catching horses?

Question

Some horses are so difficult to catch. Does anyone have any tricks to make those difficult guys come to you?

Ok these are all nice strategies but i have tried the feed, the nice talk, and leading one of his buddies away he always manages to throw the halter.

Answer 1

The most important thing I can tell you is not use treats or feed to get a horse to come to you. Otherwise every time they come to you they'll be searching for a reward- their reward should be getting to spend time with you. Also some horses who learn this act will often get greedy and pushy looking for the feed bucket or treat bag. And when they learn that it's not there dart off or learn not to come to you anymore.
My suggestion is to ignore the equine. Walk into her pen and act as if you are occupied by something else. Most horses hate this and it makes them curious to see why what you're doing is so much more interesting than them. When your horses do finally come up to you- make it clear to them that not every time your out there it means catching them. Gently rub down your horse and walk away and leave it at that. Then build up. Take the halter in with you and again ignore her- when she comes up to you rub her and THEN put her halter on her. If she darts off- use the lead rope and while swinging it- drive her body away from you in her pen. Do not allow her to stop on her own- let her stop when you are ready and then try catching her again. When you do have her caught don't put her to work. Instead groom her really good, spend some time with her, and then turn her out. After a few days of catching her without a problem start working her out. Always reward her after she has walked up to you by rubbing her, and when she's in the halter always groom her and then put her to work. After you've ridden her or worked her out, groom her again and then you can by choice reward her by putting a treat in her feed bucket. NEVER HAND FEED.

Pretty soon your equine will put it all together and see that when she's in the halter its a good thing, she's going to get groomed- maybe worked out and then afterwards groomed again and even a treat. She'll learn to love being in that halter.

Answer 2

I've got a couple so pick and choose and see if one works:
Mine will not come to you if she sees the halter/lead. So I have to tuck the halter into my back pocket and tie the lead around my waist. Then I can approach her and slip the lead over her neck, and then put on the halter
Next, build a catch pen. Take a few pannels and make a 3 sided pen up against your pasture fence. Then run the horse down the fence line, and corral it into the pen. Close the gate and then it should be eaiser to catch in a small pen.
I also recomend keeping a break away halter on your horse with a short catch rope. Just a breakaway halter with about a 12-18 inch rope attached. That way when you get close there is already something there to grab hold of.
Best of luck, hope one of these works

Answer 3

Ok, there's a few things you need to look at and I will try to keep this short. Does your tack fit correctly with nothing that rubs? When a horse experiances pain while being ridden, they may not want to come up to you because horses are smart enough to know that when they are caught...they will probably be ridden. Also check for a sore back bypressing your fingers into the back and grazing the spine. If your horse hollows his back...then you should look into getting a saddle that fits properly. Horses generally have big hearts and want to please you unless they have had serious trust issues in their past.
Another thing is DONT hide the lead and halter behind your back...that will only teach your horse not to trust you. Bribing isn't the answer although when your horse does come up to you in the future there is no harm in a litle surprise once in a while. Is your horse in with other horses? Watch the other horses and their positions...if your horse isn't an alpha they may be intimmidated by the other horses nearer you and my not want to come closer...another reason why you shouldn't bring treats is because you incourage a mob of horses to surround you trying to get some. It's a great way to get hurt. The way I go about getting a horse that doesn't want to be caught ...after I have checked all of the above...is walk up to the horse with the halter infront of you. As soon as you sence that the horse will move ..(watch ears) stop and take a few steps back and wait for his ears to prick up and for him to look at you again. then proceed forward...keep doing this till you gain his trust. Don't look directly in the eyes...they DONT like that! DO make quick eye contact and blink...they will blink back...that is horsie for hello. If the horse is green, or young, nervous or afraid remember that you are a preditor and they are prey. touching their face and neck makes them cringe because thats where cougars and wolves strike first. You have to build trust and respect, and trickery and sweets just wont do that now will it?

Answer 4

You can catch a horse without using food, it just takes some time. Next time you attempt to catch him approach him slowly, don't hide the halter behind you because this will teach the horse not to trust you. If he goes away just sit or stand wherever you are and wait for him to gain interest in you. Bring a book or something and just ignore him. He will eventually decide to come because he is curious. Put on his halter and reward him with a carrot or treat. This takes time so don't get impatient. Hope this works out for you!!

Answer 5

I can easily catch my horses but once in a blue moon, they like to play a little game of "Catch me if you can...". They are on 2 acres at the moment and that is one heck of a walking distance. Sometimes catching another horse (their main buddy) will do the truck, but sometimes it won't. I just have to do the wait game and easily, calmly corner them and do a stand off til my horses give in, most time they do.

Weather change, whether they got their supplements first (hyped) or jump grumpy...dont want to be messed with behavior.

What I do is I would place the horse in a smaller confinment where you are not traveling a big walking distance. (Lets say a stall rather than pasture).

Ask the horse to approach you. Don't approach the horse. Remember, this is time consuming, so plan to have some time on your hands.

