your methods of catching a pony who wont be caught.

BSJAlove

BSJAlove

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just wondering really. i have seen a few posts lately asking for advice on how to catch the pony who wont be caught. so what do you do?
 
With Phil, the main time he won't be caught is in summer if he's managed to slip his grazing muzzle. I have been known to spend hours just chasing him, not letting him stop to eat, drink, poo or wee! Harsh, but he knows what game he's playing. I also try to separate him from the main herd and keep him away from them. A bucket of grub simply won't do :D
 
i have been known to stand in the middle of a field shouting pedigree to the horse that i spent over 6 hours a day for nearly 2 weeks trying to catch!

in alot of cases if the horse is adament it doesn't want to be caught and all the usual things have been tried then slowly make a smaller field using the electric tape and posts.

i have also used rope and tied it to one end of the field, got my brother in the middle with the rope and i would run up and down the rope line moving it along the posts to make it smaller, i was lucky that the horse wouldn't barge through once it knew it was cornered. he was always impossible to catch unless you used the above method.
 
I turn my back and look interested in an apple or bag of treats. If that doesn't work grab couple people and lunge lines and pen it into a corner.
 
Luckily, most of my paddocks either lead on to walkways or have pens at the gateways.

Either way, I'd run any uncatchable into the walkway, or pen, and there he would stay until I could catch him. Once caught he'd be living in the round pen for a while until he figured out that coming to call is the easier option.
 
xRobyn said:
With Phil, the main time he won't be caught is in summer if he's managed to slip his grazing muzzle. I have been known to spend hours just chasing him, not letting him stop to eat, drink, poo or wee! Harsh, but he knows what game he's playing. I also try to separate him from the main herd and keep him away from them. A bucket of grub simply won't do :D
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^^^This^^^

The trick is not letting them stop. Don't 'chase' them as such, just keep them moving at a fairly good trot or canter. As soon as they look at you take the pressure off and allow them to come towards you, if they turn away speed them up again.

They need to understand that the alternative to being caught is not eating or doing their own thing. You are in control of them even if you haven't caught them.

If you've got a huge field section some of it off so they are only in a small section. It doesn't really work if you've got acres as they just gallop off to the far end to eat instead.
 
My first pony would never let me catch her (turned out her previous owner had been somewhat abusive towards her), so I used to get someone else to catch her - there was always some pony mad girl around who was only to happy to play pony owner and get her for me!
 
The chasing away works a treat for me :) stick a carrot in your pocket and chase them away not letting them eat or stop, a good trot or canter, don't let them walk, if he starts engaging with you (looking at you) while he's going around turn you back to him and completely blank him. He may come into you but if he doesn't turn back around and chase him again! This may take several attempts at first but once he's come to you don't make eye contact and giv him the carrot and slip his headcollar on then give him a good pat. It's on YouTube too, it's the natural horsemanship called 'Join Up' :)
Good luck with catching your ponio :)
 
the old pony we had on loan wouldn't be caught, just flicked a whip (just at my side not toward him) everytime he tried to stop trotting around, he gave in eventually (was also good exercise for him!).

My horse is awkward, because there are only 2 people he will let catch him D: - thankfully one of them is me!!
 
I agree with Welsat about not letting them settle to eat etc and be prepared to spend a lot of time initially. Once caught you have to give them a bit of pat, treat etc and let them go again. You have to do this over a period of time and possibly groom them or feed them. The idea behind it is to teach them it's not always about being caught for work and nothing else.
 
i thought id get replys like this.

see my take on it (obviously it depends entierly on the horse) but id rather the horse want to come to me. id rather take alot of time and 'cure' the problem. this has never failed me (other then one time with my grumpy old pony who i chased and had to catch her that way, cheeky sod :rolleyes: ) for example, i would go in to the field a few times a day and put down a blanket and read a book. generally the horse gets so curious as to why im not chasing him and am sitting on my bum on a bright red blanket the come over to check it out. i give them a treat and i pack up and leave. after a few times, they tend to be Interested by you so when you go on they are like 'what is she going to do today?' and just give them a carrot and walk off. eventually they're like Hello wierd and wonderful person! lol. my newfie wouldnt be caught. now he waits for me at the gate every day.
 
