Keeping headcollar on in field

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emfen1305

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Hi all, I am on assisted livery so my boy is turned out and brought in by a girl that helps out. She prefers to leave the headcollars on as it is quicker for her to catch them but my horse always manages to rub his off and then i have to trawl around the field trying to find it so I asked her to leave his off. Last night i came down to a missing headcollar to which i was told she had been leaving it on again as he was becoming difficult to bring in (I didn't get down to what exactly she meant by this). He can't be left out as his 2 fieldmates come in so he would be on his own for 2 and a bit hours and can't imagine he would be best pleased. So my question is how can I get him to keep it on safely? I don't want to over tighten it as he has it on all day so don't want it to rub. It doesn't seem like he rubs it off on trees, i usually find it in the middle of the field so it is either rubbed off when rolling or being pulled off. Any tips?! Thank you!
 
I don't think normal headcollars are felt to be very safe when left on in the field. If the horse catches them on something they can injure themselves (sometimes seriously).

Have you looked at field safe headcollars? They're supposed to come off if they're caught on something. I wouldn't want to over-tighten anything left on the in field, if your horse does catch himself then you want the headcollar to come off, not stay on.

Does the YO/YM know about the headcollars being left on? And are they happy about this? if you don't want your horse left in a headcollar I would have a word with them and tell them you're unhappy. If they say he is becoming a pain to catch ask why and work with them to resolve it.

ETA: if she's leaving them on so they're easier to catch - how is she catching your horse if you're the one that has to go and find the headcollar in the field? Surely if she has to go get another headcollar to catch him it's easier for her to just take it off in the first place??
 
It would do my nut in if someone insisted on having my horse turned out with a headcollar on (unless it was really tricky to catch)
 
if they are really tricky to catch it is hard even if they have a head collar on! and this needs working on. If you don't normally have an issues I don't see how she should.

I also don't see how it is quicker, other that about 30 seconds, to leave it on.

problem with field safe ones is that they can then come off so easily that they come of regularly. I know someone who uses a leather head collar as leather will snap under pressure unlike nylon.
 
Yeah he had a couple of field safe ones but he rubbed them off and the little rubber bands broke and I just haven't got round to fixing them. Currently he has a leather one as they are supposed to be safer (plus it doesn't get as wet when it gets left out in the field for me to find)

Our yard is very DIY, it isn't an official service provided, she just does it for a few people that can't get there so the YO has no say, not that i would go to them anyway as they are clueless!

I think the issue is I have no idea what the problems are. I have never once had an issue bringing him in, I turn him out and bring him in every weekend and never any issues and on the rare occasion i do bring him in in the week (due to a vet/farrier/physio visit) I just walk straight over and get him and despite it being totally out of his routine we still don't have any problems.

I got there last night and after a really bad day at work I was met with having to traipse around a muddy field to find a headcollar so to be honest I wasn't in the right frame of mind to be asking why he was being difficult. He really is one of the most placid horses on the yard so I'm not sure what he could be doing and she just brings him in a leadrope when the headcollar goes missing so that's why I was confused but aforementioned bad mood just made me do my jobs and go home. I just said in future to take his headcollar off and if he is difficult to bring in just to leave him out and I would deal with it when I got down which is not ideal hence seeing if anyone had any smart ideas!

I think i'll stick to my guns of asking for his head collar to be left off and see why exactly he is being difficult.
 
Definitely sounds a bit odd OP. Maybe it's just laziness?

There is always the possibility he is better for you because he knows you and he's not very good for her. But you won't know unless she tells you!

I guess I'd say to her that if he is rubbing it off in the field she might as well take it off when she turns out as she'll have to fetch another one anyway when she wants to bring in?
 
Are there other horses around him left out? Mine is left out on her own when her fieldmate and the 2 on one side of her are brought in. She's on her own for 2-3 hours depending on when they're brought in and when I get there. Now it is her routine she's never bothered and is stood waiting on the other side of the mud when I get there, not stressed. There are horses in the field on the other side, but I don't actually think that's a factor in her behaviour as the 3 brought in are all stables in the row with her. It could be a possibility if this girl keeps leaving your horse's headcollar on.
 
Better to teach the horse to (want to) be caught, imo - quite straightforward in the vast majority of cases, given a bit of patience.
 
fburton said:
Better to teach the horse to (want to) be caught, imo - quite straightforward in the vast majority of cases, given a bit of patience.
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if she is bringing him in with a lead rope round his neck he sounds easy to catch so not easy to work out why this person insists that he has headcollar left on....its a puzzle
 
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