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 Expert
Posts: 2335
  
Location: IL | Any advice on a hard to catch horse. I've done lots of Clinton Anderson round penning and this horse just doesn't improve. If I have her in the round pen she will come to me, but as soon as I turn her back out into the pasture all that trianing goes right out the window. She is kinda flighty already and I've done tons of desensitizing. I'm ready to just make a small run for her and keep her in that. It's taking almost an hour to catch her and when I do I have to open the round pen and catch her in there. | |
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 I Want a "MAN"
Posts: 3610
 
Location: MD | Is she afraid or being an ahole? | |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 788
| I used to have nothing but hard to catch horses. We caught them in individual pens or stalls to feed them all. So, then they were always caught when we needed them. All of my horses now are easy to catch but I still feed them in pens so they dont become hard to catch and if I catch them straight out of the pasture I always have a pocket full of treats.
I give mine treats when I turn them loose. If they are hard to catch or dont like ppl, I give them a treat to get there attention, take off the halter while trying to hold their attn with the treat and then give them another one and pet them. That has helped most of mine that used to be hard to catch. Now if they see me comming they run up to me and sniff my pockets!
Hope that makes sense. | |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 964
Location: Alberta, Canada | I have one of these. An OTTB. I've tried everything with her, including all the round penning and stuff too. She'll go weeks being an absolute angel to catch and then out of the blue be a witch again for a few days or weeks. Last week - angel. This week - witch from you know where. No known reason. Even feeding time is torture.
When you find something that works, let me know!!!
ETA She's also ridiculously smart so will NOT go into a small pen if she knows I'm trying to catch her!
Edited by jschipper 2016-05-18 3:23 PM
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 1079
Location: MN | Do you have a 4 wheeler? Ive done that for over an hour because I was determined like it sounds you are as well. Once I was soaked and sweaty from head to toe from trying to catch him on foot, I resorted to the 4 wheeler. He wanted to run, so I made him run! We played that game for about another hour, until he let me catch him. By that time he was panting and sweaty all over. He then was tied to the patience pole for a few hours to think about what he did. I think he learned his lesson because that same horse has never ran from me again! He runs TO me now in fact lol. Whether its because he remembers that day or because I always have treats! It sounds harsh, but I did give him several chances to be caught while on the 4 wheeler as well, but like I said. He wanted to run from me so I made him run! Never again. | |
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 Serious Snap Trapper
Posts: 4275
Location: In The Snow, AZ | AQHA sent out a DVD a while back, then wanted everyone to pay for it. Which didn't work too well in their favor....
ANYHOW, there was a portion on "hard to catch horses". It basically says, don't ever chase your horse down. Walk casually toward them, look at the ground or somewhere else. Walk calmly. If the horse decides to run off, walk quickly towards their shoulder, no matter how fast or which direction. Just walk aggressively towards the shoulder. When the horse quits moving, go back to casually walking towards them, looking at the ground, nonchalantly. If they take off again, repeat the aggressive, assertive walk towards the shoulder. When they stop, you relax again. Eventually, running isn't so fun when you aren't pursuing in the same manner. Halter, give a treat, and reward.
The first couple of times will take a while. But gradually gets better.
My ponies are on 3 or so acres and used to run off. Even now, they will act like they're going to, but realize it's no fun.
good luck. | |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 912
Location: Alabama | Kay-DRacing. - 2016-05-18 3:24 PM
Do you have a 4 wheeler? Ive done that for over an hour because I was determined like it sounds you are as well. Once I was soaked and sweaty from head to toe from trying to catch him on foot, I resorted to the 4 wheeler. He wanted to run, so I made him run! We played that game for about another hour, until he let me catch him. By that time he was panting and sweaty all over. He then was tied to the patience pole for a few hours to think about what he did. I think he learned his lesson because that same horse has never ran from me again! He runs TO me now in fact lol. Whether its because he remembers that day or because I always have treats! It sounds harsh, but I did give him several chances to be caught while on the 4 wheeler as well, but like I said. He wanted to run from me so I made him run! Never again.
I have done this exact same thing on several different horses with similar results. I can't stand to have to beg a horse to let me catch it. I have a mother daughter pair now that have to be "approached" correctly to catch them. Meaning you can't just march up to them and sling a halter on. But they don't run from me either.
