The case of the uncatchable pony

[FoxRidgeFarm]

Hi all! Long time lurker, new poster with a bit of a problem that I need your collective help with. Have a friend who has a pony that was bought from the field, past history unclear. She managed to get out of her headcollar a few days ago, and is now proving impossible to catch. None of the usual tricks are working, and it seems we've tried them all! Food, treats, corner, lead rope over neck, etc. She's gone through the fence twice now, this last time taking some of it with her (it's electric tape) so is now out in a bigger field than the pen we had set up for her. Any advice on what to try would be appreciated! Thanks in advance! -Sorcha

 

[binkymerlin]

herd her? do you have a quad or a trike? she prob doesnt want to be caught because she has had a taste of the grass OR is hungry? you got any more info about said pony?

 

[maresmaid]

Is she turned out on her own or with company?

 

[brown tack]

Yep herd her back into a smaller pen. Then let her settle, then go in and just as she starts to move off turn your back and couch down. Take your time and edge backwards towards towards her, keep your eyes down and don't look. Hopefully she will stay put and you can catch her.

Good luck! You may need it

 

[tazzle]

hmmmmmmm

a few days is not that long

it took me weeks and weeks to win Taz over ( terrified and untrusting)

given you dont know her history this mare too might have good reason to not want to be caught

I spent loads of time just being there and doing stuff in the field .... it might have helped she saw the other horses were happy to be with humans, it certainly did no harm for her to see them relaxed.


you might have to persist for quite a while with bringing in feed etc but not even attempting to catch her ....... she might already know that "trick".

mind you I have re read post ....... you can get a rope over her neck
if you can do that then I'd maybe keep doing that and giving her scratchies etc but do not catch her for a week or so. Even when frind gets headcollar on I would just put it on and reward . treat her then take it off. and on and off and on and off ......... you get the pattern

make haste slowly

 

[BringoutheBest]

are you able to pick her feet up? could pick up a leg while putting on headcollar (so she can't move away). We had to do this once with a cheeky "knows all the tricks in the book" type, but wouldnt work if its young unhandled type,
good luck anyway!

 

[mturnbull]

We had a pony who didn't lack trust or confidence and was deffinaitly not scared of us but apparently a field full of grass is much better company than us humans! After almost a week of not being able to be caught and a rather big competition date looming we tried everything to catch her. After all the usual things that you have mentioned I turned to google and found an old blog where someone described a way to catch 'uncatchable' horses and it worked! (I can't find this page anymore but will try and explain!)

We approached the mare with a feed bucket looking at the ground with relaxed shoulders and not walking directly to her but from the side, if she shys away stop and become less scary i.e. all your body language or turn your back and walk backwards (Im not sure why the turning of the back works but it does!)
When about 6 or so feet away crouch down and make 'soft' eye contact but not direct, hopefully she shows some interest in you and slowly move towards her and yes I do mean just about crawling towards them! By this point we were able to let our mare eat the feed and slowly get her headcollar.

I feel I am beginning to sound a little crazy by telling you to commando crawl towards your horse but this worked for us, for us it was always about body language and catching her 'peacefully'. Good luck!

 

[Foxhunter49]

I have had several cases of uncatchable ponies and unless the animal is terrified of people I would use a quad to catch it by chasing it around the field to the point of it wanting to be caught.

A friend of mine had his step daughter given a pony. It was turned out in a 12 acre field and when they tried to catch it the pony would chase them out.
My friend had no idea about horses and so went to the library looking for a book on 'How to catch a pony' In the end he found a paragraph or two on catching a pony.
He went into the field armed with halter and carrot. Approached pony. Pony grazing watching him and when he was a few yards away, it lifted its head, opened its mouth and charge.
Friend jumped to one side and gave the pony a karate kick in the head. Pony gallops off.
He follows, same thing happens but pony get kick the other side of the head. Pony gallops off. This time when he approached pony gallops away and keeps doing so.
He gives up and walks towards gate, pony canters over, friend is ready but pony stops, walks forward to be caught.

Ponies are artful creatures and sometimes you have to be not so nice to them.

 

[JenHunt]

If Monty Roberts can catch an unhandled 'wild' horse by essentially stalking it on horeback for days on end, across open prairie, then I'm sure following a pony round a field on a quad would work! You could probably even just walk behind it for an age!

