How do you catch a horse when it's being hard to catch?

Question

My Quarter Horse gelding, Flame, got hard to catch all of a sudden. Do you know what I should do to catch him?

Answer 1

He's testing you. No food- this is not a nutritional problem, a behavioural one. I have seen horses bowl their owners over after getting a treat, just so they don't have to be caught. It is dangerous to teach your horse that you are a mobile food van.

DON'T THROW ROCKS AT YOUR HORSE!!! Do you think they can"t see you doing that? You would be developing a fear in them, you don't want that do you??? I can't believe someone would put that up! You want your horse to feel safe with you, and to trust you. If I was standing in a room and someone came up to me and said "hey, wanna follow me?" And I said no, so they throw things at me, do you think that I would really want to go with them??

And you should not trick them, this builds distrust. Putting your lead rope behind your back seems like a quick solution, but you will have to spend alot longer in the long run proving to your horse that you can be trusted.

Most important rule. Don't go in if you are not going to leave with him. If you plan to catch him and he runs away, then you leave you are reinforcing his behaviour.

Go in, walk up to him- don't look him in the eyes, you are challenging him to do something if you do. Look at his legs. When he starts to leave, follow him. Don't sook up to him, just follow him. When he stops walking, you stop. Wait three seconds and go closer again. He will probably walk away again, so you follow him again. He needs to know that you are not leaving until the job is done. Eventually he will go "ok then, running and leaving didn't work because she's still here, but when I stop she does. He will see you stopping as a reward for stopping. Once caught- give him lots of rubs to thank him, and to get him to want to stay. And keep your cool, no anger or pain, believe it or not, he's not trying to hurt your feelings, he's just thinking, "Well, if I don't have to go to work today I'd rather not".

I wish I could explain to you about Monty Roberts, and how he helps you to "join up" with your horse, so that you and your horse can communicate on a better level, but it really has to be shown to you. May I suggest you get a video of him doing this, or even his book "From my hand to yours", a text book outlining what you need to do step by step. I don't usually plug anyone like this, but it really works. I went to one of his shows, went home and tried it on my horse and wow- it worked fantastically. I have an ex-racehorse that has developed quite a distrust of people, but through join up she comes to me, follows me and is happy just standing with me, I found that she is soooo much more relaxed now, on the ground and in the saddle, because she feels safe. She knows that I am not going to hurt her and I have proven my leadership skills with her.

Good luck :)

Answer 2

Offer him some oats or his favorite treat. They have those apple treats that horses love. Only use that treat for when you want him to come to you so he thinks *Hey she has that really good treat and I'll get it if I go over to her* For some reason maybe he has gotten a negative experience in the past when you've tried to catch him. Maybe he is just spooked. I always talk calmly when I approach a horse. Also approach him in his line of vision. Why do you need to catch him all the time? I've always had my horses walk up to me or even when I walked up to them they never ran away. Sounds like to me there is a lack of trust between you two.

Answer 3

make sure that all of your tack fits correctly. he may be trying to avoid you due to pain. second of all, make sure that his teeth have been floated, because he may be trying to avoid you due to pain in his mouth. if his teeth need floated then it can be pretty painful. If that doesnt work, spend a week not riding or working or anything. Just go out and pet him and love on him. Take grain in a bucket. Once he knows that he isnt going to be ridden, then he should be ok. After about a week, turn him loose into a round pen or small paddock. Get him moving. Flick a lunge rope toward him and make him move away from you. When you see his ears flick toward you and see him licking and chewing, then you can stop and let him come to you. It is just reinforcing that you are the "herd leader" and that he can be pushed frmo the group. He will respect you a lot more after that.

Answer 4

First you need to re-evaluate your training, your horse has become difficult to catch because he dosn't like leaving his pasture. Ask youself why.

Are you training to hard? All work no play? Have you ever just taken him out of his pasture to take him for a walk and comb him the entire time?

How long have you owned him? Horses take up to a year to adjust to new suroundings, you really should be bonding with him insted of traing, 75% groming and being nice to him.

Have you tried grooming while in the pasture? maybe its the best place to start out but look up a well known trainer Pat Parelli and see what he has to say about horses who have become difficult to catch.

Answer 5

This may sound like a silly solution, but it works! I call it "The Rock game" when I go to catch my horse, if he doesn't come to me, I pick up small rocks and throw them at him, usually try to hit him in the butt, or throw them at the ground near him. He learns quickly that being with me and being caught is better than being hit in the butt with a rock. I have taught several horses this way. Good Luck.

Answer 6

i dont know if this would work on your horse but it does on mine .. i hold the lead behind my back and if they try to run off i go to another horse or i turn and walk off to go do something else. (some of my horses are scared of the lead they got hit with it by last owner) and they start to wonder what you are doing and they will start to walk over to you. to see what you are doing. sometimes horses think its a game if all you do is run after them. my new horse would run off in till its old owner gave her a treat. we finally got it to where when we got the lead on her we would give her a treat. that way she knows she did a good job. but if you give it to them before you put the lead on they still can run off or you wont be able to catch them with out a treat!! my mares are getting to where they will just come up to me cause they know that they will get a treat after i work with them

Answer 7

instead of trying to catch him, play with him
horses are curious and playful, so run back and forth, bend down and pick up something, run towards him, stop, call his name and run the other way - but make sure that that day and the next time, you're just playing, not actually trying to catch him and the next day he will be much easier to catch
after that, have an occasional play session, so he won't know for sure

Answer 8

Have your leadroap ready, but have some food or some treats like apples cut up or carrots or sugar cubes him to eat while he's eating hook him up. Or have someone else with the rope walk up after you have got him eating out of a bucket of oats.

Answer 9

Maybe a sugar cube? I assume horses are as easily motivated by food as dogs.

Answer 10

Offer him a carrot! When he comes to you, give him some affection but don't try to ride him. Do this several times and then work on gradually prepping him to ride, giving lots of praise and petting. You should be very gentle with him.