# Hard to catch!



## Bullseye (Oct 11, 2011)

My little guy doesnt like to get his halter on, but he is normally very cooperative after I catch him. I wasn't home the other day and a family member had to put him away and said that it took 45 minutes to catch him!

Any Tips?


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## Wings (Oct 11, 2011)

Food!

I can summon the herd with a bucket of pellets. My tricky to catch guys get a handful in the noseband of their halter, if they want those pellets they have to reach through. They then get more pellets when caught and somtimes I'll just stand their, feed and pet then release them again. This helps them understand that being caught does not mean bad things.


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## JMS Miniatures (Oct 11, 2011)

I put them in the round pen and make them move their feet. I make them turn in towards me, like I'm drawing him in. When it's done right at the end you want your horse to catch you, and pretty soon he will follow you all over the pen. If he is really bad it may take some time. I have a stubborn gelding that needs to be remebered from time to time. But have had great success by working in the round pen. For example I had a hard to catch yearling where you had to corner her to be able to catch her, just a couple of days in the round pen I could go out and catch her in a 5 acre field.


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## disneyhorse (Oct 11, 2011)

Never give food until AFTER the halter is on. Otherwise, they are training you to give them treats.

I don't give food to train a horse to catch. The horse doesn't get to be turned loose until I can catch them consistently in a small stall. When the horse is catchable in the small stall, they go into a smallish turnout with a 20 foot lunge line on (supervised ONLY). That way, I can grab the lunge line if the horse decides to revert.

The basis of catching that I use, is the general "natural horsemanship" way. A horse is allowed to be comfortable if they decide to face me or come towards me, and uncomfortable if they decide to go away from me. The roundpen is an ideal place to practice this, although I do it in the stall if needed.

Andrea


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## Sandy B (Oct 12, 2011)

In a perfect world one would train their horse as suggested by the couple others above. However in a herd dynamic, all that training can go out the door quick. So I do use food as an easy way to teach all mine to come running. We have gotten several broodmares that have been extremely hard to catch, in fact almost dangerous at times when they feel trapped they would run right through you. Now, every single mare comes running to us and all wait patiently to be haltered and then receive their treats. It sure makes daily teasing during breeding season much easier. We also go out to the field and socialize with them without catching them. On occasion we take treats and other times its just scratching and petting them. They love to be scratched.


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## Eagle (Oct 12, 2011)

Sandy B said:


> We also go out to the field and socialize with them without catching them. On occasion we take treats and other times its just scratching and petting them. They love to be scratched.


I am a firm believer in socializing in the herd and I do this every day even if it is just 10 minutes. I don't know if the herd leader's attitude makes a difference but my top girl comes charging when I whistle and I can call her a hundred times just for scratches and she will always come and with her follows everyone else. Anyone have any ideas?


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## JMS Miniatures (Oct 12, 2011)

I'm sorry but I would never use food to get them caught. It doesn't teach them anything. IMO I think smart horses catch on pretty quickly by that trick also.

Now I don't mind giving them a treat for a reward, and I also agree its important to just go out there and brush them, anything just to socialize with them.


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## rabbitsfizz (Oct 12, 2011)

Well, I am quite happy to use food to catch any horse- it is motivation of the most basic kind and I think it is one of the few things that makes immediate sense to a horse.

Most of my animals are very, very easy to catch, but I will still take an apple or something in my pocket just in case- I would really rather not spend half an hour walking round the field and I can understand the OP frustration!

In a case like this I would not hesitate to use food, whilst constantly backing up the manners required to get the food- ie the horse comes up, allows the halter to be put on, and does NOT attempt to bite in any way shape or form, then it gets the food.

It may be necessary, in the early days, to give a bit of food in order to get the halter on, but once the horse has connected the halter with the reward you will have trouble getting rid of it.


