did however have a winter with three horses in two different yards the yard the pony and my youngster was on i had the use of a field with stables but no electric or water, when i caught her every day to go in the stable she would be fine but when i started leaving them out when the weather improved she was a pain to catch she wouldn't let me touch her while she was having her breakfast so i took it away until she would let me catch her, in the end it led me to selling her as it was just so much hassle especially as i didnt have time to work her. She has gone to a great family who do pony racing so she is very busy she only goes out for a couple of hours a day and she is perfect to catch. I also found that if a child went and caught her she was better or sometimes just someone she didnt know strangely! She would always come in for my mum! You would think i had been horrible to her but i never ever was!
 
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Yeahh, he has all the regular checks as he's very sensitive and it really effects his work if he isn't quite right so I'm pretty sure its not that. Thanks anyway though :) and we did try the muzzle technique, but he's quite difficult to keep weight on and it rubbed like made untill eventually he just pulled them off to the point where I'd turn him out in it and he walk right over to the fence and do it in front of me!! haha Its a shame you had to sell her because of this :( When he's being particularly bad I think I might just give up but then I've got nothing else to ride and he's still improving in his work all the time. Seems a shame after the work we've done together. grrrr...I'm hoping since he's been turned out with a new horse who's his new best mate he might get at least a bit attached & that'll convince him to come in!! Unlikely but fingers crossed...
 
My mare was awful to catch for the first 4/5 years of having her!!!...it can be so frustrating at times..especially when your in a rush...i have literally spent whole days sat in the field trying to catch her!!

What worked for me was to tie loops of string (approx 10inch loop) to her headcollar - the metal ring underneath and two side rings - so that when i got close enough to her i could clip the rope to the string instead of the metal rings! She did look like a bit of a wally with string dangling down from her face but it worked as i didnt have to get right up close to her face to clip the rope on!! Even when i stopped using the string i still kept her headcollar on and wouldnt have dreamt of turning her out without it!

(I've also been known to tie loops of string to the buckles on the front of her rug so that i could catch her!!)

Also i always walk very slowly up to her shoulder and talk to her in a nice, calm voice which seems to help her.

The most important thing ive learnt from having my mare is not to get frustrated with them & tell them off when they dont catch as it will only make them worse!

I would never dream of chasing her away as i would have 100% upset her for life and she'd never come to me again!! She is a sensitive little soul!

She now comes to call every day, although she is retired now so that most definately makes a difference!!

I know how frustrtaing it can be when your horse wont catch but you cant give up! It will take time but eventually your horse will improve!!
 
Personally I don't like leaving headcollars on. I have lots of trees and they could get caught up as they like to rub up against them.

I'm having problems with my daughters pony, he's retired so only comes in for brekkie and a fuss!! We've had him 9 years and every year when it gets windy and raining we have the same problem!! It lasts about a week then he's ok. I just normaly get the other pony in and leave him while I do some jobs then go and get him. It took me an hour yesterday in the pouring rain, but I was determined not to let him graze!

Off now to try and get him in! might be a while lol
 
Thankyou everyone for your ideas and suggestions :) He's been very good lately seeing as he doesn't like the rain and nothing has upset him. You would never think there was a problem, if he isn't waiting at the gate he comes trotting right over. Test will be after the hunts been through on Thursday as I can't take him!! haha I may be out there all night trying to get to him!
 
My boy has just started to get difficult to catch, I spent 2 hours the other week trying to catch him. I was shown the approach and retreat method. I was able to then catch him within 10mins. I can explain this method if you like. Just pm me. (you do need to allow yourself sometime for this though!)
 
Now see I've tried the whole 'follow your pony round for x amount of hours, don't let him eat and eventually he'll come to you'. All I ended up with was a sweaty, very stressed pony who still wouldn't be caught!
Guess mine is just speshul :D

OP: No real advice as I'm in the same boat as you - previously abused pony, wears field headcollar all the time. Can sometimes walk right up to him and others he'll be off before you get through the gate. He doesn't work either so it's nothing to do with that, it's just to come in for tea and nighttime! Just wanted to offer some sympathy, and if you find a solution that works let me know!
 
I have a mare who is very difficult to catch, and arab, so stupidly intellgent.

What has worked for me, is I go to her field with her headcoller and her dinner. I Never hide the headcoller and the fact that I want to catch her. However if she isn't caught, then she isn't fed. simple as. Now here is the trick.

I call her and she takes interest.... I have her dinner. She will start to wander over. If she doesn't I head over to her, but I never try to catch her if I have to go to her. She has learnt that she has to come to me. so I get her moving toward our usual catching spot.

I go back to the spot (always leaving dinner the wrong side of a fence) and I face Away from her. I don't look at her, call her (or her fieldmates) I just totally ignore her.

Usually she stops about 10 metres away, waiting for me to walk over to try and get her. But I know that if i do this a lot of the time she will walk away, so I continue to ignore her. Eventually she has her chin on my shoulder. I then gently stroke her neck and tell her she is a good girl before catching her. Even when putting the headcoller on she is able to walk away, there is no force. It is her choice to be caught.

Only once she is caught is she allowed the food.

I even do it this way if she is coming in, I ust take less food.

The longest this way has ever taken is half an hour, and thats usually when someone else is with me! She has fieldmates, they ust ignore it. But if they come over, they get ignored too. Its her I want!

This is for a mare, that until the age of eight had never been caught, and when I first had her would regularly take me 3 hours to catch. I now normally have her in less than 5 minutes.