BSJAlove said:
i thought id get replys like this.

see my take on it (obviously it depends entierly on the horse) but id rather the horse want to come to me. id rather take alot of time and 'cure' the problem. this has never failed me (other then one time with my grumpy old pony who i chased and had to catch her that way, cheeky sod :rolleyes: ) for example, i would go in to the field a few times a day and put down a blanket and read a book. generally the horse gets so curious as to why im not chasing him and am sitting on my bum on a bright red blanket the come over to check it out. i give them a treat and i pack up and leave. after a few times, they tend to be Interested by you so when you go on they are like 'what is she going to do today?' and just give them a carrot and walk off. eventually they're like Hello wierd and wonderful person! lol. my newfie wouldnt be caught. now he waits for me at the gate every day.
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I do agree with you that it seems wrong somehow having to hunt the pony down, he dosn't enjoy it and i just end up in tears and totally exhausted after a couple of hours. How many days did you do this for and how long did you usually have to wait?
 
TBH, with my newfie, hes only 4 so i think his curiosity was to much bless him. so it only took one go with my book and 5 mins before he was eating next to me and sniffing my feet. but i was asked to catch a friends horse in a HUGE field of other horses so i dumped my blanket and got my book at had a picnic on my own. after about an hour or so, i had most of the herd muching close by and they were so chilled out by the time i had done this several times, and left them goodies, they would be like Hello Mrs and they would all be happy to see me.
 
I'm a waiter rather than a chaser as well. Started with a pony that I used to ride - when I could catch it that was!

Eventually found that sitting on the fence with my back to the field brought out his curious side, especially if there was rustling of food packets, after about 10 mins he was nudging me from behind. Since then I've always done something similar if I've ever had catching issues.

Luckily all my current lot come to call :)
 
I've used both methods. When I got The Welsh Cob I didn't want him thinking me going out to the field always meant being caught, so I would pop out to say "hi" maybe give him a carrot. I still do it now (but minus the carrot), if I am out poo picking I will go over and say "hi" give him a scratch.

I look after another girls horse, who is a sod to catch. I have no problems with him (almost 100% of the time) and often wonder if it's because he associates me with feed and her with work.
 
Depends on the horse, why they don't want to be caught, what their routine is etc.

With D you could have sat in her field all day and she wouldn't have come to sniff you.

I'm not saying its what I'd do with a youngster and its nor necessary most of the time, my current horse is fine to catch. With an older horse that understands clearly what you want but would rather be out in the field eating then it is a valid technique.
 
My old pony always refused to let me catch him as he associated me with work, he'd let anyone else catch him though, even others at the yard who he didn't know. I often had to ask a 7 year old livery to catch my pony for me! Failing that i just had to move the electric fencing until he was cornered and he'd give in eventually.
 
Len used to be awful to catch! It was to the point that one day, I tried catching him for a lesson at around 2 ish and finally gave up, in the snow at ten o'clock at night. I finally got him in lunch time the next day having been up there since seven! :eek:

My eventual method was to set up a tiny pen with electric tape on the other side of the gate and leave gate open. Just follow him, don't try and intimidate him and make him run, just so he's walking. Stalk him for as long as it takes. DO NOT under any circumstances let him stop. Make sure all other horses were out of sight and after hours he was getting bored and tired, but showed no signs of stopping...
Until somebody came hacking up the track, Len goes to the gate to say hello and unwittingly found himself in the pen I'd set up. Ha! Gotcha!

This was not the original plan, but in his case I just needed him in at all costs so I could start working to solve the problem. His was that he was scared of head collars. Both I and his old owner agree that somebody must have beaten him up a bit with one, so as soon as he sees one he grows a hand and snorts before backing away. It's not like he doesn't want to come in, he follows me in without a head collar, (unless I already tried with, then he gets a bit upset) So once he was in his pen I started work.

I slowly made it bigger as he progressed. The cycle needed breaking. He needed to learn that just because I went into the pen, didn't mean I was going to approach him. Just because I was approaching him with a head collar, didn't mean I was going to try and catch him. Just because I was going to catch him didn't mean he was coming in etc. I wanted to cover everything, so I tried to break the pattern. Every time he allowed me to go over to him, he got a small treat, and most importantly I always left him before he had an opportunity to leave me!

We got there, it took time and he's still not perfect, but hopefully soon he will be fine.:D

J&C
 
Just to say I've played the waiting game with Phil. grass is far more interesting than mum sitting in the field. I have to say I get mobbed by the other horses while he wanders off and grazes :p
 
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