No touching :(

[Natie]

My horse doesn't want me to touch him! And doesn't want to be caught. How do I go about earning his trust? He comes when I call him, but when i lift my hand slowly to touch him, he walks off. He has a sarcoid on his face and I need to treat him everyday but its a struggle. Now I only do it once a week. Please i need help


Thank you

 

[eggs]

Could you leave a headcollar on him with a short piece of rope that you could catch hold of - assuming that it would not interfere with the sarcoid. As he is only walking away from you it shouldn't be that difficult to catch him.

How are you treating the sarcoid? Is it under veterinary supervision? If you are meant to be applying something every day and it is only being done once a week then you need to find a way of catching your horse.

 

[meesha]

If leaving head collar on make sure it's a field safe one. Or buy a cheap one and take a ring out and replace with thin twin so it will snap if caught on something.

Take something to feed with like a carrot but feed bit by bit whilst giving him a good scratch then build up to holding him will he eats

 

[Dry Rot]

Meesha's advice is the way to go.

Feed rewards (carrots sliced lengthways into fours) but synchronise the carrot going into his mouth with him brushing past your hand to get it. It is important that he moves, you don't.

Gradually, he will come to expect the reward. Just make him 'work' a little bit more for it every day. This is why giving treats results in mugging. The giver of treats has unintentionally taught the pony to look, then nibble, anf finally nip to get a treat. Turn that learning sequence on it's head and teach it that to get the reward, it needs to tolerate being touched, then gently held by the head collar .

Take it slowly, don't grab, let the poy do the moving, and be content with very little progress each day and you'll get there.

 

[gunnergundog]

My horse doesn't want me to touch him! And doesn't want to be caught. How do I go about earning his trust? He comes when I call him, but when i lift my hand slowly to touch him, he walks off. He has a sarcoid on his face and I need to treat him everyday but its a struggle. Now I only do it once a week. Please i need help


Thank you

What are you treating the sarcoid with? If anything other than what the vet has prescribed GET THE VET NOW. If it is something from the vet, then talk to your vet as they MAY be able to prescribe something more acceptable to the horse or propose an alternate way to treat it, depending on what type of sarcoid it is..........not all sarcoids are the same, as I'm sure you are aware.

 

[harrietmoles]

Personally I would try not to use feed to catch a horse. I did for years and years with my old horse and it got me no where. He knew that I had food and would take it and run. Or if I didn't have food I wouldn't get near him. They are clever and will learn that once the food has gone they don't have to stick around. I second leaving a head collar on but would definitely look in using the follow approach (if you Google it there are different variations). I have done this with two horses one very young and one very old and stuck in her ways and after a week or so they are practically catching themselves. But beware its not a quick fix job. The first follow can last hours and the key is not to give up or get stressed. Also if you get him in as often as you can just for a brush or a treat once caught and in he will not associate catching with just riding or in your case having the sarcoid treated. He will learn that being caught has rewards and you will bond a lot better.

 

[flirtygerty]

patience is the key, my old TB was basically paranoid about life itself, self harming was the norm for him, he suffered from flies, reacted to nettles and his face was sore, so every day I would (eventually) cover his face in sudacreme, being 17 2, when his head went up, I had a problem, a treat to bring his head down, then once I got to touch his head, he was fine, even relished the relief it gave him, being a very dark bay he looked odd, but it worked, just to say my horses all came to a whistle, happy to have headcollars on, with this horse, as soon as he saw something in your hand, he worried