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## Sandy B (Oct 12, 2011)

I agree 100%!! None of our mares are rude or obnoxious about their treats, I do believe in manners. Food is a great motivator to get immediate results and makes very quick sense to them as you say. I personally have had horses (full sized) that I have trained to "hook on to me" or "catch me" and all that flew out the door when one other horse in the pasture sent them all running all over the place and could not catch my "trained" horse. It is simply herd dynamics. Yet, I bring out a carrot and start munching on it myself and suddenly I have the whole herd coming to me. Works beautiful








rabbitsfizz said:


> Well, I am quite happy to use food to catch any horse- it is motivation of the most basic kind and I think it is one of the few things that makes immediate sense to a horse.
> 
> Most of my animals are very, very easy to catch, but I will still take an apple or something in my pocket just in case- I would really rather not spend half an hour walking round the field and I can understand the OP frustration!
> 
> ...


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## AnnaC (Oct 12, 2011)

I think the main thing is not the catching of a horse, but what you do with it once caught. I know many folk who go out, catch their horse (large or small), bring it in to a stable, tie it up, groom it and then take it off to work it/ride it etc. Where was the horse's reward for coming in/being caught? Any horse that I catch to bring in always gets even just a small offering of feed in a bowl plus, if I'm not doing anything immediately, a nibble of hay. They also have plenty of bedding so their stable is a place of comfort. I do not give treats in the field nor after i catch them, but they get their 'reward' in their own bowls in the stables.

At the moment I have some 35 mares/youngsters/yearlings and two foals running 25 acres of pasture and woodland. Go into this area and clap your hands and stand back before you are stampeded by galloping bodies all in a rush to say hello!! No treats needed and most of the time I have a dozen heads all trying to put the one halter on. LOL!! Sometimes I need to catch one, sometimes I will just go 'walkies' round the fields with them - starts off as a 'follow my leader' but soon they all set off playing/bucking/chasing about having fun, then rushing back to join me on my walk. Other times we catch them all individually to do their feet or to worm them, but no matter what we do to them, they all follow us back to the gate and stand there, looking very forlorn as we leave - they would much rather come too and get a feed in their stables, which is what has happened to them from birth everytime they are caught and brought in!


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## Wings (Oct 12, 2011)

I think the trick with the food is nto to just hand them the treat and then try to halter them. A lot of minis are too smart for that! But if you have more food in your hand or pocket then you can reward as you go along.

There's a treat for coming up to me. A treat for putting their nose in the halter. A treat after I've buckled up the halter and then we're on to rubs and "good girl" verbal rewards.

I've never had a mini nick off when they know there are more treats, they are very food driven little horses!


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## hblackman85 (May 12, 2020)

I need help! My mini will run off when I walk towards him. He just decided that he doesn’t want to be caught anymore to go to his stall at night. He’s in a pasture with no stall til we get one built. The stall he does go to is where I feed him but he won’t let me catch him now! This is the second day of him not wanting to be caught. What do I do? He let me catch him the past 4 days til now


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## Marsha Cassada (May 14, 2020)

Take treats or some food. When he approaches, don't snatch or grab. If he lets you put your hand on him, just rub. If he lets you put your arm around him for the halter, then put the halter on his head, then take it off and scratch. Do that a couple of times, then calmly buckle the halter.
If he approaches but won't let you put your hand on him, then shoo him away. Horses do not like to be rejected by their herd. Approach again with the treat/food. If he moves away again, shoo again. Be sure to plan some time so you don't feel harried or desperate. Don't try to snatch or grab him. 
Once you get him in the stall, spend some time putting the halter on and off, scratching his head in between. 
So frustrating when they act like that!


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## malriis (May 14, 2020)

If one of my equines runs away, I cluck and chase them like it was my idea. Running away seems a lot less appealing if I'm "making" them do it.


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## KLJcowgirl (May 15, 2020)

malriis said:


> If one of my equines runs away, I cluck and chase them like it was my idea. Running away seems a lot less appealing if I'm "making" them do it.


This is exactly what helped me better catch my QH. Years of struggling and I saw that suggested on another forum, and poof, he's easy now! I have since had to do it a couple times with my mini mare.


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## Cayuse (May 15, 2020)

You can also try a bucket with a handful of pellets or grain in it. Have a lead rope ready, maybe in your pocket where it can't be seen. Put the bucket down while you are standing at the side of horse between shoulder and head. When horse is eating slowly place the rope around their neck. Now the are "caught" and you can get to their halter without grabbing at their face. This method worked for me when I had a pony who was a stinker to be caught because of fear and he was headshy. His appetite got the better of him every time . It took forever for me to be able to catch him without this method but he came around. Years later later though he relapsed at the vet hospital. I told them not to take his halter off as he might be hard to catch in a scary environment They took the halter off . I got a phone call "how to catch the pony???we've been chasing him around the stalll....." I told them my method and they caught the pony.


