totally impossible to catch.. any ideas?

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jezapie

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i bought a pony from the sales last week and since then cant catch him. he is a 5 year old and broken to ride. so has been handled, only possibly not in a very nice way....

we can only get with in about 30meters of him at the moment so we are thinkind of herding him into a corner with lots of people making a rope pen and then one going in to catch him.....

i cant think of any better way. i spent 3 hours last weekend following him with some treats to tempt him and again today with 3 people so that we kept him moving in the hope to tire him a little and that he would give in but really cant get anywhere near him.

any ideas?
 
jezapie said:
i bought a pony from the sales last week and since then cant catch him. he is a 5 year old and broken to ride. so has been handled, only possibly not in a very nice way....

we can only get with in about 30meters of him at the moment so we are thinkind of herding him into a corner with lots of people making a rope pen and then one going in to catch him.....

i cant think of any better way. i spent 3 hours last weekend following him with some treats to tempt him and again today with 3 people so that we kept him moving in the hope to tire him a little and that he would give in but really cant get anywhere near him.

any ideas?
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He may have been broken from a wild state and then turned away so has no trust of humans.

Catching will take time - be patient.

Can you herd him into a small area that has really limited food? If so then you can set him up to have to trust you. For a few days place hay, feed and water in the yard and leave. Once he is happy to go straight to the food then it is time for you to stick around. Keep your distance and slowly move in closer, eyes down and towards his shoulder, if he goes to retreat you do to, step back until he is comfortable again. Once he realises you are not a threat then he will stop fleeing.

My filly came off the hills having never seen a human - it took just over a week doing this before I could actually touch her. A few weeks later she would come when called. Now I nly have to arrive with the car and she is at the gate aiting, she has taught her two foals to do the same. I never have to walk beyond the gate to catch mine.

Once he is caught and calm when handled have teeth and back checked out. Pain in work is one of the most common reasons for a horse not wanting to be caught.
 
Bear in mind hes had a traumatic experience at the sales, they are noisey and full of equine and human strangers. So give him a chance. How about spending some time in the field with a carrot and let him come to you before you even try to catch him? Just enjoy each other for a few days loose in the field.

And then really mean I know but if you can go 2/3 times a day with a bucket of food try and catch him and if you cant walk away with the bucket. He will soon learn that he wont get dinner unless hes caught.

Or if all fails dont follow him get your self a chair and hang about curiousity killed the cat and he wont be able to resist to find out what your about ;D Just a little patience ( I can hear a song coming). Im no expert but have had a couple of ponies from markets.
 
Lots of people and a rope pen ,is a recipie for disaster. If necessary buy some posts and rails and build a corall . Prancers rider has some very good advice.
 
Evelyn said:
He may have been broken from a wild state and then turned away so has no trust of humans.

Catching will take time - be patient.

Can you herd him into a small area that has really limited food? If so then you can set him up to have to trust you. For a few days place hay, feed and water in the yard and leave. Once he is happy to go straight to the food then it is time for you to stick around. Keep your distance and slowly move in closer, eyes down and towards his shoulder, if he goes to retreat you do to, step back until he is comfortable again. Once he realises you are not a threat then he will stop fleeing.
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This ^
 
the added problem that i failed to mention or two actually, one is there are 8 other horses in the field and all of them except one bully him very badly. if i took food in a bucket form they would all follow me and i would never catch him because he wont go near the other horses. today though the owner of the others is going to move them to the next field and leave just the mare he gets on with, so i can take a bucket in and try to get them into or near the field shelter where he could be penned for a few days before trying to rally catch him.

however, i need to catch him before thursday as i am moving my horses onto my new smallholding, very excited.... but really disappionting if we cant catch this little one and have to leave him. so i really have to try every thing to catch him or at least pen him into a small area today as it is the last time i will have daylight with him before moving....
 
Will he follow a companion into a yard area?

WE use this method to catch a 9 year old we have. We can catch him as we leave a headcollar on, but he pulls away the minute we get a hand on his headcollar!!

The other, last chance, option would be to contact your vet and see if he will let you have an oral sedative. If you can get that into him then hopfully you should be able to catch him.

Obviously the long term methods of patience, feed etc are the best options.

Could you borrow a round pen and feed him in there?
 
jezapie said:
the added problem that i failed to mention or two actually, one is there are 8 other horses in the field and all of them except one bully him very badly. if i took food in a bucket form they would all follow me and i would never catch him because he wont go near the other horses. today though the owner of the others is going to move them to the next field and leave just the mare he gets on with, so i can take a bucket in and try to get them into or near the field shelter where he could be penned for a few days before trying to rally catch him.

however, i need to catch him before thursday as i am moving my horses onto my new smallholding, very excited.... but really disappionting if we cant catch this little one and have to leave him. so i really have to try every thing to catch him or at least pen him into a small area today as it is the last time i will have daylight with him before moving....
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Definately move the others out - if he is on his own he may well be caught anyway - failing that, maybe he will follow the mare in once the others are out of the way!
 
I'd arrange to have all the others removed,and let him follow them into a yard if there is one. Can you supply us with any more info? is there a yard or buildings or anything?
 
got him!!

we took all the other horses out and left just the mare. we put haylege in a massive fields shelter in the field and took the mare in and made like a runway on one side with a gate. then used rope to make a pen behind him. he ran and went right in the field shelter. once he was in he was fine and we had him eating off our hands in the end.

he is gonig to stay in now until thursday when we will move him. Phewww!
 
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