Try it!
 
hi there
hope everyone is good and there ponies are behaving

i have had my pony for 8 years now, i got her as a 5 year old and she was a night mare to catch when she was on spring grass, she gradually got better as she got older always did have her moment though, i find that if she does schooling or that she refuses to catch the next day, i then moved to a different yard that we just really do hacking at schooling, and that is done at pony club which she seems to enjoy and catches, since being there now 4 years shes never had a day where shes taken long to catch, i did move her to a different yard over the summer and i think she was rode about 2s as she totally refused to catch now back to where i used to be and in the matter of an afternoon she went from not catchin to walkin over, she must of known she was home lol
it took me 3 and a half weeks to catch her in the end and what we did was went and bought 400m of fencing rope and run it along the field on the ground, chased her over it then pulled it up and gradually made the field smaller and smaller until i had her into a corner, i then managed to get ahold of her, i think something had happened as she was extremly head shy, but ive never had a problem since i moved back almost 5 weeks ago now, :D good luck everyone
 
thanks everyone for your suggestions and sympathy! will try these suggestions if I need them at any time :) so far lately he's been pretty good. Since he's in over night and got a different field friend (who really quite annoys him!) he seems pretty keen. hope I haven't just jinxed it though!
saying that, tonight could be interesting. Had to be kept in yesterday due to the hunt crossing our land and due to college I couldn't take him :( so he might be less keen...haha xx
 
My 14'3 cob was a nightmare to catch for years, i could sometimes spend 2 hours chasing him round a field, then think do i realy need to ride after all this but riding to make a point,now at 11years old he whinnys as he hears me get out the car and probably has done for the last 3 years, one extreme to the other. but its all part of his charm and i would never have changed him for the world.
 
No ideas but had the same problem with my old pony, some days he would whinny and trot over, some days he'd wander half way to me, some days i could walk upto him and get him, somedays he would jump 4'6 electric tape numerous times to get away from me. No particular reason, he just did.
 
Some good suggestions here. My first horse could be a nightmare to catch by others (was warned about this when I got him but he was always fine with me after a little effort spending time with him). He was terrified of men in baseball caps which I was told when as a result as whoever had mistreated him as a youngster - he was still wary of men into his 20s so this type of learning is impossible to undo - you can only give positive experiences to try and balance out. It sounds like you are doing that already and be careful with your own body language.

Also see if there is any pattern to when he is good to catch or bad to catch. I know one of my friend's horses would not let you catch her if you approached her from the right side. It was quite hiliarious as she would turn to place you on her off side so if you weren't aware of this she would be difficult. "Join up" like Monty Robert moving her one until signs of head lowering and licking worked well with her (but only if a smaller area unless you a lot fitter than me!) I didn't do anything like chasing her with ropes or sticks doing this - just my own body position and arms in relation to her.

My only other suggestion would be to spend some more time in the field with him - when not in a rush or trying to catch him - even take a book and a stool and ignore him and when he comes over to see what you are up to, give him his a scratch or rub on a favourite spot so he gets a some sort of reward for seeking you out. If you visit the field regularly doing this or even when you poo pick, hopefully he will get easier.
 
alainax said:
The only way I could catch my chestnut mare was to chase her away.

Feed the other horses some treats, fuss over them, but when she came near id walk away from her.

When she'd come up close id shoo her away.

Eventually she'd follow me around like a puppy, id stop walking away and pet her once on the shoulder, then walk away again.

Takes some time but eventually the reverse psychology and her curiosity got the better of her and she would come over no problem.


Just an idea. :)
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This really works and is the best idea by far.

Don't like the idea of leaving head collars on if it can be avoided.

Once you have caught her, let her go, break the pattern of always doing something when shes caught. I think you do this?

Time and patience as always is the key.
 
thanks again for all the suggestions. Welll having said on my last post that he'd been being very good, he decided to have one of his funny days and be a total sod on Saturday evening! My mum went out to get him (as he's usually better for her so she goes whenever possible) and he came right over, tried to steal the carrot and run off! Eventually he decided to come in after about two and a half hours!! You would have thought the silly thing would think 'hmm...its bucketing down, its dark, its windy and cold and all my friends have gone in for tea, I'll join them'' but noooo :( haha
To everyone who's said about leaving headcollars on, I would prefer not to but he has a thing about actually letting you get it on. He's so tense if he has been being funny and doesn't much like it being put on. But its a fieldsafe jobby and his mate can pull it off for him anyway! lol
Definately going to try some join-up with him again and having to poo-pick now and he's getting a bit more used to us being in the field.
Anyway, after being a total nuiscance and making me very late for a party on Saturday evening he redeemed himself by jumping two fantastic double clears on Sunday afternoon :) and looking after a jockey with a slightly sore head! hence the determination not to give up and give him back, even with his annoying habit :)
 
Behave as the aplha horse in the herd would. Go to catch him and id if walks a way make him move faster, then and the important part is to walk away from him, then try again, he should after a few goes want to be with you. This is how I worked it out with mine.

Horses only put pressure on each other till they do as they are asked. The more resistance the more pressure. As soon as the hose repsonses then take away the pressure by turning and walking away. If he has been chased and the pressure is constant then he wouldn't give you anything. You shouldn't need to use a whip/carrot stick just clap and make noise to make him walk away if he wont come in when asked. As soon as he move so making a noise, turn away from him and walk away. Keep repeating until him follows you/joins you then give him and treat and halter him.

Check out GaWaNi ponyboy I used hs techinques to get my boys trust.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mlwfoh4qPcc

Hope it helps
 
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