# Wont let me catch or go anywhere close to him



## stephspirit (May 30, 2011)

hello sorry first time on a forum and didnt realise how it all works and pressed enter. 

i have recently brought a 3 year old gelding,who always had problems with being caught, however after many hard months of trying every tenhqiue out there that i had researched he finally let me catch him. so i showed him that being caught was never a bad thing but a good thing by rewarding him, treating him, grooming, feeding, and playing the 7 games of palleri with him. after about a month of showing him this he started to allow me to catch him not a problem. so i started his trainning and started breaking him in, slowly once again showing him that it was never a bad thing, and playing games with him, i finally only a few days ago started to ride him only for a few minutes, showing him its never a bad thing, rewarding and playing with him. however he now wont let me catch him at all or get anywhere close to him, and i have tryed all the techuqiues i used b4, form pushing him away, to letting him fink im not interested in him, to just waiting for him to come to me, paying attention to other horse including th one that worked b4. my sister has always tryed and my boyfriend incase it was just me he didnt want to come and see. 

i am in a rather big field (about 5/6 acres) with 5 different horses so it is rather hard for me to do this, i currently cant afford a stable on my yard which would come with a smaller paddock. also there aint any stables free. the owners of the yard wont let me make my field smaller to make it a bit easier so i can keep him by himself which would hopefully start making it easier to do stuff.

please can anyone help. thank you a lot steph


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## brackenbramley (May 29, 2011)

I have had a few horses who were incredibly difficult to catch one of which was very intelligent and i think it was naughtyness and i used to have to catch the other horses in the field first until he was on his own and then eventually he would come in. Is there any way you can herd him into a yard or smaller area that also worked with him. Im now 15 years on with the same horse and he's a dream !!! I also had another horse and im afraid he'd became impossible to catch due to pain caused by navicular and i think he was afraid he would be ridden therefore exacerbating his probs. Im not saying for one minute your horse has anything horrible wrong with him but i have found if they are sore somewhere they want to be left alone. I really do feel for you it is so frustrating. I also turn the tricky ones out with a headcollar where possible and catch them quietly with a bit of food (then i can just get hold of them.) Does the horse let u near him at all? Or does he run off as you try and put the headcollar on? Also helps to turn them out with horses easier to catch i found my two naughty ones would wind each other! they were such a cheeky pair ! 

it would be worth checking the fit of his saddle, his back, and teeth etc as it does coincide with you riding him. I hope you catch him soon good luck


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## Marecare (Jan 1, 2009)

There has to be a horse out here somewhere.


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## jrcci (Apr 28, 2011)

my horse rarely lets me catch him. i think he thinks it is a game and he knows it makes me mad. he especially does it when im in a hurry in the morning on the way to school. idk why they do it. i usually bring out grain or some treats and he will usually just stand there and wait for it. but if i dont have any food forget it... he wont come.


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## stephspirit (May 30, 2011)

thank you every one for the help, he wont come anywhere close to me even if i have food and i have tryed turning him out with a hand collar and herding him into corner which i would put lunge ropes round but he just runs out if that makes sense. also the saddle is a treeless one and was checked by the saddle fitter last time he was in and his teeth have not long been checkd and i was told all was fine. i can not catch the other horses as none of these are mine xxx i will try all the advest giving and hope sommething works xxx


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## barrelracer892 (Apr 3, 2010)

Steph, one thing that has helped my horses is to just go in their pasture with no halter and lead rope and just ignore them. Kneel down to pretend like you're messing with something on the ground, walk around the fence, etc. Hide some treats in your back pocket (don't show them to him as soon as you go out there) and once he comes up to you give him a pet on the face and hand him a treat then walk away. Do this for a few days and then go out with a halter and lead rope doing the same thing. After a day or two of that you can progress to putting the halter on, but as soon as you do take it off. Eventually it'll get easier and easier, but it does take a good bit of time. Be patient and hang in there! Good luck!


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## CharliGirl (Nov 16, 2009)

Go out to the pasture often and don't catch your horse every time. Horses are incredibly smart and can connect that seeing you equals work. Go out to give him a treat, pick up manure, pay attention to another horse, etc. Once he is comfortable with that, halter him, give him a treat or scratch an itchy spot, then turn him back out. If he is fed grain, you might consider haltering him and leading him to his grain. 

Also, make a point to spend undemanding time with your horse both in and out of the pasture.


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## bee222 (May 24, 2011)

Have you heard of joining up or hooking up? I could not catch my horse until I used this technique with him and now he comes to me! He will follow me without a lead on. There are videos on Youtube. It is easier in a smaller area, esp a round pen, but can be done in larger areas, just will take more time.