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 A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | merdth6 - 2016-05-18 3:10 PM Any advice on a hard to catch horse. I've done lots of Clinton Anderson round penning and this horse just doesn't improve. If I have her in the round pen she will come to me, but as soon as I turn her back out into the pasture all that trianing goes right out the window. She is kinda flighty already and I've done tons of desensitizing. I'm ready to just make a small run for her and keep her in that. It's taking almost an hour to catch her and when I do I have to open the round pen and catch her in there.
It sounds like every time you catch her it's all work for her, reward her and let her know its not all work, brush her, give her a bath maybe some treats here and there, dont work her every time you want to catch her. | |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 575
| I've got a mare on a breed lease who had a rough past and she just doesn't like people anymore, although I can't say I blame her. She had been round penned into the ground, so out in the pasture when she turns to trot away from me, I'll get behind her hip and ask her to move away from me for a few strides, then move my body and ask her to stop. She had been round penned SO much, that she understands and respects what I'm asking of her, even if she doesn't like me and doesn't want to be caught. Occasionally it will take a couple times of moving her and then asking her to stop so I can catch her, but after discovering that, I haven't had to really CHASE her in months.
I should add (just for information's sake) that the girl I'm leasing her from is her second owner, and they treat her fabulously. It was her first owner who soured her on people :) | |
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Expert
Posts: 2335
Location: IL | CE's wrapn3 - 2016-05-18 3:13 PM Is she afraid or being an ahole?
Tricky question...LOL she does seem a little scared but also an ahole!! She is very smart. I'm not one to beg a horse with treats, I've always been you want to run, then lets run. She is very persistant though and I'm getting too old for this ****! LOL I will even get the other horses caught thinking she will be easier, but it isn't. | |
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Expert
Posts: 2335
Location: IL | Southtxponygirl - 2016-05-18 3:30 PM merdth6 - 2016-05-18 3:10 PM Any advice on a hard to catch horse. I've done lots of Clinton Anderson round penning and this horse just doesn't improve. If I have her in the round pen she will come to me, but as soon as I turn her back out into the pasture all that trianing goes right out the window. She is kinda flighty already and I've done tons of desensitizing. I'm ready to just make a small run for her and keep her in that. It's taking almost an hour to catch her and when I do I have to open the round pen and catch her in there. It sounds like every time you catch her it's all work for her, reward her and let her know its not all work, brush her, give her a bath maybe some treats here and there, dont work her every time you want to catch her.
I have thought of this too. | |
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 Expert
Posts: 2674
Location: Silver Lake, MN | I have one like this. He is kept alone, and he comes in for grain both morning and night so he has gotten where he will meet me at the gate. I do ride 5-6 days a week but I grain first so he associates coming in with that. He gets lots of loves and when I turn him out I take my time and hang out with him a bit before letting him loose. Thankfully he is very food motivated. I don't have him in a huge pasture either. And if I need to leave early one day he spends the night in the stall so I don't have to worry about it.
I've also used the 4 wheeler option on some really bad ones and that also has worked. | |
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A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | merdth6 - 2016-05-18 3:49 PM Southtxponygirl - 2016-05-18 3:30 PM merdth6 - 2016-05-18 3:10 PM Any advice on a hard to catch horse. I've done lots of Clinton Anderson round penning and this horse just doesn't improve. If I have her in the round pen she will come to me, but as soon as I turn her back out into the pasture all that trianing goes right out the window. She is kinda flighty already and I've done tons of desensitizing. I'm ready to just make a small run for her and keep her in that. It's taking almost an hour to catch her and when I do I have to open the round pen and catch her in there. It sounds like every time you catch her it's all work for her, reward her and let her know its not all work, brush her, give her a bath maybe some treats here and there, dont work her every time you want to catch her.
My horses are kept in their own pens at night, but they get turned out during the day. Lots of times I just go and catch them a little early and tied them and just brush maybe give a bath to one of them, just let them hang out befor I feed in the evenings. I got a gelding 3 years ago, when he got to go out to pasture its like no way am I going to let you catch me, lol, butthead, but after we got the routine set of him getting to go out and come in in the evenings, hes always the first at the gate and sometimes 2 to 3 hours early when he sees me out in the yard. | |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1079
Location: MN | Sockittoemred - 2016-05-18 4:30 PM Kay-DRacing. - 2016-05-18 3:24 PM Do you have a 4 wheeler? Ive done that for over an hour because I was determined like it sounds you are as well. Once I was soaked and sweaty from head to toe from trying to catch him on foot, I resorted to the 4 wheeler. He wanted to run, so I made him run! We played that game for about another hour, until he let me catch him. By that time he was panting and sweaty all over. He then was tied to the patience pole for a few hours to think about what he did. I think he learned his lesson because that same horse has never ran from me again! He runs TO me now in fact lol. Whether its because he remembers that day or because I always have treats! It sounds harsh, but I did give him several chances to be caught while on the 4 wheeler as well, but like I said. He wanted to run from me so I made him run! Never again. I have done this exact same thing on several different horses with similar results. I can't stand to have to beg a horse to let me catch it. I have a mother daughter pair now that have to be "approached" correctly to catch them. Meaning you can't just march up to them and sling a halter on. But they don't run from me either.
