So, the new one is being difficult to catch

Z

zoon

Well-Known Member
Joined
13 November 2008
Messages
2,353
Visit site
New horse arrived 10 days ago. No problem to catch when we viewed him, turned out without headcollar, came to call.

Now home he will come over but moves his head away when you move towards him. It's as if he's a bit nervy or head shy. He's out in a head collar at the mo and I can quietly catch him this way, but might take a min or so before he'll let me close enough. If I catch him minus the headcollar I need to grab his rug or mane to hold him still while I put the head collar on. He seems to dislike the headcollar going over his nose and puts hs head up high and walks backwards. He is only 3.

Spent a while today putting headcollar on and off and touching hs face. Is it just a case of doing this and giving him time to settle? Don't want it to escalate into him becoming difficult to catch all the time. had a mare who was bad to catch and needed a headcollar on and a bucket of feed - bloomin nightmare! The others with him are fine to catch and come to call.

Any do's and don'ts in this situation?
 
I'd leave a headcollar on him for now and take treats/or a bucket when you go to catch him. It's probably just that he needs more time to settle and accept you as his new owner.
 
When I first had my new boy (just turned 5) he would move back when I went to put the headcollar on, so I just put the leadrope round his neck (quite high up on his neck towards his ears) and then put the headcollar on. If he pulled back the lead rope gave that little bit of resistance that said 'No, I'm catching you now'. Hope that helps.
 
I recreated catching my yearling with her already caught and would put a rope round her neck (in addition to the head collar on and a lead rope) and control her with the rope on her neck unless she was going to get away with bad behaviour then I'd use the other rope. Progressed to putting 2nd head collar on top, waving arms about etc and she is fine now.
 
As my kids overtake me rapidly in respect of the horses thay are happy to ride, height of fences they are happy to jump, one thing they cannot surpass me in is catching a horse.........I seem to have perfected this skill over circa 30 years, and there are very few horses I can't catch - and I am including semi feral animals in this mix.....
We have a new horse that my son could not catch (I subsequently discovered that the prior owner had a problem too - though he did not think to mention, when we took said horse on, but we are loaning, not buying, so he did not need to mention really......)
When I did get to the stage of putting the halter on, the horse, appeared to be headshy, but he is not at all really - his raising his head when I approached with the headcoller was more about butt out, nothing to do with his head. We have gone on to tack up said horse with a bridle in the yard (not a stable) and he is fine.
His issues, I feel, were more about not knowing who we were, and that we were invading his personal space - similar to someone you don't know, wanting to give you a smacking famalier kiss....?? Yuck......
So, with this horse, I went out to the field and made great freinds with all his companions, and ignored him. He came up to me, so I gave him a polo / mouthful of feed from my pocket (please do not do buckets, far too dangerous). I continued to make a fuss (discretely of everything else in the paddock, ignoring him) but if he wanted a titbit, then I gave it to him. Then I patted him on the neck, as I did similar with all the other animals in the field we are talkinfg 5 acre field here...... Eventually when he was part of the pack (or just one of one the others) I slipped the lead rein around his neck, and popped the headcollar on. Then I continued to interact with the other field companions so it did not seem such a big thing that he had been caught - and in my own time led him in from the field. The first time I might have invested 30 mins in this process. Next time it took 15 mins, then within in a week we are catching the horse in as (mostly it appproaches us) one polo, 2 seconds - today, new horse catcher, no feed, instant success.......and he has had his hind shoes on now.....The farrier had issues with putting his fronts on 2 weeks ago ( a bit home grown lovely syndrome) but the hinds he put on today with no issues at all..... possibly becuase we have not been treating him as 'special' but as one of many, but investing some time in dealing with him as part of the herd, and not giving him special treatment per se.....?
 
agree with much of what has been said...