If horse turns butt to you, take lead rope or wip and smack on the ground and have the horse face you again. Never allow a horse to have his hind quarters facing you. It is disrespectful and testy.

allow the horse to stand there and occasionally ask for him to come to you. Begin to turn around, walk forward a little, turn head back and turn forward facing away from him. Horses are curious animals. Whether you are writing something down, fiddling with something or just standing starring off somewhere.

I did this with an 8 year old green broke gelding. it took a little over 30 mins of him moving in the back of the stall, but then he got curious and came up to me and sniffing/nudging me. I slowly turned around placing hands on his neck (he was skidish), slowly on his face with reaching the lead rope around his neck and then the halter on.

I did a lot of ground manners with him. lots of lunging in the round pen, squaring him off. Getting that respect.

Be consistant.

The old "food" and "walking another horse" doesn't always work nor should have to bribe a horse to come to you.

Answer 6

OK, I think this will help:
First don't try to approach your horse. You don't want to go to him, he needs to come to YOU. It's a herd dominance thing. Your horse needs to realize that your stonger than him and you don't care if he runs, because you will always have more power. So when you go into the pasture, and your horse starts to run, don't chase him. Instead, CHASE HIM AWAY. That's right. When you chase your horse away from you, he's thinking, "Oh, wait, what's going on? She doesn't WANT me to come?"
Don't let him stop! Keep that horse running and running and running. Even if he stops, keep him going until YOUR ready to catch him. It's not his choice when to stop. It's yours. When you finally want him to stop, stand still, stop the chasing. Let him stop, THEN approach him. If he shows any sign of wanting to bolt, get him going again. Put your arms in a "T" position with your body. It's an agressive stance. It's telling him that you're not afraid, and that if he wants to run from you, boy he can run! Eventually, your horse will realize that running from you was YOUR idea, not his. Keep him going as long as you have to, until he permisses and allows you to approach him. Don't babytalk to him, don't yell, and don't follow his lead. He can follow yours. The only praise he should get is once you catch him. It may take a few times of doing this when u want him, but it will work! I used the same trick with my 7 Month old colt, and now I can practically walk into the pasture and CLIMB on him. Good luck!

Answer 7

If you have a "herd" out in the pasture that you need to bring in, but one tricky fellow is giving you a hard time, leave him out (if you can). Bring in all the other horses and when the pasture is empty try again, but don't push it. If the difficult horse still refuses to allow you to catch him, leave him out by himself over night and don't feed him.

While he's by himself, don't make contact with him, don't turn out other horses with him, don't pet him, don't give him any attention until feeding time in the morning. You can bet his butt will be waiting for you at the gate for morning feed, but feed the other horses first so he can hear them get excited and realize he's missing out. Don't worry about him missing his evening meal. It won't hurt him, especially if there is hay or grass out in the pasture. Repeat if he does it again. He'll soon learn that not being caught leaves him hungry and alone outside, which is against his most basic horsie instinct of staying with the herd.

~Jenn

Answer 8

Here are a few suggestions :) When you go out to catch them bring a bag of goodies, and of course a halter & lead rope. When you are approaching them, have the goodies showing, and the halter and lead rope behind you. Approach them, and give them a treat, and give them lots of pets, and kind words! Then take your halter (continue petting, and such) put your right arm over there head so your hand is on there forehead. Then with your left hand slip the noseband on and "pass" the halter to your right hand, then go ahead and make sure it is on properly. After that give them more pets, and maybe another treat - you want to let them know that they did a good job, and you really want to make it a good experience. If this doesn't work - if there are other horses by them, catch them - it will let the horse that you want to catch know that is okay. Hope this helps - best of luck! OH, also remember not to chase your horse around, to catch him - it brings fear. And remember, you are the predator (to them) and the are the prey animal (to them) Again, best of luck!

Answer 9

This is a long term process but if you make them see that it's easier to come to you and allow themselves to be caught than it is to not, you've got it made. Food and treats only work for a little bit, once there is hay, or fresh grass, you lose :) To make them see that you are a better option than not being caught, you need to prepare to work with your horse for a few days on just that. When you go to catch your horse, if he does not walk to you, or moves away when you move towards him, drive him to keep moving. Give him a chance to stop, and try again. Continue driving him forward every time he moves away from your advances until you can walk up, halter him and remove him from the pasture. You need to be vigilant and not resort to treats or bribes, then it will never work. Its easiest to do in a small pasture or paddock, so there isn't acres to run around on. If you repeat the mantra of "It's easier to be with me than to run" it makes it easier to do :) As you work with him, once you catch him, take him somewhere, graze him or groom him and turn him back out. It is important to not work him too hard when you first start this. Make it not only easier to be with you, but fun :) After a week or so of doing this, you should be able to catch your horse up easily. You may not be able to have the horse walk up to you, but they should NEVER walk away from you. Best of luck, if you have questions on this technique, feel free to contact me.

Answer 10

Treats are a good bribe to use, but your horse may eventually get too attached to them, and that isn't healthy.
You can walk into the field with a halter behind your back. This helps us catch our horses.
Other than that, it will just take time to develop a relationship between you and your horse to where you can catch it.