I SWEAR by a good patience pole. I used to have some horses you couldnt look in the eye or walk in a staight line towards them or they wouldnt let you catch them. The forwheeler broke that habit too! I refuse to single out a horse because they are hard to catch. Dont have time for that! | |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 678
Location: Canada | Kay-DRacing. - 2016-05-18 3:24 PM
Do you have a 4 wheeler? Ive done that for over an hour because I was determined like it sounds you are as well. Once I was soaked and sweaty from head to toe from trying to catch him on foot, I resorted to the 4 wheeler. He wanted to run, so I made him run! We played that game for about another hour, until he let me catch him. By that time he was panting and sweaty all over. He then was tied to the patience pole for a few hours to think about what he did. I think he learned his lesson because that same horse has never ran from me again! He runs TO me now in fact lol. Whether its because he remembers that day or because I always have treats! It sounds harsh, but I did give him several chances to be caught while on the 4 wheeler as well, but like I said. He wanted to run from me so I made him run! Never again.
I also did that to my hard to catch gelding. After trying so many times to try to catch him I finally got frustrated and got the four wheeler and worked that horse. Once I caught him I rode him for another hour. He was darn tired at the end but he learned his lesson. Now occasionally he will move away from me but if I stop and give him the "stare" he will stop and let me halter him without a fuss. | |
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Expert
Posts: 2335
Location: IL | Kay-DRacing. - 2016-05-18 4:12 PM Sockittoemred - 2016-05-18 4:30 PM Kay-DRacing. - 2016-05-18 3:24 PM Do you have a 4 wheeler? Ive done that for over an hour because I was determined like it sounds you are as well. Once I was soaked and sweaty from head to toe from trying to catch him on foot, I resorted to the 4 wheeler. He wanted to run, so I made him run! We played that game for about another hour, until he let me catch him. By that time he was panting and sweaty all over. He then was tied to the patience pole for a few hours to think about what he did. I think he learned his lesson because that same horse has never ran from me again! He runs TO me now in fact lol. Whether its because he remembers that day or because I always have treats! It sounds harsh, but I did give him several chances to be caught while on the 4 wheeler as well, but like I said. He wanted to run from me so I made him run! Never again. I have done this exact same thing on several different horses with similar results. I can't stand to have to beg a horse to let me catch it. I have a mother daughter pair now that have to be "approached" correctly to catch them. Meaning you can't just march up to them and sling a halter on. But they don't run from me either.
She gets stand tied all the time. I'm a big believer on the patience pole..LOL She used to pull back being stand tied, but has gotten way better with that! Now its on to something new, like not wanting to be caught!! I learn new things everyday with my horses...LOL | |
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Expert
Posts: 2335
Location: IL | I don't own a 4 wheeler, but I will say the one day my husband and I ran her forever. She was dripping sweat and still would not come to us. I finally got the round pen opened up and we basically ran her in there, but she's getting smart about the round pen. I was afriad we were going to hurt her that day cause she was ran around so much. | |
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 Warrior Mom
Posts: 4400
| I'm so thankful none of mine are hard to catch, they usually meet me at the gate! I had a friend of mine, her hubby, told me they had an impossible horse to catch so he "rocked" him till he quit running away... I had know idea what that was till he explained it to me... he threw rocks at him lol! I'd never resort to that but apparently it worked cause the horse quit running away. Another friend of mine asked me to catch his horse and put him up for him one night, he was in a roundpen... I spent 45 minutes trying to catch that sob... I finally quit and just turned my back on him and after about 20 minutes he got curious enough to come see what I was doing and I was able to toss a rope around his neck.. ugh! | |
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The Advice Guru
Posts: 6419
| I caution using a 4 wheeler to run a horse as I sent one out to be trained he was never had to catch they used the 4 wheeler to run the horses in every day.
