# can't catch my horse



## smr (Mar 4, 2009)

I am having a problem that somehow I'm making worse and not better. I have a horse that stands good for tacking, a little high spirited when riding but not to bad.

But he has two real bad problems. He will not stand still while being mounted or dismounted....this is a problem and he has left me standing more than once.

The other problem (and it's getting worse) He hates to be cought. I've tried food, treats, hugs, kisses....nothing seems to work. The only way I can catch him is to walk up on him while he is eating. Once I get the rope on him he's fine. When I catch him again I'm gonna leave the rope on him.

I have 3 other horses that I get along great with.....maybe this horse just don't like me.

thanks......tired of walking in Ky.


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## KTSpeedhorse (Mar 10, 2009)

Have you tried hearding him? This is going out to pature with him and pushing him away from you. Not litterally pushing. Stay behind him at a safe distance in his periffial (sp?) vision and making getures moving him away from you and your other horses. If and when he stops and does not turn to you push him away again and again until he turns and walks up to you. Horses are naturally curious animals and he will eventually wonder what you want and come to you. This stems from the Join Up theroy. I have used it and it does work. Of course it is always good to reward him when he has been easy to halter. Hope this helps.


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## Spastic_Dove (Oct 4, 2007)

As far as him moving when you want to mount, I make it more difficult for him to move than to stand quietly. I lead myhorse up to the mounting block or whatever and go to mount. I will bring the left rein in slightly so his nose is tipped towards me and go to mount. If he begins to walk away, I give a "EH!" Which is my no! noise and move him back to where he is then try again. If he walks off again, I make him step away from me. I send energy towards his hind end (Either with my hand or with swinging a rope) and make him move his hind quarters. I will get him moving away from me and then when he is sick of moving, I let him stand. Usually, mine will drop his nose and I will give him a pat and try again. Eventually, he learns that he's not going to get out of work by walking away and that it's easier to just let you on.


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## Skippy! (Dec 18, 2006)

I hope this doesnt come across as too negative.. but do you only take him out to ride him?

I see this happen all the time.. horses living in a big pasture with a few to many buddies, and the only time they see people its because we want something from them. Therefore, the horse sees a person and runs because they dont want to be worked.

If that is the case, it could be as simple as just taking him out more to do stuff for -him- not for -you- =) So he'll see you coming with the halter and try to run, and when you finally catch him, take him out and let him eat some sweet feed while you brush him... or just walk around with him... or find a patch of grass and hang out with him while he eats... then put him back =)

I made a post similar to this topic on a thread about catching a shy rescue horse:



> Im really big on being around my horses when I have nothing to ask of them =) A lot of people who have non-rescue horses make the mistake of only going out to their horses if they want something (to ride, to worm/give shots, etc)... Just go out and be around her. Horses are curious little things... More often than not, when i've worked with an abused/neglected/beaten/never handled horse and IGNORED it outright... they would come up to me with this look on their face as if to say: "Hey bub, everyone else wants to touch me, brush me, lead me, vaccinate me... why don't you? Am I not good enough for ya?!" LOL
> 
> I wouldn't go as far as to say never catch her unless she wants you to... because I personally think that is giving a 1,500 lb animal a little too much "control" over ya =) I agree with the concept of "dont go out and trudge up to her, and grab her to give her shots" but I think the best way to approach this whole situation is:
> 
> ...


Same basic principle, only you're showing your horse you want to enjoy his company ^.^

The Mirror Game works really well, I can't boost it enough. Charity was completely wild when i first got her and she picked up on this. She wanted to be the one to blow me off, and when i would be the one to leave her, she got all sorts of flustered, lol!

Something else that really helps is when you are done riding, clean him off and spend time with him. Don't just put him right back in the field while the sweat is still moist on him. Because all he will remember is the ride and the work. Always put your horse away happy! =) After grazing him or spending time with him he should be in a good mood, and happy to see you next time.

As far as mounting from the ground, try what spastic dove said... That's how I got Joey and Skippy! to not wander on me when trying to mount.

My little saying is this: Your relationship with your horse is split 50 50. 50% of the time your horse is showing you he will take care of you when you're in the saddle, the other 50% is you showing the horse you will take care of him on the ground.

When that relationship gets out of whack, we end up with horses that are pushy, mean, and unruly... or scared, flighty, and grumpy.

Again, I hope i didn't come off as mean ^___^ i didn't mean to!


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## KTSpeedhorse (Mar 10, 2009)

Skippy also has a great point.


