The catching game ...

Thank you, everyone for your help. I have read it all but cannot reply to everyone. So, I have tried a lot of different techniques with her as well and she'll usually not know it and come in but then she figures it out, so I can't catch her. I don't think I will be able to get a field safe headcollar for her as you can't get close enough to her to put it on and also, I would struggle after riding as it has gotten to the point where I have to turn her out in a bridle. I will try some techniques with her, but only having her on a Tuesday and a Sunday means it's quite difficult as it's a school night on Tuesday so an early night and Sunday is generally filled with exam work etc. I know fully that it is not about riding the horse but as I'm the only that actually exercises her, I think it's quite important as otherwise she'll get stiff and overweight. I have also been keeping an eye out as stated before so maybe get some luck with that.
 
You could always put the headcollar on while you're on the yard / in her stable and put the bridle over the top, then just take the bridle off once you're in the field, leaving the headcollar.
 
I don't have a headcollar atm as she broke it by dragging me, let alone a field safe one. So, it isn't possible as i'm borrowing the owners other horses headcollar which has extra rope across the nose. I also can't get her to stand still to put it on after the ride.
 
If the horse has poor ground manners in general then perhaps some time invested in groundwork in general may be well spent? If you're struggling with this then it may be worth getting a professional out to help? (I know it seems expensive but think of all the frustration it will save you if they can give you some techniques that work)

Also think about what motivation does the pony have to be caught? Why on earth should she leave a nice field of juicy grass and friends to come and do work? Is there any way you can think of the make it more worth her while to come to you?

In the short-term would it be possible to leave a fieldsafe headcollar on her for the moment? A lot of horses seem to be easier to catch if literally all you're having to do is clip the leadrope on and get going rather than faff putting a headcollar on in the field.

General advice would be to keep her moving whilstever she's refusing to be caught. This doesn't mean running around the field after her and can be done at walk, means that there's a consequence for her running away and if you can manage to direct her away from the main herd when doing this then it will probably be of benefit to do so as she's liekly to just try and hide in the middle of them all if not.

I speak as the owner of a previous horse who I spent about 2 years considering a less than 30 minutes catching session a good day! Said horse could spend up to a week being totally uncatchable and there was only one person on the yard apart from me who could reliably get anywhere near him (there were times I couldn't get him but she could). During those 2 years I had to take a scoop of feed into the field every single time and sometimes he would take the feed and run if I wasn't quick enough with the headcollar! Took a lot of practice working out how much pressure made him run, how much would just make him walk and how much would turn him around and in which direction I needed to apply it to block him to get him catching pretty reliably. He'd still have to odd day where he wanted to show me how good he was feeling but for the most part he improved massively once I figured out what worked for him. (Think this was helped by me winding up being the one catching him about 90% of the time despite him being on full livery as he knew exactly who he could get away with it with!)

Current horse has tried it on seriously about twice. Both times the battle lasted about 30 minutes. Last one was post yard move to somewhere with a lot of acreage. Think if I hadn't won both times it could easily have turned into his new game (interestingly the staff at my prev yard had problems with him sometimes because they left the field and came back to him a few times and so rewarded him with more turnout time...)
 
Just read ALL replies and please discount bits of above reply that don't actually apply very well to your situation (not your responsibility to get someone in to assist with groundwork if you only do the horse 2 days a week although if owner if struggling as well then could always discuss doing it together?) If she'd difficult to lead in general then a rope halter and a rope that's at least 12ft long (so as to give more space if she prats about being led) may help a little with control and safety (can't leave the halter on in field though). They're not harsh as such but are not padded like a headcollar so a lot less comfortable for the horse to pull against (but perfectly fine when the horse is behaving) I have a few friends who even though their horses are well mannered won't use anything else for leading just in case. Take it you're catching in the bridle at the moment and if so given how faffy they are to put on (and the definite work associations) I can see why you may be making your job harder than it needs to be (if you do currently have no other way of catching her then I'd put reins over head before putting on and make sure you have hold of them ready for if she does try to scarper)
 
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