would you keep a horse that was.......

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saddlesore

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....... rubbish to catch? As in REALLY rubbish? Will catch if living in a field by himself or all other pals are removed. Otherwise a no no! Otherwise a nice youngster, schools, jumps, rides in fields, hacks in company (needs work on solo stuff!) or would you just give up? Do you think the likes of Richard Maxwell could help? Sorry, i know i've banged on about this before but its really getting me down
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I would keep the horse if it was good in all other respects.... they all have to have one fault, even if it is a huge one.

I would corral it into a small area though to up my chances!!!
 
I'd rather persevere with catching methods than persevere at selling him because I think most good homes would be put off buying a horse you can't catch and I would worry about the type of home he might end up in...
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My horse is a git to catch - it is by far and away his biggest failing!

There are ways to manage it. He is catchable on his own or if you take his mates away, but no way will you catch him in the field with the others. He comes in on his own terms! Currently he is in a huge field with 3 others, but comes in at night so he has a routine of coming in for food. I'm afraid we are lazy and just open the gate and let them run in as a gang.

There are plenty of other problems that I would find more annoying e.g. not hacking alone, not loading. As my boy is great in almost every other respect I forgive him for having a manageable problem!
 
I did, For over 8 months i couldnt catch Ted. In the end, it was strange. I moved to a new yard and over night (i actually mean over night by the way...) i was able to catch him and never had an ounce of hassle afterwards.

Good luck.

Lou x
 
Yup. Frustrating as it is its something that can be worked on. He's still young and prob still testing his boundaries.
 
I would, as the others have said, if he's good at everything else. But, on the grounds that I will not spend ages trying to catch a ned, I'd corral him and work on the bond. If bonding and all else failed, then ned would live corraled
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Thanks folks, how would you go about working on it?
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This is a whole new ball game to me - never had one that wouldnt catch before.... arggghhh!!!
Would anyone suggest the likes of richard maxwell? x
 
It is WITHOUT DOUBT the most frustrating thing!!

There you are, time set aside to go for a ride, or the blacksmith is due and the b****** horse won't be caught!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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The second most frustrating thing is a horse that won't load!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You are going to a show, or a lesson, and - you know it might not be straightforward - so you have to leave HOURS of time to load. Then - of course, at 5am - he walks straight in!!! GRRRRRR!!
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My first pony was like this, and I VOWED never to buy a HORSE AGAIN WITHOUT CERTIFYING THESE TWO QUIRKS!!!
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I never have - and I never will!!
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However - if I did end up with one, I don't think I would necessarily give up!!! It just requires so much patience and understanding that I don't really want to go there.

Life is too short - SORRY!!
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Have just re-read my post - SO sorry if it sounds defeatist - there are lots of ways to improve the situation, but in general - my view is that once a horse realises it doesn't HAVE to be caught it is very difficult! I have actually resorted to leaving my pony (very woolly sort) out all night in winter when all his friends had come in. He wouldn't be caught at the time - but once all his friends had gone he was desperate to be caught! Too late!! The catching was easy after that night!!!
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I'm kind of inclined to agree!! ( loads a dream btw
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- extra typical as i don't compete!!) would never have taken him had i known, but you know yourself once you have them its a bit different
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have edited a bit on my post - see above! But have many tricks up my sleeve apart from that one!! Been there - done that comes to mind!!!
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Don't give up - it can be improved!!
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I have never had one that is as bad as your chap sounds but the way I would go about it is

A. Turn him out in a head collar always!

B. Keep him in the smallest field possible (you may want to start of with him on his own or you could keep him with a few others.

C. You need to set a side ALOT of time. I wouldn't worry about riding him for a while, I would just work on the catching issue, especially as he is so bad.

You need to basically shadow him around the field, follow him where ever he goes, do not let him stop but just keep pushing him forward, You can make him change direction by getting in front of his eye line etc, you are then controlling the situation rather then him.

You may have to do this for hours (it took me 40 minutes of 'shadowing' a pony at work until he eventually gave in - he wasn't as bad to catch as yours though (he was in a 4 acre field which didn't help either).

He will eventually start to tire, should start lowering his head and you will be able to see that he want's to stop. Allow him to stop but if he goes to move off when you approach him start pushing him forward again.

When he will let you walk to his head without an issue quietly give him a treat, a gentle pat/rub and walk away from him.

You will have to repeat this over and over again, if you can start at the weekend or when you have a day off you could do a few sessions during the day. Gradually it should take less and less time for him to allow himself to be caught.

Once he is not taking so long to catch you can start bringing him in for a groom/feed/or a short ride. He has got to associate being caught with a positive experience though so I wouldn't do to much work with him until you have got the catching under control!