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## Spirithorse (Jun 21, 2007)

You really need to make time with you enjoyable for him. If he is hard to catch that's a sign he doesn't want to be with you. I don't say that to be mean, I say it because it's something that needs to be noticed in order to change this. So how can you make him WANT to be with you? Where he meets you at the gate with this look of "Pick me!" on his face?

From your post it sounds like me might have anxiety/unconfidence issues. So when you do work with him do a lot of bonding and confidence building exercises to get him calm and relaxed. The Parelli 7 Games are a great tool.


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## CloudsMystique (Mar 3, 2009)

Well, since you've tried all of the nice ways of catching your horse, you can try a not nice way. I did this with a pony I used to have, and it worked wonderfully.

Walk up to him slowly and quietly. Let him run away... stay patient with him. Do that a few times, and then get fed up. Walk up to him angrily and swing the rope at him. Make him run. Do that a few times. Then walking up to him slowly again. If he runs away again, chase him again. Eventually he'll be begging you to catch him.



For the dismounting... just don't get off of him until he stands still. I'm sure he wants to stop working and go back in his pasture, so don't let him have it until he stands still for a minute or two.

And finally, the mounting. This is what I did with my mare... I got on her normally, and when she walked off, I backed her up twice as far. Then I got on her again. If she walked off again, I backed her up, got off, and got back on. I continued doing that until she would stand still. Don't make him stand still for too long the first few times, and when you tell him he can go, let him walk or trot off on a loose rein.


Good luck : ]


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## KTSpeedhorse (Mar 10, 2009)

Clouds has the same sort of idea as I was trying to explain to you. It is not mean it is just like hearding by the dominant horse. You do not have to touch him tho.


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## G and K's Mom (Jan 11, 2008)

That's what would happen at our house if anyone thought for one minute they didn't want to caught. Those feet get movong and they don't stop until I say so.

Not allowing themselves to be caught is the height of rude! The only exception to the rule is an abused horse.


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## onetoomany (Dec 10, 2008)

I will say that I haven't had much success with the herding/chasing method. When I try it with my mare she just gets more and more jazzed and will keep going until she's completely wiped. It just doesn't seem terribly productive (or practical when it's slippery and cold out) to me to do it in my case. With my mare I have found that going slow and giving her time to think about it actually works better. Also when she walks up to me or stays in place I'll sometimes just give her a treat and leave her be. I've had the best of luck with this method as I keep her guessing and she never knows if I'm going to take her in or just leave her alone.


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## Barebackrider (Feb 13, 2009)

> Have you tried hearding him? This is going out to pature with him and pushing him away from you. Not litterally pushing. Stay behind him at a safe distance in his periffial (sp?) vision and making getures moving him away from you and your other horses. If and when he stops and does not turn to you push him away again and again until he turns and walks up to you. Horses are naturally curious animals and he will eventually wonder what you want and come to you. This stems from the Join Up theroy. I have used it and it does work. Of course it is always good to reward him when he has been easy to halter. Hope this helps.
> 
> 
> > I'm with her on that one I have three horses that are bad to catch and Join up works for me but some horses respond and others don't try reading the monty roberts book Join up if you do it right it should work or try to walk to him in the paddock from the side but don't look at him just glance at him as you side walk to him .If all fails sit in the paddock don't look at him (bring a book it takes awhile)take him a treat


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## smr (Mar 4, 2009)

Thanks for everyones advice. We did finally catch him yesterday. Someone sugested leaving the lead rope on him for a few days. 

I spent about an hour with him last night brushing him down while he was eating, he seemed to really enjoy it but he was ready to go when I turned him loose.


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## Skippy! (Dec 18, 2006)

smr, a word of caution when leaving a drag rope on... It can be very, very dangerous in many situations. Maybe if the rope was only a foot long.. but a full length leadrope.. he could tangle himself in it and fall over and break his leg, or get attacked by another horse while he is tangled and get injured... or even get it caught in the fence and rip the fence down trying to break himself free. Not to mention.. if you reach in to grab that leadrope and he bolts, you could get dragged =/

Admittedly, i've used a drag rope in a few situations, but ALWAYS under supervision.

I really don't think this is a situation where a drag rope is necissary... A drag rope is commonly used when a 2 year old horse that has never been handled before gets their first halter on, or something to that effect. There are too many negatives to drag ropes to make them more commonly used. Leave a halter on.. sure, but not a full length lead.

