Uncatchable Horse...?

Question

Okay, so i have this [other] Quartherhorse mare. An ex-race horse. The lady we got her from said she was rideable. I guess that was a "if you can catch her". She will only be allowed to be touched when shes in the mood or if you have food. If you have ANYTHING in yout hand, whether it be a camera, which ive been holding before or a lead rope. She takes off on a dead run and wont come near you until the next day. We had the head of a horse rescue come out and try to rope her.. we got her into a round pen ( which is metal and about 5 feet high) and when he came at her with it she went mad crazy and went over the round pen, bending the 70$ panels into nothingness. The even bigger problem is that she is in an open pasture, so i dont think there is ANY hope in catching her. WHAT SHOULD I DO?

Answer 1

Have you tried 2 people with a rope between cornering her. If you try this make sure that you tie rags to the rope so she can see it. Talk softly so she wont spook. Or you may have to consider building a pen so you can entice her in with food and shut the door. Have you spoken to the lady who had the horse about its behaviour. She may be able to make some suggestions. I know it is incredibly frustrating when you cannot catch your horse. Mine used to be pretty good but on occasion they would decide that they didnt want to go for a ride and then the fun would begin.

Answer 2

Please go to www.petcaretips,net/horse-horse-racing.html for has great tips on catching a difficult horse and other great horse training and relationship tips. Its obvious that somehing very bad was done to this horse by something that came from a hand(probably a stick or a whip and unfortunate but someone hurt this horse badly) and that is why she runs and stays away for so long for probably comes in when hungry or thirsty. I'm sorry that you had someone forcefully rope her and the head of a horse rescue should have known and told you this so I'm wary of this rescue group that they would not recognize clear symptons of abuse and the horse being terrified of anything held in a hand exept food-(which she smells and knows food) You need to learn this horse's trust which means you cannot ride her now like you want .Do You care about the horse-for if you do then it will need you to be very patient and put time into doing this for to force the horse will only make it worse nad also dangerous to ride. You need to only approach the horse with food or a treat and then spend time stroking and talking to the horse. Gradually you need to decrease the distance from the horse and you in the pasture to the where you want the horse to be. I'm sure you've heard of the Horse Whisperer and it may be wise that you buy this book and read it for this horse cannot be rushed and has to gain your trust and you may down the road slowly introduce her to bits of the rope and let her smell and slowly increae until its a actual lead rope. You may want to call the lady up and ask why this horse is so scared of something being held in a hand. for if you can't ride her that defeats why you bought the horse-keep in mind that the horse being this scared and being sold may lead to her being more abused or end up on someone In Europe's dinner table PLEASE GO TO www.petcaretips.net/horse-horse-racing.htmlIt has excellent tips and a quide to catching a difficult horse and horsetraining tips. I sincelerely will pray that you get as a gift from the Lord a lot of patience and care for this horse and soon you'll have a friend relationship with the mare

Answer 3

What are you using this horse for?? Is she a wild mare?? point to be, ANY HORSE can be catched. Watch flicka... it may look easy but it's not, I know it isn't if you try to, be very careful you may get injured. Have the mare get lured into a cage where there is food or yummy snacks, if not have someone that knows how to rope the mare when she is around. "Nothing is Impossible" I hope you catch her. Watching Flicka would help you alot on how to catch and handle the mare. I wish you Good Luck

You know the first answer ^ there to tranquilize her, that would work BUT if you do that... be careful when she wakes up cause she will freak out and wont know whats going on and where she is. So be sure to have her in a strong pannel.

Answer 4

She is running out of fear. Horses are flight animals and this "lead rope" and catching reminds her of her past. For being a ex race horse, I don't doubt some thing happened.

Chasing after her and roping her isn't developing trust. She needs to develop trust. Especially since she is running around and destroying panels. Someone is going to get hurt. Whether someone or the horse, or even both.

My mare was the same way and I had to do a lot of strong bonding.

I would place in small, but non-clostraphobic pen and allow to talk to her, brush her and do some bonding. Not to chase her, but slowly ease up to her. As she turns away, you turn away. Then turn back. Get her attention.

I first started to focus on other things and my mare would become curious. I would draw in the sand or watch somethinga bove, being aware of my surroundings of course. My back to her, she would slowly walk up to me. when her nose would touch me, sniffing, I would talk to her and look at her, but not turn around or touch until she was comfortable enough by the way her body movement is.

Just takes time.

with and without leadrope. Your horse will realize after awhile of doing this that evertime you have a lead rope doesn't mean you will place it on her.

Answer 5

ex-race horses often come with emotional/behavioral baggage..
you need to find some way of keeping her in a pen where there is no grass or other food.. so then YOU become her only source of food.. you do not simply put the food down and walk away.. you put the food down and remain by it.. you remove the food when you leave.. (she would be needing hay 3 times a day so you must have lots of time for this) eventually she will begin to think people are ok.. because people = food.. not bad things...oats and carrots will help too..

a friendly easy to catch companion may help

Answer 6

does she have a herd mate or is she alone. if she has mates, then bring them in. she wont want to be left alone so she will follow. if you can get her into the round pen get here there and keep here there. come out and feed her every day and water her and make sure that she is comfortable. let her out for a few hours a day to run around and graze. use the monty roberts method. this really works. you may have to get rid of her or just never do anything with her. she sounds like she just isnt used to people. be patient with her.