leadrope used quietly and correctly is IME too the way to go here

OP I agree re food, personally I never use food in training - I think it can cause problems down the road, esp with ponies

click on this red link for a more detailed response about catching horses

your specific circumstances are covered in the second half of the article
.
 
stop trying to CATCH him let him CATCH you lol... seriously so many people go up get close n try to grab...just walk up give a treat walk away repeat this til he follows you to gate... the place treat in hand give then put head coller on, i find catching then bringing in just to feed for few days really works..they think come in feed, later they think come in feed/work...mine always still come to me in case it is feed lol
 
Could you leave a fieldsafe headcollar on him ?
The thinner one with rubber bands in place of the metal rings rather than the chunkier fieldsafe that fastens with velcro.
You could use a standard headcollar over the fieldsafe to turn out. Take the standard headcollar off once in the field. Let him catch you, as suggested above, take hold of the fieldsafe, then put the standard headcollar on as normal once you have hold of him.
I've done this with a semi-feral pony until she was catchable without leaving the fieldsafe on. I couldn't put ropes around her neck, she was too nervous.
The pony I have now was also semi-feral. I can catch her (100 acre field), but can ONLY put the headcollar on her from the front. If I attempt to put it on from the side, try to put the rope around her neck first, or even try to put my arm over her neck to steady her head, she bolts off.
I also do the walking around the field making a fuss of all the ponies. I always have a few high fibre cubes in my pocket. Everything comes to me, including the "uncatchable" ones, but can only put my filly's headcollar on nose first while standing in front of her.
 
He doesn't sound too bad because he will let you hold him with his rug etc. I think as his expectations of being caught change this will probably go away, ie if he starts to associate you with getting scratches, the odd treat, and if he doesn't always come in to work or do something he's not keen on. There is something quite simple you could try. Instead of putting the noseband on and then putting the strap up over his ears - when he's with you in the field hold the headcollar in your left hand and give him lots of scratches up his neck until you are resting your arm over his neck. Then put your left hand under his neck, take the strap in your right hand and draw the noseband up over his nose. If a horse has a bad association with the headcollar going on from their past, this can sometimes just sort the problem easily, because it doesn't have the same association.
You could also build up to catching by not getting too focused on it, start visiting him in the field just to be nice to him and leaving again whenever you can.
 
:)I have only owned my Mare Sophie and her Foal for two weeks,prior to me owning her she hadn't had much handling and i couldn't get near her,but over the last week she has started coming when i call her name,she didn't even have a name when i bought her,she will follow me in to the stable where i feed her and then i spend time getting to know her and her Baby.It is all about you getting to know each other and building a bond.Good luck with your new Horse.:)
 
As I am sure you know, it can take months for a new horse to completely settle into a new environment and the trust needs to be earnt on both sides.

Leave the headcollar on and practice putting it on in the stable over and over, giving a tiny treat when he stands and lowers his head calmly.

He is young so you have plenty of time whilst you aren't riding him to teach these basic manners and a good scratch always goes a long way to building your friendship ;-)
 
I saw a video on YouTube showing a way of putting on a rope halter which I've found much easier than the traditional way. Maybe it is the method everyone uses, but I haven't met them yet!

Just gather the halter up in your right hand but hold on to the end that goes over the poll between your fingers. Reach up (scratching and stroking if you need to as you go) and drop the halter over the horse's neck, holding onto the end. Then grasp the head collar with the left hand under the horse's neck, sort it out and put it on.

I find this works for me because I always scratch horses around the ears and it is easy to scratch with a scrunched up rope halter in your hand, then very easy to drop it over as mentioned above. It seems easier to catch a shy horse this way, for me anyway, as you've got 'em before they notice!;)
 
When you have got the horse in the stable rub its face with the headcollar and feed treats, we do this standing outside the stable so that the horse can move away if they want. When they come back for the treat they get face rubbed again. I don't bother putting the headcollar on, but next time you go to catch them they push their head into it.
Feed them something everytime they come in.;)
Goodluck.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top