Any tips for easily catching an impossibe-to-catch horse?

Question

Six weeks ago, I purchased a standardbred gelding. As I do not have a farm, I decided to board him at the barn I bought him from - it had all the facilities I needed and was close to home.

When I first purchased him, I spent 5 days a week with him; two or three days riding, two or three days a week grooming him, etc. He was easy to catch and a pleasure to work with. I did this to make sure he was happy and knew that being caught didn't mean work.

About 3 weeks after I purchased him, the geldings started their pasture rotation and he was moved into one of the back fields with the other geldings. He had been with these horses for at least 8 months prior to me buying him so he was used to the company of these horses, but since being moved he has turned VERY sour. He is impossible to catch - I spent 2 hours trying to catch him in the rain one morning (eventually calling 4 friends over to help catch him). I have tried as many things as I could think of to catch him...

- Crouching down low and creeping towards him with my back turned
- offering treats/grain
- walking in circles, gradually making the circles smaller until I get close
- catching his best friend and trying to make him jealous
- chasing him off as soon as he even thought of walking away from me
- moving all of the horses out of the field except for him
- getting three friends to help me corner him

Once you catch him, he is fine and behaves very well, and even during the "chase" he does not offer kicks, bucks, rears, etc. He is just very annoying.

He did NOT do this when I purchased him, only in the last few weeks since he has changed fields.

I am to the point where I want to sell him because of his behaviour... that is, IF I can catch him to show to other people!

He is still sound and behaves very well under saddle and on the ground.

If/when I can catch him, I intend to keep him in a small pasture by himself until he can develop his trust again.

Does anyone have an idea or explanation as to causes for his sudden behaviour changes? Does anyone have a suggestion?

I have someone interested in purchasing him and would like to catch him tomorrow morning, but will only have about 90 minutes to do so.

Additonal info:

- there are 19 horses in the field, including him
- the horses are worked with/visited every day in the field
- I am not the only one he is shying away from; he is also shying away from his previous owner, other boarders, etc.
- the field he is in is approximately 25 acres.
- Fields are rotated every 4 weeks during the summer
- this was the first rotation of the summer
- I did not actually move him, one of the other boarders did (everyone was supposed to move their own horse on the Saturday but they were unhappy with the grazing for their horse so moved all of the horses Thursday without telling anyone)
- he is the only horse in the field that has become field sour
- this is NOT my first horse, I have owned/ridden horses for the last 18 years
- the farm he is at does not have any smaller fertile fields he can be turned out in so once he is caught, I will have to turn him out in the round pen or keep him stalled.


Any REAL suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

First off, try not to be offended. So many people have been in this situation, myself included, and the hardest part is not taking it personally. If he's loving and affectionate once he's caught it's because he loves you!



Many horses will get into the "herd mentality" once turned out with a large number of horses. A perfectly well-mannered older horse can act wild in a pasture with other horses. They also influence each other very easily, if he's been with other horses in a different pasture and didn't do this it probably means there are some trouble makers he's learning the behavior from. However, it still doesn't mean any of them are "bad" horses.



If moving him to a stall is an option you can try that. If not or if you are opposed to stalls, try moving him to a smaller pasture or with a different group of horses. You've honestly tried almost everything there is to try. If you have another horse at your disposal to ride you can try catching him on horseback. You don't have to rope him down or anything, just wear him out, corner him or he may simply let you come up to him if you're on another horse. The last option, which is difficult and doesn't always work to well, is getting a long piece of rope or twine and with another person slowly close in on him into a corner until he's in a small corral basically and you can simply reach over and halter him.



If you really like him and are only resorting to selling him because of the difficulty catching the you can email me [e-mail] and we can give it a week and try to find a way to make it work. If you're selling him because you know he's not the right guy for you then I hope it works out.



Good luck!

Answer 2

Is is possible he is just enjoying the new area, my mare who usually comes running turns away from me in the beginning of the summer when her herd first gets turned out... Maybe it's something like that?



As for fixing the problem catching him, the only technique I've ever seen work long-tern is catching and releasing him over and over again... And I realize how horrific this sounds, I spent 2 hours trying to catch a pony on 30 acres so I've been there! Since he isn't kicking or rearing, I would spend a Saturday doing this (Put on your walking shoes maybe?) and if/when he let's you get the halter on him, shove a cookie in his mouth and let him go and do that again. He'll come around, he really will, just don't get frustrated with him because then he'll really not want to be near you.



Have you tried "joining up" techniques in a round pen or arena? There is lots of books written on the subject so I won't bore you with a long instruction booklet... I did this with my filly when she was a yearling and it worked quite well for catching.



If all else fails, take out the other horses (What a hassle, I know) or have friends help you. Sorry that's all I can give ya!

Answer 3

Get to your lessons about half an hour before you usually get there. When she is in the pasture just walk in with the halter and lead rope and pet her. Scratch her ears,belly and then walk away. Keep doing this until its time to get ready for your lesson. When you go back into the pasture she'll be expecting you to pet her then walk away, so she won't be kicking or run away. She might turn away when you start putting the halter on. If she does act as if you are putting on a bridle and hold her gently while you put her halter on. If she's difficult to lead turn her around and walk a different direction and turn again to go the way you want. It just sounds like she needs some work thats all!:)

Answer 4

I've had a few horses who did this at my barn. A good thing to do is to show him that there is nothing wrong with coming inside. Usually what I do is go out randomly a long time before you have to get him out, halter him, give him a treat, take the halter off and let him go. If you do this for a long time, he will see you coming to bring him in and think of the yummy treats you usually have.

Answer 5

i don't know if i was in the same situation as you are but i used to have to deal with my arabian /pinto refusing to be haltered. the final solution to catching her was running her like she was in a round pen but in a pasture. I would swing the lead rope around keep her running and use my voice alot .Soon the horse will figure out that giving into riding will be less work then being chased around. I kept my horse running even when she was ready to give up.You will have to get used to using a Deep voice around your horse. Now my horse is pretty good about being caught. I hated doing this because it made me be mean to my horse and all i wanted to do was give her a big hug but if i didn't do this she would have been my leader and i wouldn't have been her leader.Good luck!!!

Answer 6

i have a very stubborn chestnut quarter horse. he hates to be caught so what i had to do was work him. just chase him around and around and dont stop. if he stops hit him on the butt with a lead rope and don't give him time to stand there. i know it seems mean but trust me it works! you have to run him until he allows you to catch him. if he doesn't you need to keep going. and most important don't lose your temper. i would recommend doing this on a day when you have ALOT of time.



oh, and i would take all the other horses out so he doesnt hide in the herd.

Answer 7

good grass may be the culprit

i used to have the same problem with my tb when i first got him he was a show jimper that was stabled all the time so when i got him he was like this is great he avoided getting caught it was so frustrating i tried everything but what worked with me was a feed bucket with some pebbles in it i just rattled it once he came over and was caught i took him to the stable where i had a small feed that he ate it didnt take him long to realize in order to get the feed he had to be caught now he sees me coming and walks up to meet me

Answer 8

I have a horse who is like that. I have to drop the halter so he can see i dont have it then walk up to him and rub his nose and pet him for awhile. Then i grab the halter and put it on him while im still making contact with him. If you still have trouble you should consult a trainer so you can fix this problem for good. Hope this helps.