Hard to catch horse

[mlh619]

So I answered an ad for a lady that is looking for someone to help her out with her horse. He is a three y/o percheron paint X. Is broke to ride, she has ridden him and is good once you catch him. Her biggest problem is that she is green as is he but she is very willing to do anything to make it work. I went there once (she is about 45 min from me) to help her out. The horse seems nervous but at the same time he is very stubborn and spoiled. Everyone has told her she needs to teach him to respect her but she doesn't know what respect looks like so thats where I was helping her. He will like you touch him but only if there is no halter in your hand. She doesn't have the facility to leave a halter and rope on him to just pick up but they are in a 200 X 100 foot pen which is helpful. I was showing her how to push him out till he will give her all his attention by facing her and he was making progress. In 15 minutes I had him walking about 10 steps toward me. He is halter broke and broke to ride but has been spoiled by not having to do things and now she can't catch him. I will be going out again once all my foster dogs have been placed but in the mean time what do you guys do to catch horses such as these? I usually will work an hour or so with them and I have them to the point where I can rub them with the halter but i didnt' have the time that day and more so went out to see what the problem was.

[Dream Ponies]

Our pony is hard to catch and we have taught her that the halter isn't a bad thing that always means work. We will catch her to feed her and walk her to her stall. When we get there we remove the halter and give her a treat and her dinner. As she has been abused we have had to come up with positive experiences for her. Now, most of the time she will come to us when she sees the halter. Perhap this horse needs some bonding time and groundwork
with his owner. We have found that working from the ground before riding is a great way to bond and establish respect.
Best of luck to both of you.

[Carri]

We have one (Portia) who is the same way. She will come right up to you if you don't have a halter, but if you have a halter, she takes off. I think hers stems from some type of unpleasant experience, because she is headshy, hates being brushed or touched in any way, and is very leery of people. She hates to have the halter put on, she is afraid she is going to be hurt. Now, we have her where we can walk up to her with the halter, but still have to put a leadline around her neck to halter her.
The other day she did not want to be caught, so I caught all of the other horses and left her alone, and then took a chair out and sat in her paddock. She came up to me after about 2 minutes and let me pet her, then I just put the leadline around her neck and led her in.
We also give a peppermint treat EVERY time we halter her, we put the halter on and then immediately give her the treat, so she will hopefully start to associate it with something positive.

[paso_lover]

In Tia's case it took 3 of us . Our instructor used the parelli method, 2 to push her forward and taught her to come to me as her safe haven. Then again she was a "special" case. Not just being stubborn, not wanting to be caught out of fear of humans .

Forgot to add that I rarely go out and catch carrying a halter (they know it means their going to work), I use baler twine.

[wildcat180]

One way to "desensitize" the horses to the presence of a halter is to always have one slung over your shoulder.

[sherriawright]

both my mares were like that. They saw a halter or lead rope in your hand and they were gone. We started giving them treats and taking them out and just brushing them and petting them and letting them graze on the grass that was overgrown. The person who had them before me would only get them out to work them, I had to teach them that a halter and lead rope isn't always a bad thing. They now come to me in the pasture and sometimes I actually have to chase them away with it! But my horses are spoiled rotten.

[Stormy's Human]

I agree you should try to associate the halter and lead with something positive. I have a little mini that in the day I have to keep in a round pen and at night I put him in with the two big guys. (because he gets too fat eating hay with the big guys all day) In the morning he comes right up to the fence and is waiting for you cause he knows he goes back in the round pen and always get his handful of grain for the day. Same thing at night he is waiting cause he knows he is going back to the pasture with the big guys to eat hay all night But if her horse is not respecting her she needs to start with that.

[recklesshoundog]

Learn the approach and retreat. So many people stalk their hard to catch horses out in the field that it becomes a game to escape. It's not always abuse that makes them hard to catch....some horses just don't want to work and know they won't if you can't catch them!

Approach and retreat has worked like a charm, and I've had minimally handled horses that can be caught and haltered within 5-10 minutes.

[GottaRide]

I would strongly recommend the Marv Walker method for this horse & owner. It's great for everyone to learn his techniques! He developed a process that he calls The Bonder. You have to go to his website and request The Bonder via e-mail (it will take a couple days for him to reply). Basically it is a round penning method that creates a bond between horse and human. The human uses herd dynamics to communicate with the horse. Once the horse realizes that the human is speaking "horsey language", the horse has to decide whether to become a leader or a follower. The human needs to recognize what the horse is communicating (by understanding herd dymanics) and steps up to be a leader, giving the horse no choice but to be the follower. It works with every horse in usually less than an hour. And, the best part, the horse will remember that the human is his leader.