That horse would spook at 4 wheelers parked in the arena at barrel races.
When riding him outside if an ATV came by he lost his mind. I tired for the life of me to desensitize him, drove quads and bikes by nothing worked.
Hard to catch horses, I put them in with the easy to catch ones then will spend days out there running the hard to catch one around keeping from the others. When they stop just pet give crunchies then walk away. Then I mix it up sometimes catch, sometimes not | |
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Meanest Teacher!!!
Posts: 8552
Location: sunny california | I got a baby horse that did not want to be caught so I locked her in a stall and fed her dinner in there. then i would catch her and put her out with her firend all day and for breakfast. then i would put everyone up in the stalls and feed dinner. she did not get fed for almost two hours as everytime I went out to catch her she ran off. I just truned around and went inside and sipped tea. then tried again. she finally got tired of being the only one outside and let me catch her. I did this everyday for about a month and she got pretty easy to catch. I have done it with others that were older as well and it worked great | |
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 Take a Picture
Posts: 12838
| Mine get caught twice a day, put installs and fed. You don't get caught, you don't eat. I am not chasing a horse and this works with very little effort. Takes mine less than a week. I also catch mine and spray them with fly spray so they get caught regularly. | |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1079
Location: MN | RunNitroRun - 2016-05-18 5:12 PM Kay-DRacing. - 2016-05-18 3:24 PM Do you have a 4 wheeler? Ive done that for over an hour because I was determined like it sounds you are as well. Once I was soaked and sweaty from head to toe from trying to catch him on foot, I resorted to the 4 wheeler. He wanted to run, so I made him run! We played that game for about another hour, until he let me catch him. By that time he was panting and sweaty all over. He then was tied to the patience pole for a few hours to think about what he did. I think he learned his lesson because that same horse has never ran from me again! He runs TO me now in fact lol. Whether its because he remembers that day or because I always have treats! It sounds harsh, but I did give him several chances to be caught while on the 4 wheeler as well, but like I said. He wanted to run from me so I made him run! Never again. I also did that to my hard to catch gelding. After trying so many times to try to catch him I finally got frustrated and got the four wheeler and worked that horse. Once I caught him I rode him for another hour. He was darn tired at the end but he learned his lesson. Now occasionally he will move away from me but if I stop and give him the "stare" he will stop and let me halter him without a fuss.
Haha! Same here. Mine is out with 4 other geldings and I can be walking out with someone who is trying to catch theirs and they can be running away, he might look at them, but if i say his name kind of deeply and slow he'll walk right up to me then. Or he comes running to a whistle too! Hes very food driven though and knows I carry the good treats on me always  | |
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  Witty Enough
Posts: 2954
Location: CTX | Oh, I hate having to chase one. My old girl is kind of a turd, she sometimes will see me coming and walks away a couple of steps, then turns around and waits for me.... And now my gelding started doing that.... although he will walk away and after I gripe at him he will walk in a circle around me then stands and waits for me to catch him, so I can't be too upset.... it's like he wants to get caught, just doesn't want to seem to easy.... lol....
But he is also very nosy and very food oriented.... so it doesn't take too long for him to walk up to me....
Also, I usually feed them in their stalls before we go anywhere, so I don't have to chase them around....
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 629
Location: Roping pen | We cheat---use cow cake, some call them range cubes. Easy to put in your pockets and no bucket needed. | |
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Regular
Posts: 62
| I now board my horses at a new place and I love it. However they have two horses of their own that they do very little with. So now my paint who is always easy to catch became almost dangerous yesterday. I had the lead rope around him a few times and he took off. I penned him in a corner caught my other jerk mare and tried to catch him, he almost ran me over. NEVER EVER does he act like this. I had the halter all but tied on him and he took off. Talk about frustrating! I know what it is. Its their paint horse. He acts proud cut. He runs and gets everyone else to run, but then when I catch mine he tries to follow them out the gate and runs up and down the fence line whinnying like an idiot. I love the place out there but if it takes me over an hour to catch a horse and he makes mine act like to jackasses I am not sure it is even worth it. For now, mine are locked up in the round pen. I am hesitant to ever let them out. Mine are no angels but they have never acted like this. | |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 678
Location: Canada | RachelBeth* - 2016-05-20 10:44 AM
I now board my horses at a new place and I love it. However they have two horses of their own that they do very little with. So now my paint who is always easy to catch became almost dangerous yesterday. I had the lead rope around him a few times and he took off. I penned him in a corner caught my other jerk mare and tried to catch him, he almost ran me over. NEVER EVER does he act like this. I had the halter all but tied on him and he took off. Talk about frustrating! I know what it is. Its their paint horse. He acts proud cut. He runs and gets everyone else to run, but then when I catch mine he tries to follow them out the gate and runs up and down the fence line whinnying like an idiot. I love the place out there but if it takes me over an hour to catch a horse and he makes mine act like to jackasses I am not sure it is even worth it. For now, mine are locked up in the round pen. I am hesitant to ever let them out. Mine are no angels but they have never acted like this.