Answer 7

If you can put her back in a pen or stall and let her sit dont chase her around let her settle down. after she does that go out there and feed and water her. keep doing that let ler know that your the one with the feed, after a couple of days just walk in slowly dontchase her just let her get used to you. ive dealt with plenty of abused horses including racehorses. it will take time and ask the old owner how she caught her might give you some ideas on how not to do it. good luck
contact me if you want: [e-mail]

Answer 8

ok try this get a bucket with a tiny amount of food in it , walk near her, not so close she can get her head in the bucket,stand close to her, have her on your left side with the bucket on your right,dont let her near the bucket .then walk away, i would call this teasing ,but this works, let her walk behind for alitte bit,then place the bucket in front of you, this horse is smart so smart that she plays you ,you not the boss the next step is to gain control ,stop trying to lock her up ,she fear this the most,let he fed only in a open pen , even try feeding her by hand ,you need to let her feel that you not going to hold her ,or hurt her,then about three days , try sitting down ,and see what she does,it going to take about two mths for this horse to get on ,try small steps to gain her trust as with most races horses they very scared horses ,he will come to you juts to be nosey ,

Answer 9

get her in the pen again with treats or feed .lunge her tht wears the energy out. we used to have to hide the lead rope then hurry and slip it on or rope tie the neck and be prepared for her to rare back or buck.Then you just have to keep hand feeding and petting till they eventually like you .I wouldnt feed my horse till after i worked with it just a few handfls out of my hand ,build trust.

Answer 10

there's a good chance that she doesn't know much about people other than the fact that she should stay away from them. You're going to have to convince her otherwise, but you can't force her to trust you, you're going to have to spend time showing her that you can be trusted.

First, be careful what you're feeding her. If she's in a good pasture, she may not need anything beyond that pasture, a salt block and water. If the pasture isn't good, you may need to supplement it with hay, but I'd suggest using grass hay or a grass mix, not alfalfa. Talk to your vet about a suitable feeding program.

Second, get her used to your presence. Take a lawn chair and a book and a radio out to the pasture, sit down, turn on the radio, and settle in. Don't chase her, don't try to catch her, don't stare at her, just SIT. For the first few days, she may stay as far from you as she can get. But horses are sociable animals, and when she becomes less afraid, she will become more curious, and she'll want to see what you are doing. When she starts to work her way closer to where you are sitting, it'll be harder for you to just go on sitting, reading, and listening to the radio, but DO IT. Again, don't try to chase or catch her; she needs to learn that she can come near you, run away, and come back, and you'll still be doing whatever you were doing. Do homework if you have homework, write letters if you do that, otherwise books are always handy. The radio will help her get used to voices and music. If she comes nearby, talk to her if you like, but don't get up, and don't stare.

This may go on for WEEKS. It's worth taking the time to do it, because if she's already been abused and you have someone rope her for you and snub her down so that you can force a halter onto her head, it may be months before you can get close enough to get that halter off again. Don't be in a hurry.
Let her learn about YOU -- what you look like and sound like and smell like, how you move when you pick up your book or put it down, or get up and stretch and walk around the edge of the pasture, but let HER approach YOU.

When she finally approaches -- and she will -- don't grab her, let her sniff you and run off. She'll come back. If you grab, it will take a lot longer for her to come back. ;-) Just smile, and the next day, bring a nice scratchy brush out with you.

When she comes back and stands, you can pet her, but do it in a way that will feel good to HER: stroke her neck and scratch her withers, don't try to pat her nose or stroke her forehead. If you get a chance to use the brush, use it in the same areas -- most horses, even nervous ones, get itchy in those places and really enjoy a scratchy brushing.

If your other horse is turned out with her, so that she has a companion, she can learn from that horse too. Your other horse approaches you -- talk to it, pat it, use the scratchy brush, go back to your book. Don't use treats at this point, because you may create a situation you don't want. Let her see that the other horse can come to you, get scratched, and go away when it wants to, without being caught or chased. And let her see that you can get up, sit down, cough, sneeze, talk, sing, walk the fenceline, or whatever -- and that none of this behaviour is dangerous to her.

Even the most nervous, most mistreated horses will usually respond to this routine. Drugs aren't the answer -- talk to your vet! Anyone who has ever tried to inject a frightened, nervous horse with a tranquilizer can tell you that a horse with surging adrenaline will respond to the tranq by getting more agitated instead of less. And in any case, you have to keep thinking ahead -- your goal is NOT to get your hands on her TODAY, your goal is to sit down in your chair today, watch her run away, and then have her run away less enthusastically tomorrow when you sit down again. ;-)

You can't say: "Mare, come here, let me catch you and put a halter on you and force you to learn that I am a nice person." But you CAN say "I'm just part of this pasture and part of your life, I'm here all day (or for a few hours a day) and I don't try to chase you or harm you, I'm just sitting here reading my book and listening to my radio, and when my other horse comes over, he gets his itchy neck scratched." Then let HER make the decision, let HER be in control -- she can decide when to come to you and how near to come and when to leave again.

When she understands that it's up to her, she'll be able to relax, and then she'll be ready for more grooming, and eventually for that halter, and the leadrope, and all the rest. At that point, it would be great if you could take her to a Ray Hunt clinic or a Buck Brannaman clinic -- but if these folks aren't available near you, be very careful whom you invite to help you. Round-pen work can be useful if it's done well, and it would almost certainly benefit this mare, but right now there are far too many people running around claiming to be "natural trainers" or even "horse whisperers", and a lot of them are nothing of the kind. As long as you don't feel threatened by the mare, it's best if you make this YOUR project, and take as long as you need -- as long as the mare needs -- to build the bond that will be the basis for the rest of your lives together.

Jessica


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