Catching the uncatchable horse

[TooManyChickens]

Hello COTHers,
I'm wondering if some of you could share some of your experiences of catching the uncatchable horse. She is 12, has not been handled much in the last few years (she and her pasture mate are on field board). When fed, they come right up to the feeder, allow the feeder to pet and scratch them, etc. The minute anyone comes in with a halter, she runs. So, making this my mission now, I've just decided to try the friend route first... going in without a halter and just offering treats, scratches, etc. I've won over her pasture mate, who will now let me halter, hose her, etc. However, the other mare is bound and determined to not let me get near her. I've tried the bucket of grain/treats of course, I'll stand when she stands and talk nicely to her, I can make it within about 20 ft of her before she takes off again. I tried walking up to her backwards, having her pasture mate taken out of the pasture (hoping she'd want to go along) and she takes off to the other side of the pasture and waits for her. I've even tried the non-predator approach and try to come near her in a quiet, broken line vs. going straight at her face. Biggest obstacle: they are in a 4 acre pasture. I don't ever run after/at them.

Any thoughts? I know I can win her over, I don't know anything about her past, but I know I can teach her people are good!

[GettingBack]

Have you gone in with the bucket and waited her out?

Other methods include the walk down, making them run until they don't want to anymore...but I find the waiting method to be the best.

And then I lay the halter on the ground next to the bucket. And ignore it.

I do that for a few days, then I play with the halter during that feeding time (me and the bucket included). Pon doesn't get to eat if pon doesn't stay there while the halter is played with.

Then halter moves close to neck - see above.

Then under the arm and halter goes on - see above.

Always with a leather halter, because halter then stays on - and I don't try to "catch" the horse for a few days.

[Saidapal]

Is there a way to block her off at the feeder from going back out to the pasture? If so, I would halter her and do fun things with her before she goes back out. Brush, hose/cool her off, offer treats, scritch, all the fun stuff, and then turn her back out. I think over time she would start to see you the way you want her to, as somebody who offers good stuff. Right now she's just not seeing it.

[TooManyChickens]

The first time I was in there with a halter she ran... and ran.. and ran. And this is with me standing still in the middle of the pasture. Every so often she'd stop, then I would quietly try to approach her with grain, etc, I say sweet nothings to her, but then she'd take off again. I think this lasted about 90 minutes. It got dark. I had to stop :(

Unfortunately there is no way to 'block' her off.. they are just fed in buckets in the pasture.

I do use a leather halter, and maybe I could just try letting that sit next to her feed pan so she at least gets used to its presence. I tried one time to just stand there, about 15ft away from the feed pan just holding it, but she abandoned the food and left.

[Over the Hill]

This sounds like my first horse. Bought a red-head TB mare, 3years old, basically untouched. Moved her to a 7 acre field with another mare for company. Mare would not be caught, could not be touched. I would take feed out every evening into the pasture, then set the pan down and walk away. She would not even eat if I was in the pasture, though she was very underweight and wanted that food more than anything. Did that for about a week, then started moving the pan closer to the gate by about three feet at a time. (The other mare would always come right up for dinner, then be taken out for grooming or riding).

Finally I noticed that she was beginning to eat while I was still in the pasture, although watching me the whole time.

I just kept at it until she would come up to the gate for supper, and I would stand outside talking to her, and then petting her, until she finally decided that I was not about to hurt her and could be trusted enough.

It took a long time, but you know, I had that mare for 23 years and she and I had the BEST relationship. I loved her dearly. Patience, My Dear, patience.

[RG Equestrian]

It seems like the main problem you have is that the field is too big. One way you can overcome this is to go in with some friends or family (5 or 6 of you), and evenly disperse them over the field, so no matter where the horse runs, there is a person not far away. Each one can have a halter, and treats in their pocket. If they are horse people, Instruct them to walk towards the horse's shoulder when it stops running in a calm nonchalant way (NOT slowly and carefully as if you were tiptoeing....that creates suspicion). And not with treats either. Treats should never be used as a bribe, only as a reward. If she allows you to come to her with a halter, then yes, give her a treat. The moment the horse takes a step to run away, they can wave their hands and send the horse away.