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## bee222 (May 24, 2011)

This is a video of Monty Roberts demonstrating join up. This is the technique I used with my horse and have seen it used many times and this is how my horse became easy to catch.


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## To ride the sky (May 30, 2011)

First of all don’t feel discouraged. The fact that he is actively avoiding you actually means he is communicating with you. It would be worse if he were passively standing there with a glazed over look in his eyes ‘allowing’ you to catch him. Part of this is probably because he is so young and they do go through stages. Just like teenagers (which he is right now) they go through times of rebelling against their parents and others of wanting to crawl up on the couch with you and cry on your shoulder. The biggest thing to remember at this age or any age is that you can’t expect anything out of them when their attention isn’t on you or they aren’t willing/enthusiastic about it. What I would do is asses his personality to determine if you are either putting too much pressure on him in your sessions or if you aren’t being interesting enough for him in your sessions. It’s probably one or the other. He’s either a bit worried and seeking security by staying with the herd or finds the herd more entertaining and you too boring to leave them for. I know this doesn’t sound very nice and I’m not saying that you are boring but trust me as the owner of a 4 year old Extreme Left brained horse you have to practically put on a circus for her to pay any attention to you lol (at first). This is the key! It took months of being very interesting, spontaneous, fun, and keep her guessing. My ring is full of cones, poles, tarps, jumps, and a big stump which she steps up onto even while im riding. Also we do a lot of trail riding or go for walks and graze. It sounds like you already understand the idea of undemanding time like sitting in his field reading a book etc… or just cudding him for a while etc… this is all very important. If you determine he’s more right brained I would do only this for at least a month before getting on him just tack him up and take him grazing and then be very slow and repetitive and calm energy at all times. But if you determine he’s more left brained I would be stepping it up bigtime in the entertainment department have him guessing what you will be coming up with next! Not just oh everytime she catches me we go to the arena and do the same old thing everytime. The other thing to figure out is does he prefer to move his feet more or less. So if you were to let him loose in an arena for example does he tend to run around or kind of meander around or even stand. This will tell you if you need to be asking him to move more/let him move or to stand and just relax. I know this might all sound a bit complicated and pointless but trust me it will help you out a lot! My Mare used to completely tune me out and now she comes running every time I call her and gives me a kiss everytime I come up to the gate with ears perked like saying Ok Mom what are we doing today? It’s wonderful and well worth taking a little time to figure out what works for them! 

Keep us posted on your progress!


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## To ride the sky (May 30, 2011)

In case you are skeptical here's a photo of my mare loose in the ring while we are playing at liberty coming to me when I signaled for her to and there is grass and yummy plants along the edges of the ring. Look at where she is willingly choosing to go and look at her expression. This is what you get if you take the time to figure them out


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## Golden Horse (Feb 20, 2010)

With my semi wild mare I had to walk her down before I could reliably catch her, and is as simple as it sounds, go out, start to walk up to him, if he walks away just quietly follow him, if he runs, just keep walking after him, try not to let him stop or eat, just keep gentle pressure on him and keep him moving.

Eventually, and it can take HOURS, he will get so fed up he will stand still, then you just walk up pet him and walk away.

Next day, or later on the same day, do it again, the number of repeats depends on him Horses always get bored with this game and figure if they are going to get caught anyway, then it may as well be sooner than later. Obviously a smaller area would work a lot better, it saves you a lot of walking, but it can be done in a larger area.

Took quite a while with Bert, she was aggressive as well so when she got bored with walking away, she would revert to trying to chase me off instead, now that is very frustrating, having to chase away a horse that you are trying to catch LOL


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

Google Erins Carolyn Resnick's Notes and read just the first 3 riturals on the left hand side. It works, beautifully. You need to clear your mind of negative thought and just "go with the flow". Mine would hightail it to a far corner and now is the first to greet me and comes on the run.


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## stephspirit (May 30, 2011)

thanks everyone for all ur help. spirit has come on loads and is now letting me catch him, we have a few off days but there now once in a blue moon. which is a lot better than when it use to be every day, thank you all very much spirit is now also fully backed as well and is albousltely brilliant xxx


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## James77 (Aug 1, 2011)

Dixie was a pain to catch this evening! Usually I can go out to the pasture with a curry comb and catch her no problem. She loves to be curried! Well this evening, she was having none of it. I had to get her to run into the corral and then curry her off, then put the halter on her. I think my sted dad mowing had her nervous! What ya'll think?


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