Be careful with this. A friend or ours years ago had two super nice horses that were very well trained, easy to catch and sweet as can be then they turned them out with their neighbors horses who were as wild as could be. Those horses were never handled and were almost dangerous to be in with. The two super sweet horses picked up those attitudes and became horrible to deal with in a short period of time. The one mare who was kid friendly before would try to bite and kick you. They ended up sending them to their trainer to straighten out and then kept them as far away from the neighbors horses as possible.
It was actually pretty amazing how much their attitude changed in just being with those other horses. | |
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 JMHO
Posts: 1869
Location: Oklahoma | I have a smartie butt horse that is going through this when I put her in the 10 acre pasture. I'm hoping she will learn that when I'd like to catch her and she runs it won't end with less work. Now... I have two other horses saddled and make sure I have time to get this done. I ask to catch her and if she runs off, I walk after her for maybe 4-5 minutes. Then I get the first saddled horse and a long rope and the chase is on. She runs untill the first horse I'm riding is ready for air- 20/30 minutes. Watch those hind feet, my mare will try to kick the crap out of the horse I'm on so I use the long rope to keep her loaping/running. Then I get off the first horse & try to catch her again. If she lets me get her great, we go for a ride, if not I go again on the second/fresh saddled horse. We run untill the second horse is ready for air, 20-30 minutes, not when she stops, she runs until I'm done. I offer to catch her and if she's willing then I'll saddle her up and go for a ride. If not I get on the first horse rested now and go again. We've done this three times now. The first two it took an hour. The last time she let me catch her after the first run. My broke horses love, love, love this game. Hopefully she will get better soon.
Edited by Dreamin of 3cans 2016-05-20 12:21 PM
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 Money Eating Baggage Owner
Posts: 9586
Location: Phoenix | Mine comes running when I call his name. =P But I do something different with him everyday and he likes me. I do have treats most times, but sometimes I don't. Sometimes I'll go all day without giving him a treat. But he is very food motivated. I try to keep his routine varied so he's eager to do something. Sometimes we roundpen, sometimes I chase him in the arena for exercise, sometimes we trail ride, work the pattern, rope the dummy in between exercising...and I'll just brush him and do his stretches too. When doing arena work, I can remove his bridle and he'll follow me around to cool out while I pick rocks. When turning him out, I also make it so that when I take his halter OFF he stands still until I pat him 2x on the neck and say "OK".
With your mare, I'd chase her around until she wants to approach you. That's the same concept as the roundpen. When you come to me, you can rest. Same thing when I chase him in the arena. Approaching very casually has also helped me with horses that are iffy to catch.
Edited by hammer_time 2016-05-20 12:27 PM
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Expert
Posts: 1694
Location: Willows, CA | Ray Hunt was a very good friend of mine. I started a lot of colts and worked a lot of horses with Ray over the years. I am no Ray Hunt. But, I am usually pretty darn good at teaching a horse to be caught, load in the trailer, and stay focused. That said, we had a great cutting horse that was a challenge to catch until the day he passed away at the age of 31. When we bought him the cutting horse trainer Tom Long said that this is a great cutting horse, but he has his own set of rules on the ground. I was younger and confident that I could get just about any horse over those kinds of issues, because I always had. Boy, was I wrong. That horses issues were fear. No matter how you work with them, some just never get over that. He knew he was going to get caught, but just could not let it happen right away. When he finally did stand and face up to be caught his muscles were hard as a rock while you put a halter on him. He could not have been better to ride or show. We won about $50k on him in the cutting pen. Fear and lack of training are really two different things. If fear is the issue with this horse you will need to work around that, and will likely not get the horse over it completely. | |
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 Own It and Move On
Location: The edge of no where | I have no issue with bribing them a bit to catch if need be. I generally have a treat or 2 in my pockets and will regularly go up to them and just give a belly scratch and some treats. Might catch them just to brush them off and fly spray. It's not always work if I catch them. We catch some to put in pens to feed....just get your hands on them more often. I know some people aren't in favor of using treats or grain...............but I'm not much on not being able to walk right up to every horse on the place or better yet just whistle and have them come to me. Maybe it's lazy, but it works for me. It never takes me long to get a new horse used to the routine. | |
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Own It and Move On
Location: The edge of no where | merdth6 - 2016-05-18 4:19 PM I don't own a 4 wheeler, but I will say the one day my husband and I ran her forever. She was dripping sweat and still would not come to us. I finally got the round pen opened up and we basically ran her in there, but she's getting smart about the round pen. I was afriad we were going to hurt her that day cause she was ran around so much.