Try to work with him on fixing the problem using some of the methods we posted. G & K got it right. It is extreme disrespect. He seems to be more on the spoiled/over-worked side rather than the shy/abused side. If he is spoiled, use G&K's method. If he is over-worked, I would really recommend my method of finding something positive for him to do while he is out so he doesnt WANT to run from you.

He has you trained pretty good, by the way  Bringing buckets of food out to him and begging him to grace you with his presence and eat 

I hope i don't come across too harsh =) I just really want to see you resolve your problem, not frustrate the communication between you and your horse ^^ And, this is all just my opinion i made based on my extensive work with problematic horses ^^


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## G and K's Mom (Jan 11, 2008)

Onetoomany, LOL, maybe the "make them work" works well for me 'cuz I have lazy QH's.......

I second Skippy with the lead rope, your setting him up for a whole of hurt. It should only be done under supervision and in a small paddock not an open field.


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## onetoomany (Dec 10, 2008)

G and K's Mom said:


> Onetoomany, LOL, maybe the "make them work" works well for me 'cuz I have lazy QH's.......
> 
> I second Skippy with the lead rope, your setting him up for a whole of hurt. It should only be done under supervision and in a small paddock not an open field.


Yeah... flippin' Arabs; she's like an energizer bunny.

I too agree about the lead rope; you are only asking for trouble. It also won't solve your problem. All it will do is give you a better chance of grabbing hold of him while he is running away and when you take that lead rope off, you're back in the same boat.


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## Dumas'_Grrrl (Apr 2, 2008)

[email protected] the energizer bunny arabs.

The "move their feet" method worked for me and my QH's also. I second the info on the drag rope, I only do that when halter breaking young'ens and use a stiff rope so that it can't wrap around legs and fence posts in a small pen. Any other way and you're asking for trouble.

I suggest a smaller pen and some bonding time. It will work wonders. 

Good Luck and keep us updated on the progress!!!


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## Percheronbaby (Mar 5, 2009)

ktspeedhorse has a good idea
we had a horse that had been abused badly so when it came to getting caught she'd just high tail it the other way but we made her WANT to be caught.
its like.. you could go out one day with the rope but once you get up to him you just give him a quick pat and walk away and after a few times he'll want to stay. its almost like join up but at the same time not. your giving him attentinon and then telling him to go away


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## Dumas'_Grrrl (Apr 2, 2008)

The more you tell a horse to ****** off and get moving, the more it wants to be with you, in my experience, when we had a horse that was hard to catch, the easiest way to get it to come back to you was to try to separate it from the herd (i've never owned just one horse). The more you shoo him off the more he wants back in. 

The way he gets back in is by letting himself be caught. You're practicing reverse horse psychology 101 with this method. Horses are hardwired to want to be with the herd. Bannishment from the herd is usually the end of the line for wild horses. 

I've had to do this a few times and it works especially well if you only have a couple horses. 

I'll take one out of the pasture and stand a good 40 yards on the other side of the gate....Guess who's at the gate wanting to be back with the herd, yep you guessed it, Mr. Hard to catch himself! :lol:


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## neighxwinnie18 (Feb 26, 2009)

If you use a mounting block this might be difficult, but if you mount from the ground this would be perfect. the side you are mounting from bring that rein in until his nose is almost touching his shoulder, if he doesn't allow that and swings his rear around keep on him as best as possible. you might have to dance in circles for a while but just keep it up until he stands for you, and you might as well do it on the other side as well even if you aren't mounting him, its best to just do so cause horses have split brains so when your working with them you should do it on bothsides you never know when you might have to mount on the other side anyways. but untill he stands sill then slip your foot into the stirup and try to mount, if he goes forwards or backwards or sideways. try your best to mount him until your sitting in the saddle. you don't even have to slip your other foot into the stirrup, if he did move, get down and do the process all over again untill he gets the hint "oh i am suppose to stand still for this!" 


now with catching your mare in the pasture, is it a possibility that she's so herd bound? i know i had that issue with an old mare i used to own. The only thing she relied on were her friends. it was a major pain, so i understand what your talking about. but i would recommend that when you have time or after your done riding and you let her out in the pasture, when you slip off her halter, leave the rope around the neck like a lope, so she can't run away and give her a treat and just rub her down and if she has a certain itch spot she likes go ahead and scratch it, but when you go and let the rop go turn away right away and start walking, dont stand there and face her, this will teach her that when your facing towards her she must come or stand still for you, if you walk away from her then that is saying to her "well if she doesn't need me then i'll go" now when going into catch her the next few times like later that day or the next day don't plan to ride unless she walks towards you or lets you catch her. but untill then go in with a pocket full of treats and no halter or lead rope. and see if you can get near her and if she allows you give her some treats and really fuss over her. then walk away, if she follows you to the fence then sure grab a halter and see if you can slip it over her head. but just make sure when you let her go when your done catching her, turn away before she does and walk away don't look back!! 

