How to catch a horse that doesn't want to be catched?

Question

There is this Qh mare she is 15 and rides great she lived here for a few years always easy to catch( i have been told) not headshy at all so she came back after about 2 or 3 years and ive only been able to catch her 3 times shes been here in the past 2 or 3 months the first time I was in the arena with her on about the 7th day she was there after she got back so I just had to follow her around for a while and then she gave up and I caught her I fed her a scoop of sweet feed out of my hand. Then the second time I TRIED to catch her I was out in the pasture for a couple of hours untill I had to go the 3rd time I did succeed in catching her by walking right up with a scoop of feed then the 4th time I caught her when it was feeding time from the other side of the fence and then yesterday I spent atleast an hour out trying to catch her again with a scoop of feed untill I needed to go do something else more importantly. How do I get her to want to be caught? I cant put her in a stall as there is 9 studs and the rest of the stalls are filled with filly's being trained for halter I cant put her in the round pen or arena as horses are worked there everyday. Please help me!!!!!! I need to ride her more

Answer 1

By hand feeding her you're teaching her that it's good that she runs from you. Food is a reward for playing with you. You should only feed her after you've caught her. Horses are smart and fast, so it doesn't take long for them to learn that they can run up to you snatch some grain from a bucket or grab a treat from your hand and run off before you can get the halter on. Aside from that, hand feeding encourages bad behavior like pushiness and biting so I never do it.



I would transfer her into a smaller pasture where she is alone for a few days. I would go in the pasture and drive her around a bit. Make her work. Then, when she is paying attention to you (licking and chewing, head low, ears on you), stop working her and turn around so you're facing away from her. If you wait a few minutes (the time length will get shorter each time you do this) her curiousity will get the better of her and she will come to you. Don't hop up and snatch her by the head. Give her scratches and praise, then put the lead around her neck so you can control her. Make sure you remain calm, don't rush and realize that it may not happen right away. If she runs off, start over. When she stands calmly for the lead around her neck, put the halter on.



Once you've caught her, do something fun with her. Don't only go up to ride her, she will associate you with work and the moment you try to catch her she'll run for the hills. Take her out to graze or take her into the barn to eat her grain while you hold her. Then put her back- without working her for a few days.



You will probably have to do this a few times, and you'll notice that it takes less and less time to get her to come to you. When she greets you at the gate, you know you can go back to working her. You should also only feed her when she comes to you. In other words, catch her and take her out of the pasture each time you grain. She will associate you with food and WANT to come to you.



Good luck.



ADD- You should only have to do this two or three times before she realizes that you mean fun stuff and that the pasture means work. Round pen does work too, but more for general behavior and manners. I feel that there are far fewer incentives for a horse to not want to be with you in a round pen- where they are alone, with no food, no where to run compared to a lush field with their herd. Nothing in this world is going to 'make' a happy horse standing out in the field, grazing with buddies, relaxing come to you if they don't want to. This method associates you with food and/ or grooming and the pasture with work. The horse will come running when they see you. Mine run up and wait at the gait when they hear my car, even in the spring when they could very easily stand in the middle of the 3 acre pasture and graze contently until I could haul my sorry butt to them. I never have to chase them, bribe them with food or scare them. They just know that when I show up I mean fun stuff and that they are safe with me.

Answer 2

Here are two ideas that have worked with different horses:



1.) My filly improved greatly when we kept her up by our house and by herself. I visited her everyday, and grained her and always treated her when I approached her and when she let me put her halter on. She always comes to me now, especially if I call. Treating her and a donkey of ours made them both very easy to catch and always interested in coming to you. After they get the concept, you can stagger when they get the treats so they are always guessing whether or not this will be the time.



2.) One mare I worked with refused to be caught and treated it like a game. When she got really worked up she kicked and sometimes bit. We started putting her in a corral and using a lunge/buggy whip to encourage her to canter until she got tired of it. When she would start showing us that she was tired of running we would approach her. If she allowed us to catch her we would reward her (with treats) and immediately put the whip away (she knew what it was for and watched it constantly). If she didn't allow us to catch her we made her run a few more laps and would then give her another chance to be caught. Eventually she would freeze and allow us to catch her the minute she saw the whip.