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## Marsha Cassada (Jun 5, 2020)

My neighbor asked me to check the water for their horses while they are gone for 5 days. So I go to check water yesterday (it's 109 degrees outside). They had bought a miniature mare from a kill pen a month ago. Blood work showed her in foal. She's got something wonky with her eyes. So, I go to water and she is in the arena. No shade. No fly mask. She has some owies on her back, as though they tried to put her with the big horses. Flies. Impossible to catch her in that large space. My sister is coming out to help me today; she will bring some panels and we will trap her in the corner so we can doctor the spots, spray her with fly spray and put her fly mask on her. This little mare dragged her 250# owner across the arena, so catching her isn't going to be easy 
Why would people go the expense and trouble of "rescuing" a horse and then??? I thought of bringing her to my place where she could at least have some shade, but my sister reminded me about how much trouble I'd had getting rid of pinworms here. She is a worse softy than I am, but she thinks we should just leave the horse where she is.
Some horses are in a kill pen for a reason. With so many nice horses that need homes, why go to such an internet site and look for trouble? I think those sites prey on vulnerable people by buying up horses no one wants and advertising them as going off to a kill pen.


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## MerMaeve (Jun 5, 2020)

Oh jeez, poor horse! Let us know how it goes, Marsha.


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## Marsha Cassada (Jun 5, 2020)

My sister put two round pen panels in her trailer and brought them out. We put up the panels and herded her into the enclosure. We had to work the panels pretty small to catch her without getting all excited Once we got the halter on her she wasn't too bad, except was extremely jumpy. Didn't try to kick, though she acted like she would bite me once. We gave her some treats and brushed the dirt off the owies. She knew about treats. She didn't seem to mind the fly spray, except anything around the belly or back legs. We brushed her and combed her mane and she let us gently check her ears. Between the two of us we were able to put ointment in her crusty eyes. It would have been nice to wash them first, but we didn't want to freak her out too much. She definitely has vision problems; that's probably one reason she is so skittish. We used the aluminum wound spray; I figured that would seal them off against flies the best. We put her fly mask on her and let her go. If she gets the fly mask off, it will just have to stay off because I could never catch her by myself. Poor little morsel.
I had just purchased these ties from Kinsman Garden catalog. First time using them and they were amazing. So easy to use to hold the panels together. I will find lots of uses for them.
https://www.kinsmangarden.com/category/Gear-Ties


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## Marsha Cassada (Jun 7, 2020)

The second time we caught her. It is really hard to catch a skittish one in a large arena. Really takes at least two people. My sister maneuvered her into a corner and we closed the gate, making a tight triangle. One interesting thing, she turned to face us in the corner.
We talked to her a minute, slipped the lead around her neck, and she accepted the halter. She was not nearly as skittish as the first day. We brushed her a little, doctored her sores and she even submitted to fly spray on her back legs this time. A good way to put the ointment in her eyes: my sister laid her fingers over the eye while I put the ointment on. It was so much easier than one person trying to hold the head, the eye, and the medicine! We gave her treats. Opened the gate and she calmly walked away.
A hard to catch horse needs to be in a small space. No way could one person catch this horse in that large arena.


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## Pitter Patter (Jun 9, 2020)

Awe, she just needs some TLC. Looks like she'll come around. When she relates you catching her with feeling better it will get easier each time. Here's a trick my llamas taught me...I come in looking like I might be interested in her, not hiding the halter but not purposely showing it to her either. Then act totally disinterested, maybe even turning your back to her. Occasionally turning your head to see her and then back again. Sometimes I softly sing or whistle. Eventually, every one of my animals has shown they can't resist knowing what I'm up to and slowly come up behind me and often right up beside me. I don't move fast. I might lightly pet or pat her on the back and talk softly and soothingly. I slowly work my one hand up her neck and slip the halter on slowly.May Patience and luck be on your side!


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