All I've ever seen this method do is get them super smart about not going into traps. You'll get by with it a time or two....but it doesn't fix anything. | |
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Regular
Posts: 62
| RunNitroRun - 2016-05-20 11:32 AM
RachelBeth* - 2016-05-20 10:44 AM
I now board my horses at a new place and I love it. However they have two horses of their own that they do very little with. So now my paint who is always easy to catch became almost dangerous yesterday. I had the lead rope around him a few times and he took off. I penned him in a corner caught my other jerk mare and tried to catch him, he almost ran me over. NEVER EVER does he act like this. I had the halter all but tied on him and he took off. Talk about frustrating! I know what it is. Its their paint horse. He acts proud cut. He runs and gets everyone else to run, but then when I catch mine he tries to follow them out the gate and runs up and down the fence line whinnying like an idiot. I love the place out there but if it takes me over an hour to catch a horse and he makes mine act like to jackasses I am not sure it is even worth it. For now, mine are locked up in the round pen. I am hesitant to ever let them out. Mine are no angels but they have never acted like this.
Be careful with this. A friend or ours years ago had two super nice horses that were very well trained, easy to catch and sweet as can be then they turned them out with their neighbors horses who were as wild as could be. Those horses were never handled and were almost dangerous to be in with. The two super sweet horses picked up those attitudes and became horrible to deal with in a short period of time. The one mare who was kid friendly before would try to bite and kick you. They ended up sending them to their trainer to straighten out and then kept them as far away from the neighbors horses as possible.
It was actually pretty amazing how much their attitude changed in just being with those other horses.
I still have a couple horses out in my old pasture I am definitely thinking just going back there with all of them. I took my mare out of the situation but now have a whole new issue. It may cost me more in money but I spent over an hour trying to catch mine and my paint was flat out dangerous. It finally took both my boyfriend and I to catch him. They are in the round pen now but I know I can't keep them there forever. And yes my horses were punished for acting like jackasses! | |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 999
Location: Sunny So Cal | streakysox - 2016-05-18 5:23 PM Mine get caught twice a day, put installs and fed. You don't get caught, you don't eat. I am not chasing a horse and this works with very little effort. Takes mine less than a week. I also catch mine and spray them with fly spray so they get caught regularly.
This!!  Mine was running to me within a day because he was hungry. | |
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 Three in a Bikini
Posts: 2035
| I make any time they spend running away from me extremely unpleasant.
However, it sounds like you have already tried that angle sooooo...
Treats?!
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The Advice Guru
Posts: 6419
| RachelBeth* - 2016-05-20 3:22 PM
RunNitroRun - 2016-05-20 11:32 AM
RachelBeth* - 2016-05-20 10:44 AM
I now board my horses at a new place and I love it. However they have two horses of their own that they do very little with. So now my paint who is always easy to catch became almost dangerous yesterday. I had the lead rope around him a few times and he took off. I penned him in a corner caught my other jerk mare and tried to catch him, he almost ran me over. NEVER EVER does he act like this. I had the halter all but tied on him and he took off. Talk about frustrating! I know what it is. Its their paint horse. He acts proud cut. He runs and gets everyone else to run, but then when I catch mine he tries to follow them out the gate and runs up and down the fence line whinnying like an idiot. I love the place out there but if it takes me over an hour to catch a horse and he makes mine act like to jackasses I am not sure it is even worth it. For now, mine are locked up in the round pen. I am hesitant to ever let them out. Mine are no angels but they have never acted like this.