It took me about a two weeks to completely cure the little bugger at work, now he will just walk over to me when I go into the field. He is always given a treat and we still leave his head collar on.

It is hard work shadowing them for so long but I do think it is the best way to try and solve the problems.

I hope this helps you in some way and good luck with the catching
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I do agree with you - horse crazy - that shadowing is the best way to do it (shhhhh almost parelli like!
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). It is just the time it takes that puts me off! But as I said, if I ended up with a bad catcher, it is probs one of the methods I would try.

Just walking up to your horse (and others) to say Hello - without a headcollar - on random occasions - without any intention to catch can also do the trick. If your horse is the only one that doesn't get a treat, because he wouldn't come near you, he begins to suss it out!!
 
Thanks guys, i will definately try the shadowing method, at the minute he is out with a herd of horses in a big field and i have a broken ankle
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so i'll have to wait till i can walk for any lenght of time again and see if i can tape off a small chunk of field to limit him ability to do this
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(minus the rider of course). He also wont take treats from your hand- he jumps back in fright as though you are about to smack him......
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It's all very odd. However, once caught he immidiately reverts to being a 'regular' horse (minus the titbit part)
 
Have PM'd you with some tips. The jumping back bit sounds like part of the 'game' that he is playing with you! ie - grab the treat, then rush away without having to be caught - GREAT FUN!!
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Let me know haw you are doing!!
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totally agree with the shadowing, my mare went through a small phase i was bringing for her diet she didn't want to only took a couple of goes and she stopped squealling and running of.
my approach was a tad harsher, if she went to run of when i went to catch her then she would get the head collar thrown at her, i kept pushing her round the field and eventually she learnt that if she didn't move then she didn't get head coller thrown at her

i wasn't running round chasing her i would walk up to her before anyone thinks i was this mad women running round a field throwing head collars
 
routein is also really important. my old mare could be aweful to catch, and for many years i was resigned to leaving her headcollar on all the time or only catching her if her field mates were coming in.

However, i then moved to a yard and did the same routein every single day, and always made coming in the best thing in the whole world - lots of treats, always had a feed waiting etc etc when she came in, and after a few months of this we had a breakthrough and never had a problem again. i'm sure its not going to work on every horse, but if they know that they will come in at a certain time, and its a nice experience, it makes it all the easier if you need to get them in out of the routein. good luck - it really is frustrating
 
Yup I have! I've had the nervous pony for 18 months now and have never been able to catch him in the field. Can do anything i want with him when he's in the stable just doesnt like being caught outside. Its not a problem to me though as i have trained him to walk from the field straight into his stable all i have to do is open the gates and he trundles off by himelf. If you cant catch him, just condition him to walk into an enclosed area and reward him when he gets there. He'll soon know where he gets nice things.
 
my old pony was "impossible to catch" (she'd been chased by her previous owner on a moped!) she knew every trick in the book and wouldn't let me anywhere near her.

I did find out she'd let anyone else catch her -and I mean anyone- handily enough I had her at livery at a riding school and there was always some eager poneh gell hanging around who took no persuading to "catch that grey pony please, I'm bursting for a wee". One tiny little kid went to catch her, she dropped the headcollar, pony stands stock still and puts her head right down so the kid could reach!!
 
Hi
There are always ways round horses that are bad to catch. We had one that used to just jump from paddock to paddock as you followed her so just used to go round so that she ended up in the yard
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Other option - if it's do-able is to open up the stable and let them come in on their own while you get the others in - that was what we ended up doing with our little jumping friend, and it works with most of them now.
Just a note though - as a farriers daughter please don't turn out in headcollars, I've lost count of the times I've had to go out with Dad to rescue a horse/pony with it's foot caught in one - even one's that have been perfectly fitted!
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It's distressing for them and the owner, and not a little risky for the farrier!!
 
My mare used to be an absolute pain to catch. In fact one time we couldn't catch her for 2 weeks!!! And to make matters worse she wouldn't let you catch anyone else either as she'd round them up and get between you and them. So now she goes out on her own in a small paddock and we're all happy!! She still tries it on sometimes, but only for a few minutes then stands there and says 'ok you can have me now!'. Good luck!!
 
Thanks everyone, i just find this sooooo frustrating!! I will definately try the shadowing thing - however, he actually gallops off when you approach, will it still work if i just wlak after him, let him gallop off again etc??
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Otherwise he'll be spending his life in a stable sized turnout pen lol
 
The little bugger I was shadowing would canter/gallop away from me, I had to run because the idea is not to let him stop, if he gets to far away from you he will be able to stop!
 
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