If they are not horse people, they can just go out there and wave their hands and occupy a chunk of the field so that the horse cannot stop and escape you. Soon, the horse will realize that whenever it runs away from you, it does not have a place that it can escape from the pressure (halter), and in fact, more pressure is being put on it when it is running. Now since you have in essence, made the field much smaller, you can give the horse two distinct choices, to run away from you and continue working....or allow you to approach and have a relaxing rest. You can have the halter on your shoulder this whole time. You dont have to put it on her the first time she allows you in, but you can just walk away from her after stroking her and giving her a treat. After a few times, stroke her around her neck and put the leadrope over her neck, and then take it off and walk away. Then you can proceed to put the halter on, make her take a few steps, and then take it off and walk away.
Just remember.....DO NOT approach her in the way you first mentioned..."quietly and whispering sweet nothings with grain" Just walk up to her like you would any other horse.

[allikat819]

Julie Goodnight uses a technique for catching horses... that takes a while (but I feel is worth the effort), you can find it here (http://www.juliegoodnight.com/questionsNew.php?id=12)

[manyspots]

I tried a variety of methods to catch my gelding, many of which did not work. He is too smart :lol:. I used the ignoring technique, the free lunging method, the walk up and treat method. As soon as I would get close, he would move away again.

The answer for me was CLICKER TRAINING! I bought the basic clicker kit which comes with a quick help guide. I started training two months ago, and after introducing him to the clicker and ensuring he knew what it was all about, I introduced the halter. Hell, he still wanted to run, until he figured out that if he touched the halter, he got a click and a treat!!!! "Then he figured out that if he put his nose in, the same thing happened. And wouldn't you know it Mom, but if I put the whole halte ron I get a TREAT!!!!!!!" He is very food motivated so this worked well. After a half dozen times of this each session, he is a peice of cake to catch and I don't even need to treat anymore.

Keep in mind that clicker work is peice work. You must build up to the goal in steps. Which for my guy, is best anyway because he "gets" each step of the process.

Just my two cents! :cool:

[shakeytails]

My hard to catch horses always wear halters, but I usually can't get near them if I have a proper lead rope with me, especially if they suspect the vet, farrier or worming. However, the "invisible" lead (baler twine) is in my pocket. If I can get hold of the halter, they're had!

Another thing that works with one of my mares is a really long rope. I loop one end over a fencepost and when she gets in a corner I pull the rope up. She's very respectful of fence so she won't blow through the rope- and she knows she's been had.

Another method I've used is having the bad horse follow the leader into the barn or other small area, though it sounds like you've tried that.

My last resort is making a chute to the barn with fence (temporary electric works fine) and driving the uncatchable beast into the barn. Once they're in the barn and in a stall, it's all over. I can get a halter on anything once it's in a stall.

[CherishtheMoment]

Id try to split up the field into a smaller section that you could run her in the smaller section and then go in and sit with her. And keep sitting with her everyday and maybe slowly introduce your hand to her. 4 acres is way too much play room for an uncatchable. I have an uncatchable but very well broke mare but usually she follows the herd when I bring one up and then I catch her in the smaller field and she is good as gold. She just plays that game of not wanting to be caught.

Oh and my uncatchable doesn't wear a halter because halters rub her bad but she wears one of those broodmare collars made of leather. everyone asks if she cribs! Nope just a collar to catch her with!

[TooManyChickens]

Thank you everyone for all the wonderful responses! I think this mare is definitely going to test me... but we'll get through to her...

[Foxtrot's]

My lookey, suspicious horse used to be funny about the hand going over the head to reach the halter strap. Now I always put my hand under the jowel and flip the strap over the head - yet she never minded being brushed, scratched, bridled, etc. Guess it was just up until that moment of being caught then she gave in.

[hipy]

Julie Goodnight uses a technique for catching horses... that takes a while (but I feel is worth the effort), you can find it here (http://www.juliegoodnight.com/questionsNew.php?id=12)


I've been through a fair amount of horses and this is the BEST way to catch them, great link.........all accept a bay arab "princessyoucan'tcatchme" !

[tidy rabbit]

I had two of mine boarded out for a couple months at a small farm. They were never a problem to catch in any field until going there. For some reason they wouldn't let the woman catch them.

When I got them home I was so P.O.ed when I found out that I couldn't catch either of them in even in a small paddock, 60 x 125. I went and got a longe whip. When the horse turned to run from me, I made him/her run around the paddock a few times. A couple times of having to run and they decided it was easier to be caught. It took about 10 minutes with each horse and I never had the problem again.

Of course this wont help you much in a large field but once they learned they have to be caught in a smaller space, I never had the problem in a larger setting.