Be careful with this. A friend or ours years ago had two super nice horses that were very well trained, easy to catch and sweet as can be then they turned them out with their neighbors horses who were as wild as could be. Those horses were never handled and were almost dangerous to be in with. The two super sweet horses picked up those attitudes and became horrible to deal with in a short period of time. The one mare who was kid friendly before would try to bite and kick you. They ended up sending them to their trainer to straighten out and then kept them as far away from the neighbors horses as possible.
It was actually pretty amazing how much their attitude changed in just being with those other horses.
I still have a couple horses out in my old pasture I am definitely thinking just going back there with all of them. I took my mare out of the situation but now have a whole new issue. It may cost me more in money but I spent over an hour trying to catch mine and my paint was flat out dangerous. It finally took both my boyfriend and I to catch him. They are in the round pen now but I know I can't keep them there forever. And yes my horses were punished for acting like jackasses!
When are you punishing them?
I am also a Ray Hunt fan, and there are a few things that stuck with me from his clinics. Pat parelli, not a fan of his, but he does have some good points about catching horses.
This will be long but bear with it.
When a horse is being hard to catch, one must ask why,
Is it fear,
Is it dread
Is it disrespect
Horses memories are short term for the most part. If you run the horse around for awhile catch the horse, then displine it, it will relate the displine with you catching the horse, not the running around the pen for hours on end.
This also goes for what you do with the horse after, if you horse is hard to catch, and you go ride the legs off of him, he isnt going to want to be caught again as he is relating the catching with negativity.
This is not something you can fix overnight, it may take you months.
One thing I loved about Ray hunt is he said when catching a horse, it has to be YOU who catches the horse you cannot tag team or use a quad, you must put in the same effort as the horse, this is how you gain respect. Honestly it does work.
Pat Parelli says the same thing in a different way, he says you need to become the boss, you need to demand the respect of the horse. I like how he goes into how to approach a horse, never walk in a straight line, always do circles, keep hands closed, turn your back to the horse before changing directions, stop when the horse is beginning to tense up, rest one of your feet, sigh, smack your lips (sounds funny) you are trying to mimic the horses behaviour. Pats way works really well on fearful horses. If the horse turns his but to you, you chase as it is a sign of disrespect.
You need to know how to read a horse, a horse will drop his head, lick his lips when he is thinking about giving in, at this time you need to take off all pressure on the horse and let him stop, give him time to think, then try and approach, if his head goes back up and he starts running away this is when you apply the pressure again.
You will need to do this many times before it gets easier, and you need to reward the horse by not making them work after. Catch him, lead him a few steps, then take the halter off. Catch him feed him grain, then kick him out. Do this a few times a day, never let the horse winm change up what you do to him when he is caught.
It does work, but it only works as well as the effort you put in to it. | |
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| merdth6 - 2016-05-18 3:10 PM
Any advice on a hard to catch horse. I've done lots of Clinton Anderson round penning and this horse just doesn't improve. If I have her in the round pen she will come to me, but as soon as I turn her back out into the pasture all that trianing goes right out the window. She is kinda flighty already and I've done tons of desensitizing. I'm ready to just make a small run for her and keep her in that. It's taking almost an hour to catch her and when I do I have to open the round pen and catch her in there.
Stop nagging the horse and bucket train while you give your best holler to bring horses in to be fed. Let them eat out of the bucket without making any attempt to catch them for several days//times .. once they settle down and are comfortable munching .... get a hold on the neck band and just pet and let horse munch ... walk away and if they follow give'm another big munch and petting time ... no riding ... let them want to come to you since you are the one with the bucket .. lol
At the same time put a broodmare neck band on the hard to catch horse .. I do all of mine from long yearlings to old broodmares ... horse has a sense of being caught if wearing it ... due to just petting the horse and getting a sneaky hold on the neck band and not allowing them to move away until you decide to pet another one while holding the neck band. No grabbing .. just be natural about it ..
I bucket train everything and have a certain call I use to bring them at feeding time ... I teach this call while they are being fed and eating .... they pick it up quickly ...
This also a safety thingy ... if horses get out and you can get one to come to the bucket by answering your holler and get caught by their neck band ... you can get the whole bunch to follow you and the one caught back to the hole in the fence ..