hope this helped, 

and hey have you ever thought about giving her a herbal suppliment for mares to calm them down a bit, its i think dried rasberry leaves. i'm not 100% sure. but you can give it to em like treats. they also work for geldings that act like little studs lol

=]


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## wild_spot (Jan 30, 2008)

I don't have a lot of time on my hands, so if I went out just to 'be' with my horse, I would never get to ride and I would never acheive anything! Sot he 'move your feet' methodworks for me. However I do it slightly differently to what everyone else has been saying. I block them like a horse working a cow. They want to run left, I move my body into their line of flight until they turn. They move right, I do the same. I don't advance when I'm doing this, I just work them until they stand, then I start to walk up. If they move off again, I go back to the cutting/blocking until they stand for me to catch them. Has always worked well for me.


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## Spirithorse (Jun 21, 2007)

I wouldn't leave a lead rope on the horse. It's just too dangerous, and you need to fix the problem.


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## Skippy! (Dec 18, 2006)

wild_spot said:


> I don't have a lot of time on my hands, so if I went out just to 'be' with my horse, I would never get to ride and I would never acheive anything!


Personally, I think more can be achieved with horses without the presence of a saddle or bridle. I have gotten more reward and gratitude from ground work than i have from the saddle. All of my horses work their hardest for me when i ride them, and im sure it has to do with the level of care i provide for them every day.

If all ya do is ride your horse and are never around your horse unless you want something, it usually ends up with frustration on the horse's behalf.. I cant count the amount of Jumpers, Barrel Racers, Lesson Horses that crib feverishly because everytime they see someone it means work, work and more work.

Im sorry that you think you cant achieve anything with your horse without you being in its back.

And with that i'll button my lip =/


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## wild_spot (Jan 30, 2008)

By achieve, I meant competition wise. And not winning, but personal bests for me and my horse. 

And I have to disagree :] One, my horses are not frustrated. They don't display any unnatural behaviour, they are relaxed in their manner, around people and alone in the paddock. Two, just because I ride whenever I go out to my horse, doesn't mean it's always hard work! The majority of my riding is trail riding, we taek them swimming in the summer, etc. 

I think we approach horses in a different way. I believe that i give my horses the highest standard of care, I keep them safe, warm, fed, free from any natural predators, free from many diseases and injuries they could sustain in the wild, I keep them mentally stimulated, and I treat them with compassion. In return, I ask they they work for me. I expect them to have manners and respect, and to try anything I ask of them. I don't ask them to do something beyond their abilities, and I don't push them beyond their mental capacity.

I just can't believe that horses can see us as friends. They see us as sources of food, treats, satisfying scratches and brushes. (As much as I pretend that my arab loves me more than anyone else, shhh!)

I own my horses to ride, to compete on. If I wanted something just to brush and love on, I would buys dogs. (And we have 8, lol). 

I honestly don't think i'm missing anything in my relationship with my horses, and I believe there are many different types of relationships people have with horses, and many are effective. In my opinion, a horse doesn't need you to be a friend.

Now i'll button my lip


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## Skippy! (Dec 18, 2006)

I just wanted to add I'm not one of those "treat-your-horse-like-a-puppy" people. I don't give mine treats (omg im evil!). Horses are definately not pets, not equals (they weight 1,500 lbs.. they're automatically your superior, lol!) and mine arent "friends" they are colleagues, so to speak. I ask for respect from them and treat them well, and in return they treat me with the respect I deserve and are more than willing to listen to me and perform to the best of their ability.

I think we're on the same page, just different ends of the spectrum, lol =)

Thanks for your reply =)


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## wild_spot (Jan 30, 2008)

Replied to your PM. 

Yep, I actually think were quite similar, maybe just on other ends of the time spectrum :]


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## Flyinghigh12 (Feb 17, 2009)

I think catching your horse is really important with it running away because the one time i was riding at this barn, and suddenly a bunch of people came in. They had to put a horse down because it broke its back trying to jump the fence to get away from its owner. It slipped on ice on the other side and landed wrong. It was really sad!