Otherwise I would recommend getting pony into a small field (herding if necessary) and then take a bucket, and a book and sit in the middle fo the field ignoring pony until it comes up to you, give it a treat and continue ignoring until you can get a head collar on it.

 

[FoxRidgeFarm]

herd her? do you have a quad or a trike? she prob doesnt want to be caught because she has had a taste of the grass OR is hungry? you got any more info about said pony?

Have a tractor, but short of getting her in the bucket I doubt that would work! She was in a small pen that has no grass due to rain & mud & pony churning it all up. She broke through the middle partition when she was last attempted to be caught, so we took down the electric in the middle and made a slightly bigger pen for her and her friend (who came from the same place) and just left them to it for now.

Is she turned out on her own or with company?

Was with company, got separated because the other pony she came with always did the same thing she did, but after she broke through the fence she is back with her now. At the moment she is out in the bigger big of field with another horse.

Yep herd her back into a smaller pen. Then let her settle, then go in and just as she starts to move off turn your back and couch down. Take your time and edge backwards towards towards her, keep your eyes down and don't look. Hopefully she will stay put and you can catch her.

Good luck! You may need it

Thanks! lol Need all the luck we can get! Did try the crouch and creep method - for several hours - and she was having none of it.

are you able to pick her feet up? could pick up a leg while putting on headcollar (so she can't move away). We had to do this once with a cheeky "knows all the tricks in the book" type, but wouldnt work if its young unhandled type,
good luck anyway!

This would be perfect, IF we could get close enough to her to pick up a foot! Which she isn't very good with.....

We had a pony who didn't lack trust or confidence and was deffinaitly not scared of us but apparently a field full of grass is much better company than us humans! After almost a week of not being able to be caught and a rather big competition date looming we tried everything to catch her. After all the usual things that you have mentioned I turned to google and found an old blog where someone described a way to catch 'uncatchable' horses and it worked! (I can't find this page anymore but will try and explain!)

We approached the mare with a feed bucket looking at the ground with relaxed shoulders and not walking directly to her but from the side, if she shys away stop and become less scary i.e. all your body language or turn your back and walk backwards (Im not sure why the turning of the back works but it does!)
When about 6 or so feet away crouch down and make 'soft' eye contact but not direct, hopefully she shows some interest in you and slowly move towards her and yes I do mean just about crawling towards them! By this point we were able to let our mare eat the feed and slowly get her headcollar.

I feel I am beginning to sound a little crazy by telling you to commando crawl towards your horse but this worked for us, for us it was always about body language and catching her 'peacefully'. Good luck!

This is almost exactly what I spent the better part of today doing, with no result. Thanks though, it is a good method!

If Monty Roberts can catch an unhandled 'wild' horse by essentially stalking it on horeback for days on end, across open prairie, then I'm sure following a pony round a field on a quad would work! You could probably even just walk behind it for an age!

Otherwise I would recommend getting pony into a small field (herding if necessary) and then take a bucket, and a book and sit in the middle fo the field ignoring pony until it comes up to you, give it a treat and continue ignoring until you can get a head collar on it.

We've completed the application form for both of them to be used in his next demo, IF we can get her caught maybe he'll be able to accomplish some things with them.


Thanks for all the suggestions everyone! Appreciate it, and will be out trying again tomorrow.

 

[Kate35]

Tazzle, you beat me to a similar response!

To Foxridgefarm - There is always a reason why a Horse/Pony behaves in a particular way and it always linked to their natural instinct, "fear and flight."

I was borne out of the "old school of thought" that being "It is always the rider's fault," and in 99.9%of cases it invariably is and "there is always a reason why," and there always is! I have stood by those age old maxims and they have never proved wrong.

Try reverse psychology. Don't try to catch the Pony let the Pony come to you. Adopt Tazzle's suggestions. Try to gain the Ponies trust, spend time in the field, let the Pony see you tending to the other Ponies/Horses in the field so that it begins to understand that no harm will come to it. Inquisitiveness will always prevail in the end. (I spent a few hours a day over a period of a week just sat in the field with my present Horse that practically every "know it all" in the County had attempted to catch using a variety of methods. Eventually she came to me. At the time it pissed an awful lot of people off because it worked and I was regarded by many as somekind of a nut in the process. I had however adopted similar practices in the past and it had never failed to work. I did have the benefit of good weather and I was able to combine the time with revising for my finals.