I don't know what that woman did but clearly the horses learned ASAP that they didn't have to be caught.

[Auventera Two]

Here's an idea to try: Throw a simple grass hay string over your shoulder. When you are petting and feeding her, grasp the end of the string in your fingers, and bring it up over her neck with your hand. Let it drape over her, and take it away without catching her. Do this until she accepts the string over her neck, and eventually you should be able to put some pressure on it and let her know she's caught. Let her go without taking her out, or putting a halter on, etc. The idea would be to let her know that you can put something around her neck and take it away many times, and you aren't going to catch her and make her work or take her away from her buddy. I'd just build on it from there.

Removing the halter/lead would remove the sight of this big "horse catching object" with clanky buckles. She obviously knows what the halter/lead is, so just take that right out of the equation.

[brightskyfarm]

If you currently have a halter on ...leave it on, clip/attach a short 6-8" snip of lead, --- like you do for babies. Bring your horses in to stalls to feed... one by one with a bucket of feed...your "best to catch" 2nd to last..... your toughie is last.
if she cant be caught, put feed into a hanging bucket. stand there...pet if you can... leave be.. if/when you can catch, take in to feed..

eventually, you should be able to easily get your hands on her--- and bring her in.... but when you put feed in the tub, put a 2nd halter over the first..and do a lead around the stall back to the feed ...take off ---
return to field after ...

take advantage of stall time for catching... with treats, or grooming, (every horse has a special itch)... alfalfa.
these things take time... so what...each day for improvement.

[CB/TB]

When I got my barely halter- broke 3 yo ( 15 years ago!) she had her own ideas about being handled( not!!). I kept an old , worn , leather caveson on her. If I could hang onto that , she would consider herself"caught" and behave like a lady. I kept a supply of them on hand, usually from the "bucket o' bridle parts" at auctions , horsey flea markets, etc. She did go through quite a few; rubbing them off, getting them caught, falling apart, but I always had something to hold on to while I put the real halter on. You could always clip a very short ( 3-4') lead of some sort that wouldn't get in the way, but was easy to grab as she went by. I have about a 4 acre area, too. What I did was to choose a spot that was 'HER" spot to go to when I wanted her. It took some time and I didn't chase her, but kept her moving if she moved away when I approached. I gradually got her headed in the right direction and over a period of a few days got her to stand at the spot and be haltered. It took time and we had a few great escapes and some wild cutting horse moves on my part,, but she eventually "got it' and whdn she saw me with the halter she'd head to her spot. Good lluck, I know how frustrating it can be.

[Tamara in TN]

Hello COTHers,
Any thoughts? I know I can win her over, I don't know anything about her past, but I know I can teach her people are good!

four cheapie corral panels that she has to come into to eat her grain....close the gate behind her and voila...haltered horse:)

[JoZ]

I will tell you what worked with my horse.

I had her for 3 years before taking her to an NH clinic. Before this clinic, if she was out on pasture I had to let her follow other horses into the barn. In dry lot or arena, I needed a friend to block her so I could approach.

The clinician had us turn our horses out (together) in an arena while we ate lunch ("uh oh!" I thought). He was on horseback riding among them, keeping them moving, breaking up altercations, etc. When it came time to catch them, I of course was last. Everyone else was standing in the arena holding their horse. They were all given flags. Yes, I blush to admit, I am a big fan of the Natural Horsemanship flag, LOL. If my mare came toward someone, he or she had to chase her away with the flag. I stood in a non-threatening posture and did nothing. If she turned toward me or headed toward me, all flagging stopped. It was so cool. Pretty soon she figured out that I was the safe place without being pushed by flags.

It was a four day clinic. Day 1=15 minutes, Day 2=5 minutes, Day 3=2 minutes, Day 4=let me walk right up to her.

It took a village, but the great thing about it is that it really STUCK with her. Now if she gets "feral" again about coming in from pasture, it takes one friend with a flag to remind her that I am the place to be.

Trust me I had tried everything with this mare short of roping her (and I thought of that!).

[Montanas_Girl]

If the field is too large to just walk her down/wait her out (it may take HOURS, but it works like a charm), then my suggestion is to take the halter and lead with you and stand next to her bucket at feeding time. Stubborn pony does not get to eat unless she allows herself to be caught. Period. You can eventually progress to catching her and grooming, hosing, etc. before you allow her to eat. Once you get a (leather or breakaway) halter on her, I'd leave it, along with a short catch rope, until you've been able to establish better manners.