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## ilovemydun (Nov 2, 2007)

KTSpeedhorse said:


> Have you tried hearding him? This is going out to pature with him and pushing him away from you. Not litterally pushing. Stay behind him at a safe distance in his periffial (sp?) vision and making getures moving him away from you and your other horses. If and when he stops and does not turn to you push him away again and again until he turns and walks up to you. Horses are naturally curious animals and he will eventually wonder what you want and come to you. This stems from the Join Up theroy. I have used it and it does work. Of course it is always good to reward him when he has been easy to halter. Hope this helps.


I agree with this, I use it alot when I do chores at my barn and we have difficulties getting a horse to come in. I basically just follow them but always in their view. If they are heading more towards the right, I'm on their right side, and likewise for the left. Sometimes constantly changing directions. Sometimes they try to run away...I just continue walking. Eventually, just like KT said, they turn around and walk up to you. It's worked on every horse I've tried it on.

I know some horse owners stay away from treats in their training but I love it. In moderation! When I got my filly, she would always get turned out into a huuuge pasture and me being the lazy person that I am, I didn't want to walk all the way out there to get her, lol. So a couple of times a week when I would go to get her I'd bring a treat with me. I'd walk out and call to her and when she would walk up to me I'd give her the treat. Then I switched to rub downs and scratches instead of treats.

Now she is almost 3 and still turned out to a large pasture, and is the only horse in her group who will come when called. She starts walking to me when she sees me, I don't even have to call her. She brings the rest of the herd, lol. Even on grass pasture! 

I know you said you've tried treats though, so I'd definitely try the "herding" or join up method


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## MN Tigerstripes (Feb 20, 2009)

I've tried the herding method (blocking them), and the "ok, you wanna move? then MOVE" method, treats, and just about any other method. My horses didn't really want me to not catch them (otherwise I never would've where they were kept), they just wanted to play a little while first.

What worked best for me was to go out to the pasture and walk around, don't pay attn to the horses just walk around looking at the ground, stop every once in awhile. By this point I have their attn. Usually they will come to me at that point. If they are being reluctant I will actually sit down or start poking at the ground. Without fail they would come over, "whatcha looking at? is it something I want? don't you wanna ride?" Once they are over I stand up and walk up to the lead horse, pet and rub them all over, on to the next one, and the next one. By this point they are loving me..... then I get the one I want. Eventually my horses would consistently come when I called them (even with bridle in hand). It was great to walk to the pasture and yell "Red, Flame, Sin, come here guys!" and they would come in to say hi. 

That being said I had those horses for my entire life and it did take me time to get them there. Soda isn't to that point yet, but he is always paying attn & nickering at me when I come to the barn. I do make it a point to brush them well before & after every ride and spend time down at the barn when I'm not working them. Either cleaning up, inspecting the fence, or just walking around. Even just 5-10 mins helps. I let this attn slide for about a month (it was cold & I'm in college, so I didn't have any time) and he became very difficult to catch and disrespectful towards me on the ground and while riding (see my thread Naughty Rearing Horse). But in the last week or so I have been going out spending time with him, taking him on walks, just brushing him, and now he is back to peaking at me around the corner and walking over to say hi when he sees me with the halter.  He isn't as of yet that happy to see the bridle but we are getting there.


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## smr (Mar 4, 2009)

things seem to be improving. I seem to be doing the best with treats. He was our first horse and late last year we moved in three more horses. He was an only child for years and now he has 3 siblings. We have also been spending more time riding the new horses and just didn't realize we were ignoring him. We road yesterday and he was no trouble to catch.


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## Skippy! (Dec 18, 2006)

Glad to hear you're having success! In some cases, treats can help "open the door" for communication with horses. They can be a tool to temporarially use to help resolve an issue =) Just make sure they don't become a crutch =)

In my opinion, solving the problem with treats is like cutting the top off of a weed. The roots are still there, and the weed will grow right back. It may look like the weed is gone for a while, but rest assured, it'll return. Make sure the deep rooted problem of -why- he runs away from you is fixed =)

Also, you want to make sure your horse is coming to you because he wants to be with you.. not because he views you as a food dispenser =)

I know you arent using treats to solve the problem though ^^ I just wanted to get all that out there!

I know exactly what you mean with having an "only child" horse. Skippy! was like that. When we got Jasmine, he was VERY displeased with me, LOL! He wouldnt come to the gate to see me after i finished riding her, and he would act up when i first got her. We worked everything out though.. just like with children, ya gotta let them know they arent being replaced, and that you still love em!

Again, glad you're making progress!


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