There are plenty of trainers with their own methods in print, on tv, etc. I've found Marv Walker's methods very easy to understand and implement. And he shares his ideas for FREE. Request the e-mail. Read through it 10 times before trying it with a horse. The human needs to understand and recognize herd dynamics before he/she can practice them. It will be useful with every horse you work with.

www.marvwalker.com

[VickiE]

Our two horses were different when it came to catching.

Desay didn't want to be caught because in his mind he didn't have to be. He didn't want to work, he didn't respect us. We used the "work" method with him. If he didn't let one of us catch him then he would work. He got tired of moving around very quickly. I think this went of for a couple months. Now, he will come up to you when you call him and will follow willingly.

Josie was abused and mistreated severely a few owners back. I used the treat method with her. I would go out in the pasture and throw a couple treats her way. She would eat them...and I would try to get a little closer. I spoke softly to her and she finally saw that I wasn't a threat. This all happened within 2 months I believe. I also groomed her and spent some time lunging her.

Both of these techniques probably aren't the best, but they both worked for me and my two horses. I am far from a trainer!

Good luck with the lady and her horse, hope it all works out!

[GAGIRL]

I've always used the CA approach. Make the wrong thing difficult and the right thing easy. If you don't come to me then you are going to be worked. Horses hate having to move, so before you know it they'll be coming to you everytime.

[DanielleS]

Don't always bring the horse in to work when he has been haltered. When I work with hard to catch horses, I go out in the field, and put the halter on and just hang out with them, scratches and treats, then let them go. The next time I'll bring them in. Just change things up so that its not always a battle or always about work.

[mlh619]

We are basically doing the approach retreat method with the work involved because when she first got him she could catch him and now she can't. I think when I go out next I will get her to work him till he is ready to be reasonable if that looks like what needs to be done.

[AlwaysAppy]

Is she alone or is she in a herd? Something that works really well is joining the herd and not letting that horse in. They naturally want to be with the group and the "leader" and find it uncomfortable alone. If you push her away from the group and spend time with them slowly she will decide that she wants to be with you. Eventually you can let her into the group but if she decides to be goofy with the halter push her away. If you really want to be mean you can feed all of the other horses treats (provided they are safe to do so). If they are eating and happy in a group and she (by choice) is alone and not eating she will pick you and the halter pretty quick.

[David]

I actually use a catch string, because we have one horse that has so little trust still (after several years of work ) that she won't even come to feed if she sees a halter. The catch string looks just like a lead rope but it's made of 1/4" rope and it's 10' long. you just fold it up and put it in your pocket. Then go pet your horse, once you can pet the horse you can get the string and drop one end over the neck. Then run the other end through the loop over the nose and back through the loop and presto you have a war bridle to lead your horse with.

Here is a picture of the ends of my catch string to give an idea of what I mean.



I also wanted to say that I agree with all the other posts, most of the methods generally work. However, the horse I'm speaking of was severly abused and she has absolutely no trust for humans still. Once caught she's an excellent horse but she hates to be caught.

[mlh619]

He is housed with just one other horse that knows that it is easier to be caught than have to work, so he runs around while the other just follows you. I think when I go out next I will just push him away until he is good and tired and see what happens. He does try to face you head on and then I was letting him rest a bit. Next I think I will just keep upping the criteria until he either walks up to me or I can walk up to him.

You can't put a rope over his neck at the moment, she said he goes nuts, easier to just put the halter on.

[David]

Can you get him into a round pen or training pen of any kind? I would put him into a round pen and make him work, changing directions whoaing, trotting, etc... and every time you let him stop ask him to come to you. If he doesn't make him work more until he decides to come to you. When he comes pet and reward him and let him rest. He will eventually decide his favorite place is by your side.

[mlh619]

Yeah that is what I think I will do. She doesn't have a round pen but the pen they are in isn't so big that it isn't workable!

[David]

I just saw a link to CA's site www.downunderhorsemanship.com on another thread. He has a link called cool freebies or something like that and there are articles posted. One is about hard to catch horses, once again he does the same thing I do just explains it better lol. ( I run into this a lot, I guess these guys make the big bucks cause they can teach it not just do it.)


ETA: here's a link straight to the article

http://www.downunderhorsemanship.com.../catching.html

[Horse poor]

Doesn't anyone just walk a horse down anymore? I've had two horses that decided they wouldn't be caught no matter what. I just threw a halter over my shoulder and started out to get them, and they take off running. You just keep walking and it can take over an hour sometimes. Being inherently lazy the horse gets tired of it eventually. Since all our horses were kept out in fields before we moved there wasn't a round pen to put them in. You don't even have to run, just keep the horse moving by constantly following it. A treat in the pocket the first few times makes the end result solidify a little quicker. Also they don't run away in the pastures. Works every time.