Pony won't let anyone catch him?

Question

Now that our horses are out on grass, our pony does not let anyone catch him. Even after all the other horses are in, and the bugs are bad, he won't come. Before, I could just chase him for 10 minutes and he'd be tired and come to me, but now, even after chasing him for a half and hour he still won't come. I'm tired of running :P.. He can't be scared of us, he has no reason to. I think its just the grass. Does anyone have any advice on how to catch him?

Answer 1

First of all, did you say you were running after a horse?
Think of it from the horse's perspective.
You, a predator, are chasing them, a prey species.
The pony is rightly reluctant to let you approach.
Try to walk up slowly, stopping often and dont walk straight up to him. Instead, make a big circle and gradually move closer. This way, the red flags won't go up causing him to be scared.
Keep talking to him in a low soothing voice, and most importantly, keep your cool! I know it's easy to get frustrated, but the horse can sense it when you're on edge and will put his gaurd up. Just relax and take it slow, adn you'll end up catching him faster than you ever could the "direct" way.
Also avoid direct eye-contact and keep a slouchy posture.
Keep an eye on his body language, and if he looks concerned or like he may bolt, just stay put and talk to him reassuringly, maybe even take a few steps back, until he calms down again.
Good luck.

Answer 2

We had a horse that routinely used to escape the corral. One early morning (2:00 a.m.) I was chasing him around a hilly area. I was mad as heck since I'd been chasing him for almost half an hour. Finally I'd had it. I thought to myself, "The heck with you!" and sat down with my back to him. I was through chasing him. I picked up a meadowflower and sat there looking at the flower and trying to catch my breath. Well guess what? After about 30 seconds, there was suddenly a big horse head hanging over my shoulder looking down as if to say, "Hey whatcha doing? You're not chasing me anymore!" And that's when I caught him.

Same technique works with boyfriends too!

Answer 3

You could always try putting some feed in a bucket & shaking it. Thats always seemed to work for me when ever one of ours wont come in.. But if that doesnt work I would suggest just leaving him out there for a while & bringing the others in. After a while he should get tired of being out there alone & let you catch him..

Answer 4

you never ever run after a horse!!!!! thats your first mistake. just just follow them around till you have him cornered. then you slowly walk up to him and grain always helps. and if he runs you let him run you just keep after him (walking) and eventually he'll see that you are going to catch him no matter what and he'll give up.

Answer 5

The next time you put him outof the barn, put a hobble on him. That way he can't run.