Save for the technical aspects, in order to really look after a Horse you have to understand it to be able to do that. Looking after Horses is just as much if not more about having common sense than being knowledgeable.

Avoid making a big deal about the situation. A tractor would be a big deal and something that it will associate with fear in the future. When doing anything with a Horse have the "fear and flight" maxim in mind and use common sense. Try to make every experience as pleasurable and stress free as possible. Patience is a virtue from which trust and respect are earned.

 

[FoxRidgeFarm]

Kate35, what you've written has been done for the past 2 months, though by her owner (who also cannot get near enough now that she is without headcollar). No one has put any pressure on the pony, everything has been done very slowly and quietly with a great deal of patience. I get what you're saying, and completely agree, especially since the history of the pony is unknown. From what I've been told about them, they came out of an auction and were most likely going for meat so it was some sort of rescue effort by the person who initially bought them (there were 5). Beyond that, I have no idea their past history.

 

[maresmaid]

If the pony was turned out in company I was going to suggest that the other horses were bought in so it might follow them - Sounds like that won't work though. I had a horse that hated being caught and we used to do the sit-in-the-field-and-ignore-it -routine, followed by I'm-only-here-to-give-you-a-carrot routine. Then 'll-lead-to-you the-gate-and-let-you-go. But we could always catch her if we bought all the horses in to the yard together. If you bought the horses from an auction and don't know thier history I wonder if they might be unhandled? If so sounds like it will be a long patient job for your friend.

 

[Dolcé]

If she is now out with another horse does she appear to be bonding with it? Would it be possible to make some kind of secure walkway, bring the other horse in and allow her to follow loose, preferably into a barn or large secure area. We have one that we haven't managed to catch for coming up 2 years, he came as a wildie (we have had these several times and always won them around within days from completely untouched). Our boy isn't scared, he just doesn't want to be touched! I can just about stroke his cheek if he is in the mood but usually he will take food from the hand and just stay out of reach. We are going to have to get him in to be cut very soon but as I had him in 3 weeks when he first arrived I can't see having him close to hand making much difference. He whinnies and is comfortable around us as long as we don't try to touch. Whenever we have needed to move them we have just allowed him to follow his herd which he does quite happily.

 

[Kate35]

Please don't take up the other suggestions of "kicking the pony in the head" or herdng it into the stable by using Quad Bikes or Tractors or anything else. I would not try to do anything tomorrow, I personally (I think many others would also do so) would leave the Pony alone for at least a week because it will undoubtedly be stressed because of the other attempts.

Never ever ever, turn your back on a Horse when it is stressed. Never directly stare at ANY animal that is stressed, do look away usually towards the ground by slightly lowering your head.

With regard to the experience with my Horse I forgot to add that by the end of week, my horse was following me to the gate where I gave a few tit bits and rubbed her neck and shoulder. After a few days of doing so, I put a head collar on her that I had left by the gate and immediately gave her a feed. The minute she had finished eating I took it off and let her go. I have never had a problem catching my Horse since then and neither has anyone else, with the exception of one person who sounds very similar to "Foxhunter49"

If the Pony is in danger or is injured then call a Vet. They will probably give a very strong oral sedative in a feed and will remain with the Pony until it is safely boxed. It is a last resort and of course it won't solve the catching problem that at the moment is associated with trust. Be patient, earn it!

 

[FoxRidgeFarm]

If you bought the horses from an auction and don't know thier history I wonder if they might be unhandled? If so sounds like it will be a long patient job for your friend.

That's what we're thinking, and yes! A very long, very patient job for her. Thankfully she's wholly committed to them and is doing all she can.

If she is now out with another horse does she appear to be bonding with it? Would it be possible to make some kind of secure walkway, bring the other horse in and allow her to follow loose, preferably into a barn or large secure area. We have one that we haven't managed to catch for coming up 2 years, he came as a wildie (we have had these several times and always won them around within days from completely untouched). Our boy isn't scared, he just doesn't want to be touched! I can just about stroke his cheek if he is in the mood but usually he will take food from the hand and just stay out of reach. We are going to have to get him in to be cut very soon but as I had him in 3 weeks when he first arrived I can't see having him close to hand making much difference. He whinnies and is comfortable around us as long as we don't try to touch. Whenever we have needed to move them we have just allowed him to follow his herd which he does quite happily.

