Ok -
this is an ongoing problem. I'm sorry for the length- unfortunately i think this is a case of him disrespecting me- but i also think it is how i handle the situation. When i'm calm and not in a rush he is very easy to catch. Also- no-one else can catch him!


Please help me. I’m having some big problems with my horse- he’s had a fairly rough start, and doesn’t particularly trust people, and I am trying everything to try and catch him.

A bit of history:
Benjamin Leeroy is a 4yr old ASHXTB gelding. He was unhandled before he was 4, and was then asked to be broken in for a duration of two weeks. He is good under saddle, and once caught is very docile and respectful. He is quiet a nervy horse- and unfortunately, is very good at reading body language. As he is my first horse, and I haven’t had much experience as a “horsewomen” I am constantly learning how to do things from him. I’ve only owned him for 4 months.

My issue arises when he has to be caught. He only lets me catch him, when HE feels like it. I’ve tried dominating him which involved the join-up method. The problem is, he needs trust. He is a fairly dominant horse, and as such if convinced if something is his idea- he is more than happy to do it. However, he won’t let anyone else catch him. Most days, when I have a few hours to spare and I’m not in a rush, he will walk up to me in the paddock, have a scratch and I can put the halter on with no fuss. Other days he will circle me and the feed bucket for several minutes before letting me touch him. However, days when I am in a rush and need to catch him quickly to put on his rugs etc he will either:

a) Turn his bum to me and walk off. To which I hold up his feed bucket, follow him patiently until he turns and faces me. Then I approach him, giving him a handful of feed when he allows me to touch him. Today, when I touched him and put the rope around his neck he reared up and ripped the rope from my hands and then trotted off. Needless to say, he has now spent the night with no rugs (it’s 5 degrees) and no dinner. Given that i only tried for 10 minutes, if i had waited it out for another 10 i would have caught him.

b) He walks away and has absolutely no interest in me. I can stand there calling, or turn my back and ignore him for 10 minutes. The ignoring works- but it is time consuming. He will then walk up behind me, strike the ground a few times before walking around into my space and let me catch him.

c) he won't approach me but will wait in the far corner of the paddock- stand there, allow me to stroke him, but then refuses to follow me back to his feed. This has only started being a recent habit.

d) he is very finicky with being touched on the face. I think the last guy used to lunge at his rug around his neck to catch him, and hence, he is usually fairly resentful to being caught.


None of my friends can catch him. When he sees someone who he doesn’t know try to catch him- you can bet your dollar Benjamin is galloping around the paddock. If people get frustrated or angry with him- he WILL not under any cases be caught. I've had to corner him several times with other people. After this experience- we go backwards again and i will struggle to catch him AT all for several days. I try and avoid this method.

If I don’t have a feedbucket he won’t come near me or let me catch him. I can do this in a roundyard with no problem. He can tell from a kilometre away if I am nervous or in a hurry and then things go belly up.

What I’ve tried:

a) Making being caught a fun experience. I take him for walks where he grazes. He is given treats, rug changes etc. Being caught doesn't always = work

b) When he ignores me, I turn my back. I waited 20 minutes the other day before I could catch him.

c) I’ve been working on my body language- being completely blank. I don’t have any purposes when I enter his paddock. Any slight deviation from this ‘calmness’, he will not be caught.

Please, any ideas?

thanks

He is a lot like my boy Chance. Chance would actually turn and run from just about any one beside my other half or I. A lot of it is fear or distrust of humans. Him turning his hind end to you is total disrespect. You might want to check out the links to articles listed on Myhorse.com 's website. You'll find some valuable information there to help. Both of these articles helped me with Chance. I included in the link for the article on ground maners because it adresses the horse refusing to turn around to be haltered.

Halter a Hard-to-Catch Horse | MyHorse.com

Perfect Ground Manners | MyHorse.com

My boyfriend's cow horse is like this. I HATE IT. He is the boss in the pasture and only accepts being caught on his terms. To make along story short, what has worked for him is to acknowlage him first whenever we go into the pasture for anything. If we go to catch another horse or to feed or water, whatever, if Pistol comes up he gets a good scratch and a treat if i have one. This way he is not being caught everytime he sees us and we usually mean something good to him. This maybe a little too deep but i think it also acknowlages his place as boss horse and makes him a less resentful when we play with others in the herd.

Thnks! i read both of those articles! the one in the paddock is a good idea- i have tried that at length with ben- unfortunately he seems to take it as a habitual idea, and will insist on running around every time before getting caught.
I've tried the friendship way- it's working... 8/10 times. but yes, he is disrespectful.
probally makes it hard atm, as i'm in a leg brace from my hip to my ankle and he is in a 1acre paddock. I'm not very agile, so chasing him is not a very practical means.

*sigh* horses.

Of late, he walks up to me in the paddock, lets me stroke his forehead and nose (becase he knows i can't catch him there), and then when i move to his side or his cheek, he leans out or takes a step sideways. This happens three or four times (and he gets a reward when he lets me touch him there) but it still happens EVERY day.

It almost sounds as if some one trained him to move away when they went to approach his side or he's nervous about what you're going to do. One thing you might want to try, just be careful where you're in a brace, would be to invest in some type of "carrot stick" (as parelli would call it - for lack of a better word) or you can make your own out of a dowell with some thick cotton string. Where he won't let you approach him on the side take the stick and start on his shoulder and gently rub with it. Remember to use the stick as an extension of your own arm. Rub a few times then stop and praise, repeat.

My Haflinger, Punk, wasn't hard to catch but he had absolutely no ground manners when I bought him. He also had been left alone for 3 years with no real contact with humans other than feeding time and cleaning up after him. He still has his moments when he doesn't know what to think of the attention he gets from the 6 of us (my mom, dad, daughter, son, other half, and myself for the most part) It takes time and a lot of patience. Don't give up and count every small step as an accomplishment, no matter how small. Him coming over to you and allowing you to scratch him is great. You might want to bring a curry (or groming mit) with you next time you go to see him. This way when you go to scratch the brush will help with finding itchy spots - to some horses scratching those itches can help with them wanting to be caught or be in your company. Hope this helps and keep us posted.

it is fear when someone goes to touch him there- i think it may be because the agistment owner at the last place used to lunge for his neck rug to grab him.

i'll give that a go as well- except generally anything that resembles a whip or rope is scary. Even though we have been desensitised endlessly.

i'll keep you posted!
thanks for your help!

Ohh that means he is afraid, try to be his friend and then try to catch him.

Hi everyone! thought i'd post that i'd finally got results with catching my pony. I found he thinks it's just a game, so whenever he moved away whe i tried to touch him, i sent him away with my hands. It took him a few times until he worked it out that if he tried to move, he got sent away from me, and i made him move around the paddock.
Now- i can catch him without food or treats in a big paddock with other horses. Although, he will always move away when approached, i make him move, and then he stands still. The idea that 'if i run away i will have to do more work' seems to run true for him, and he seems to grasp the idea pretty well.

It's going so well that now my friends can go into the paddock and catch him easily. Thanks for all the ideas- and hopefully if someone else is having troubles, this might help them out.

Great! Glad it all worked out! Thats a great solution!