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 "Hottie"
Posts: 1373
Location: Okemah,OK | Mine are all addicted to peppermint candy..... They will come running to the sound of plastic wrappers being opened. I give them one when I catch them, after a run, after a workout and at random times. If my car stops while driving by their fence, they come flying to it because they know I keep peppermints in my car too. My husband used to make fun of me until I needed one caught quickly.... Shook that plastic bag full of mints and he couldn't get there fast enough. | |
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Regular
Posts: 62
| cheryl makofka - 2016-05-21 12:51 PM
RachelBeth* - 2016-05-20 3:22 PM
RunNitroRun - 2016-05-20 11:32 AM
RachelBeth* - 2016-05-20 10:44 AM
I now board my horses at a new place and I love it. However they have two horses of their own that they do very little with. So now my paint who is always easy to catch became almost dangerous yesterday. I had the lead rope around him a few times and he took off. I penned him in a corner caught my other jerk mare and tried to catch him, he almost ran me over. NEVER EVER does he act like this. I had the halter all but tied on him and he took off. Talk about frustrating! I know what it is. Its their paint horse. He acts proud cut. He runs and gets everyone else to run, but then when I catch mine he tries to follow them out the gate and runs up and down the fence line whinnying like an idiot. I love the place out there but if it takes me over an hour to catch a horse and he makes mine act like to jackasses I am not sure it is even worth it. For now, mine are locked up in the round pen. I am hesitant to ever let them out. Mine are no angels but they have never acted like this.
Be careful with this. A friend or ours years ago had two super nice horses that were very well trained, easy to catch and sweet as can be then they turned them out with their neighbors horses who were as wild as could be. Those horses were never handled and were almost dangerous to be in with. The two super sweet horses picked up those attitudes and became horrible to deal with in a short period of time. The one mare who was kid friendly before would try to bite and kick you. They ended up sending them to their trainer to straighten out and then kept them as far away from the neighbors horses as possible.
It was actually pretty amazing how much their attitude changed in just being with those other horses.
I still have a couple horses out in my old pasture I am definitely thinking just going back there with all of them. I took my mare out of the situation but now have a whole new issue. It may cost me more in money but I spent over an hour trying to catch mine and my paint was flat out dangerous. It finally took both my boyfriend and I to catch him. They are in the round pen now but I know I can't keep them there forever. And yes my horses were punished for acting like jackasses!
When are you punishing them?
I am also a Ray Hunt fan, and there are a few things that stuck with me from his clinics. Pat parelli, not a fan of his, but he does have some good points about catching horses.
This will be long but bear with it.
When a horse is being hard to catch, one must ask why,
Is it fear,
Is it dread
Is it disrespect
Horses memories are short term for the most part. If you run the horse around for awhile catch the horse, then displine it, it will relate the displine with you catching the horse, not the running around the pen for hours on end.
This also goes for what you do with the horse after, if you horse is hard to catch, and you go ride the legs off of him, he isnt going to want to be caught again as he is relating the catching with negativity.
This is not something you can fix overnight, it may take you months.
One thing I loved about Ray hunt is he said when catching a horse, it has to be YOU who catches the horse you cannot tag team or use a quad, you must put in the same effort as the horse, this is how you gain respect. Honestly it does work.
Pat Parelli says the same thing in a different way, he says you need to become the boss, you need to demand the respect of the horse. I like how he goes into how to approach a horse, never walk in a straight line, always do circles, keep hands closed, turn your back to the horse before changing directions, stop when the horse is beginning to tense up, rest one of your feet, sigh, smack your lips (sounds funny ) you are trying to mimic the horses behaviour. Pats way works really well on fearful horses. If the horse turns his but to you, you chase as it is a sign of disrespect.
You need to know how to read a horse, a horse will drop his head, lick his lips when he is thinking about giving in, at this time you need to take off all pressure on the horse and let him stop, give him time to think, then try and approach, if his head goes back up and he starts running away this is when you apply the pressure again.
You will need to do this many times before it gets easier, and you need to reward the horse by not making them work after. Catch him, lead him a few steps, then take the halter off. Catch him feed him grain, then kick him out. Do this a few times a day, never let the horse winm change up what you do to him when he is caught.
It does work, but it only works as well as the effort you put in to it.
I appreciate the great advice. They have never acted this way before. My paint will walk up to me and want to go. I catch them all the time to just brush and fly spray them or maybe just go on an easy ride. Very out of character for him. My filly however may be a different story. I will definitely try these techniques next time. It is great advice! Thank you! | |
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Hard to catch horse