This sounds exactly like this mare. I doubt much has been done with them, if anything really. The feet on both were horrid, and the farrier had a heck of a time getting a trim done.

 

[kerilli]

i'd turn her out with one that's guaranteed very catchable, let them bond for a day or two, then get a few buckets of food, catch the new one and let the other one follow her into stable, enticing with bucket if necessary, with a lot of people gently herding the other in from behind if necessary. i wouldn't chase her with quadbike etc. and as for 'karate kicking it in the head'... very funny. not. great way to get a hoof in the head more like.
i've caught an uncatchable pony in a 20 acre field (he'd been in there for about 3 weeks without friend being able to touch him) by riding my mare into field and letting him follow her into stable yard. takes a controlled ridden horse that won't kick though.

 

[whiteclover]

Ive not read all the replies here but I had a horse who I couldnt catch. I put her in a small field and just used to go up to her, give her head a rub, give her a treat and walk away again. I did this for about 2 weeks before I could take her out, give her a groom and eventually I progressed to bringing her out and riding her. It will take some time doing it this way. It would be a good idea to get someone out such as an NH trainer if you cant do it yourself. Although it is expensive.

 

[Kate35]

Kate35, what you've written has been done for the past 2 months, though by her owner (who also cannot get near enough now that she is without headcollar). No one has put any pressure on the pony, everything has been done very slowly and quietly with a great deal of patience. I get what you're saying, and completely agree, especially since the history of the pony is unknown. From what I've been told about them, they came out of an auction and were most likely going for meat so it was some sort of rescue effort by the person who initially bought them (there were 5). Beyond that, I have no idea their past history.

What has been done for the past to months? When you say " cannot get near enough now that is without a headcollar) has the friend perhaps tried to grab the pony by the headcollar?

Even wild horses and ponies will be overpowered by their natural inquisitiveness to move towards something that they are unsure of before their basic fear and flight instinct takes effects.

Sounds like one very upset pony. If your friend has inadvertantly upset the pony by attempting to catch it, is it possible for the pony to be left alone for a while and then perhaps someone else could try.

 

[millimoo]

Can you try and put a bucket of feed out with a decent amount of ACP in it, the. Try and herd into a small enclosure.
Also do have a secure yard you can corral her in, if not, can you build a wooden pen In the field.
Sounds like you've tried most things and may have to do something more drastic (ACP).
Catching is one thing, but clearly she needs some Corral type structure that's not very big, with all food bought in by the owner so she can start to build up a relationship..... Good luck

 

[Mince Pie]

Take a book, deck chair and a bag of carrots into the field. Ignore the pony until it comes up to you, then give it a piece of carrot and go back to your book. Then progress to to a scratch on the head, then head and neck etc. Then repeat the process whilst standing. Eventually the pony should come round.

 

[Dry Rot]

I haven't read all the posts but I had a mare in for service that couldn't be caught. It became a challenge to me and I did eventually get her eating hard feed out of a bucket every day held between my knees as I sat on the ground -- but the moment I touched her, she'd back off double quick. I tried for nearly six weeks but got no further.

When the owner came to collect her, I managed to get the horse inside but told the owner she would have to do the rest. The shelter is adjacent to the round pen and transport was backed up for easier loading. Well, she got hold of the head collar by the grab method and was dragged into the round pen when I opened the gate, then thrown off! The mare saw the trailer and was in like a bullet! I have never seen any animal load as fast in my life!

I tried to buy the mare as she was lovely, but no success. The owner is a livestock haulier who remarked "Animals should be treated like animals". I think we get the picture!

I think the answer to a problem like this is feeding "from the hand" every day, i.e. from a bucket, preferably several times a day in small quantities and in an area where feed is restricted (bare paddock or inside). If necessary, ration the food. Every day aim for a small success. And I'm meaning here perhaps an inch. If you can rub a finger on the horse's face as she puts her head in the bucket, it is a success. I would have expected the above mare to have taken months to come right as she had obviously been abused, but, as I said, it was a challenge.