Oh, and BTW, for any idiots out there - the whip never has to touch the horse, and you don't even have to use a whip. You simply need something to encourage the horse to move. Twirling the soft end of a lead rope often works just as well. The main thing is that the horse is moving and you aren't very much.

Answer 3

Take a bucket with a little grain to the pasture, when she is looking at you dump the grain and leave. do this as much as you can, 3 or 4 times a day... not a lot of grain just a handful will do. after a few days she will come to see you as something good in her pasture and she will start to come to meet you. at first just pet her and leave, then put a halter on her and lead her a little then let her go.. get the idea? if you come into the pasture every time just to chase her around for hours, trap her and then take her to ride she will never trust you. My horse already knows this and once in a while just wants to be a pain in the butt and make a game of catch me if you can... he will stand there until I get right to him then trot away... when he does this he gets 2 chances then I will play his game but with my rules... I make him run run run and when he clearly gives up I make him run some more, finally I will stop and he will walk right to me. He does not like his game with my rules very well! But this is not the answer for you yet.. you first have to get her to love to see you coming into her field. Good luck!

Answer 4

"Dallas" couldn't have answered your question better. You need to stop going out with treats or sweet feed because this will do nothing other then show your horse that she can just run around until you give her something. She should not be in such a huge pasture right now, you should have her in something smaller where she doesn't have as much freedom.



The fact that you don't have a stall for her to go into could also present a problem, You don't want her to think that everytime she is coming in, she is coming in to be worked. If you only bring her in to be fed and worked, she isn't going to want to come in at all.



Try putting her into a smaler pasture and just sitting with her for a while and let her come to you - she'll realize that you aren't a "bad" person.

Answer 5

Catch her every day to come in for feeding time. She will start to associate being caught with yummy things.



Don't just catch her and then ride her or she will associate being caught with work.



Also, when you are close enough to touch her, put the lead rope around her neck so that you have a little control while putting the halter on. Also, give her ears a good check. It sounds like they may be bothering her.

Answer 6

I've always had the best luck with getting horses easier to catch by joining up in the round pen (you can read how to do it on a million sites online, but once you've got the horse consistently following you around the round pen in circles, you're good). I've never been on to believe I should have to chase my horse around a pasture just to catch him, even if he doesn't want to work, that horse had better walk up to me when I go out there with a halter. By working the horse in the round pen, they learn to respect me as herd leader, and when I ask them to come in, they do, so when I go to catch the horse out of the pasture, I give the same body language and they'll turn to face me. If it's only one horse you work with, then I'd put the extra time into bonding with it so it will come when you call it, and actually wants to be with you. My mares have always come at a trot down to the gate in a 39 acre pasture when I whistle, because they know it's me and they want to play. But the horses I train for other people I just get to where they are easy to catch in a pasture, stand still and turn to face me, and that's all I expect out of them.

Answer 7

If she walks away from you when you go to catch her I would make her run. Walk or jog after her to keep her moving. Keep chasing her around the field until she is ready to give up. You might get tired too but don't let up lol! When you see her licking and chewing with her mouth it means she is submitting to you and is ready to be caught. Let her slow down and she should either come to you or stand there for you to catch her. If she walks or runs away again put her right back to work. She'll learn that it's easier to let herself be caught than having to work. And don't think you're being mean by chasing her away. It's the choice she makes when she walks away. It will only take a few times before she figures out she doesn't have to work if she lets you catch her. It will make her want to be caught. :)

Answer 8

I had the same problem with my horse and it didn't matter if I had treats or grain or what, he just did not want me catching him, I just went to see him every day and took a rope and treats and didn't leave until I caught him. I would have to run back and forth across a 10 acre pasture and a year later, he knows that no matter what I am going to go until I catch him. He will run a little bit but for the most part he trusts me and knows I just want to snuggle him and ride him a little, It is a long process and they will eventually stop

Answer 9

How big is the field and is she alone in it ?

I had this problem with one of mine - it did my head in.