 

[maresmaid]

If your friend is prepared to commit to time and patience, and willing to
work within the pony's own comfort zone, then I am sure she is going about this in the right way, and given time she will eventually get there - but she will have to accept that it's the pony who will dictate how long it takes! It doesn't sound like you are dealing with a naughty pony that just wants to stay out grazing - which many of the afore mentioned techniques might sort out (except tractors, quad bikes and kicks to the head!). The best advice you can give your friend is not to give up, 2 months is not very long especially when you have no idea of what the pony's life was like for the past few years!

 

[maresmaid]

Originally Posted by mturnbull
We had a pony who didn't lack trust or confidence and was deffinaitly not scared of us but apparently a field full of grass is much better company than us humans! After almost a week of not being able to be caught and a rather big competition date looming we tried everything to catch her. After all the usual things that you have mentioned I turned to google and found an old blog where someone described a way to catch 'uncatchable' horses and it worked! (I can't find this page anymore but will try and explain!)

We approached the mare with a feed bucket looking at the ground with relaxed shoulders and not walking directly to her but from the side, if she shys away stop and become less scary i.e. all your body language or turn your back and walk backwards (Im not sure why the turning of the back works but it does!)
When about 6 or so feet away crouch down and make 'soft' eye contact but not direct, hopefully she shows some interest in you and slowly move towards her and yes I do mean just about crawling towards them! By this point we were able to let our mare eat the feed and slowly get her headcollar.

I feel I am beginning to sound a little crazy by telling you to commando crawl towards your horse but this worked for us, for us it was always about body language and catching her 'peacefully'. Good luck!

This is almost exactly what I spent the better part of today doing, with no result. Thanks though, it is a good method![/B][/B]

Re the above -
Just a thought - Perhaps you need to re-assess what you consider a "result" - ie if the pony is relaxed and grazing when you are 20m from her her in wk1 a good "result" in wk 2 would be if she came less than 20m away from you and was relaxed and grazing. It may be less frustrating if you consider tiny goals each week rather than concentrate on the objective of actually handling the pony as the immediate "result". If it's trust and confidence is gradually increasing week by week you are getting a "result", and this is what I meant by the pony dictating how long it takes.

 

[eatmoremincepies]

Can i humbly say. . I have a bit of a knack for catching and pros/comp riders pay me to catch their v tricky ones. If handled it should take under 20 mins to catch them, a few mins longer to teach them how to be caught in future. If unhandled, half a day or so.
Where are you? (sorry on phone)

Good book is No fear no force by sarah weston. But it speeds things up a lot to have someone actually show you what to do.

Monty idea is good but if pony is v scared they wont take him for a demo - wouldnt be fair. Plus to get him there they would need to do most of the catching training anyway. If there is a good monty/ih person near you they *should * be able to help.
Pm me if you like, am pretty booked up but would be happy to help you find a solution in your area if that helps.

 

[Cobiau Cymreig Wyllt]

hmmmmmmm

a few days is not that long

it took me weeks and weeks to win Taz over ( terrified and untrusting)

given you dont know her history this mare too might have good reason to not want to be caught

I spent loads of time just being there and doing stuff in the field .... it might have helped she saw the other horses were happy to be with humans, it certainly did no harm for her to see them relaxed.


you might have to persist for quite a while with bringing in feed etc but not even attempting to catch her ....... she might already know that "trick".

mind you I have re read post ....... you can get a rope over her neck
if you can do that then I'd maybe keep doing that and giving her scratchies etc but do not catch her for a week or so. Even when frind gets headcollar on I would just put it on and reward . treat her then take it off. and on and off and on and off ......... you get the pattern

make haste slowly

^^^
This - I was weeks getting near my boy over the summer and frustrating as it was, it was softly softly catchee monkee....

 

[riding_high]

not read all replies so apologies if i repeat.

i would try and get her back into a small pen again, possibly with very little grass in it, then take a bucket of feed in with a bit of hay, tip the feed onto the hay and take a few steps back and sit. do that for a few days then build it up so that you can stay standing at the pile of hay and her eating happily.
i would stay crouching down though and read a book or something but keep an arm stretched out in front so that she gets used to you/your hand being there. then she should eventually trust you enough to be able to touch her. but don't make the mistake of catching her as soon as you can touch her.