What I did was get the other horses out first ( they were easy) then try him again. He went off away from me so I ran him - ever time he stopped I sent him on again - he wasn't stopping till I said he could. ( took a lunge whip with me and left it at the gate till i knew if I needed it or not) I ran him around the field a couple of times then went to catch him - he was happy to be caught. I took him in, brushed him and fussed him then turned him out again.

I did this about 3 times over the course of a week. Never had a problem since.

Answer 10

My friend had this problem with her pony. What she had to do was go to the field everyday with a mint, called her over and when the pony came over she gave her the mint and walked away. She did this for a few days and the pony started just coming to her no problem.

Answer 11

You need to play her game in a way that SHE understands.



Yes, treats are "nice" but thats not how a horses langage works.



You need to show her that when you catch her it doesnt always mean comming in for "work" and you need to earn her trust.



How to do this?



1. You need to put her in a smaller environment. She shouldnt be in a large pasture with other horses to influence her.



2. Once she is in thar smaller area (ideally an individual paddock/round pen) THEN you start working with her. Always carry along a halter and lead but for the first while dont bother to use it. Just bring it. You dont want her to associate being "caught" with the halter and lead. Just have it around always, for her to see and not make any assumptions over. After the first few days - start walking up, hand feeding and walking away. Go pet her, talk to her and walk away. IF she walks away - turn your back to her and begin to walk away. You want to teach her that youre not out to "get" her in predatory terms. Youre simply there for her affection and attention. You will notice that once you release the "pressure" (walking away from her) when she runs that she will soon come to be VERY curious and begin to come toward you.



3. Patience. This is NOT going to happen over night. You need patience. A horse flees being caught mostly out of dis-trust OR because they are sour at a routine. Everytime you go to catch her make the goal different. Even if its to catch and and release her 5 times, this is GOOD. Then she sees that youre only going to catch her and let her go. This should humor you because it really will confuse her in a good way and help her to realize that "this isnt so bad!" and she will soon be more than content with you catching her.



4. Consistency. This is not a 2X a week thing. This is a 7 day a week program. Usually they come around quickly and they pick up on the lesson very fast. But some it takes longer than others and you need to be consistent but at the same time, adding variety so it keeps her thinking and on her toes.



5. If the situation where she is isnt working, move her. Its in your best interest and most importantly your horses that you make her surrounding situation suitable to what you expect of her.



I sure hope this helps

If you need anything or would like more assistence - let me know and feel free to email me. The hard to catch horse is my specialty and truly my favorite lesson of all! :)



Sincerely,

Dallas



EDIT**

Stop giving her grain and feed. What youre doing is rewarding her with this. Let me guess - you catch her, give her grain and then go to catch her the next day and you STILL cant catch her right? Grain and "yummy treats" do NOT motivate a horse. Horses by nature are not necessarily diciplined by food motivation. They are a social animal and they are a herd animal. They flee and "dont like to be caught" because there is a distrust there and because when they figure out how to take advantage of something - they will. Just like she is now. You catch her (when its on her time) and then you give her grain and "reward" her and then turn her out. Bad Bad Bad. Eliminate the grain and start working with this horses issue - and that is her sourness to routine and her unwillingness for you to catch her.



Regardless of the sympathy you and I have for this issue - it still NEEDS to be a lesson. So its up to you to make it a lesson.



I highly suggest getting a professional in who is experienced in dealing with a horse who isnt easy to catch and working with them. OR reading up on the problem and trying some different things. Regardless of what route you take though - you need to remember that EVERY time you work with a horse and EVERY minute to spend with them, YOU are teaching them and training them. So its important to be very cautious in how we do things and its important to remember that they dont understand as we imagine they do. You need to learn how to communicate with your horse in a way that she understands.



It will be a learning experience - but once you get there, its the best feeling in the world.



Good Luck=)



EDIT****



Thanks Anonymous!!!! :)

Answer 12

Your horse doesn't want to be CAUGHT not CATCHED.



You can tempt them with grain and treats.

Answer 13

Carrots,

Anything,

Mints:)

Answer 14

Bear trap + apples