Ok, here is a 2 for 1 questions. Our mustang was previously very good about being caught and about having his head and ears messed with. A few weeks ago, he and our mare were able to get into the neighbor's field (thanks neighbor) and came back covered in burrs. Our mare was a breeze to brush out, tho she is missing quite a bit of her mane and tail now, but our gelding was an absolute beast. We got most out of his mane but he won't let us work on his tail (hasn't kicked yet but he was thinking about it) and the worst is that he has burrs stuck in the hair inside his ears. Everytime you reach for the top of his head, he jerks his head up and pins his ears back, wide eyed, ready for a battle. Now, if he sees us walk out with the lead rope in hand, he bolts and will not come up to us. It is getting frustrating. We have only had him for a few months and he is not broke to ride but was very handleable and sweet until now. He still has burrs all over in his tail and ears and I am getting frustrated and he knows it. Oh and he is not a typical mustang. He is over 16 hands and looks more like a draft (wears a draft halter on that huge hard head of his). I am all of 5 ft tall and when he throws his head up, there isn't a whole lot I can do to reach his ears.

Any ideas? Darcy

The best advice I can give you so there is not a battle with bad habits learned, Is call your vet and see if they can come out and give him a sedative. Those burrs are painful to remove. I had a mare get into them one winter and it took me hour and hours to get them out the only advantage that I had was she was a little mare. At least with the sedative it may slow him down enough that hopefully no one will get hurt. and he won't care as much.

Hope this helps

I don't normally recommend using drugs but some times you need that little extra help.

I would talk to your vet about getting those burrs out of his ears. That would be painful. About him being hard to catch...Try going out there without the halter or lead rope. Just go out and try to buddy up with him again. I don't know if your one of those people who do treats or not. But if you do, try to give him one everytime he comes up to you. Without you having anything to catch him with. If you don't do treats then when he does come up to you, make sure you prase him very well for it. And just play with him. Don't try to catch him, or try to pick all the burrs out of him. Just buddy with him a few times, and then try to catch him later on. And even when you do catch him again that first time, just brush him or something, don't try to take the burrs out yet. That way you don't lose that buddy thing again.

I agree with the suggestion that when you catch him you should just give him a treat and love on him for a while, than let him go. That way he will stop thinking that you are going to pull burs out of his ears every time he lets you catch him! Also, do you have a small pen (about 60' in diameter)? It sounds like this horse would be a great candidate for round pen training. When I started mustangs under saddle in WY we always used the round pen to gain their trust and teach them to be caught, as well as to accept the saddle and rider for the first time. Ken McNabb sells a great DVD called Round Pen Basics, most of the other "natural horsemen" out there have videos on it as well. (www.kenmcnabb.com)
I would also teach him to put his head down on cue so you can get him to lower it back within your reach when he does throw it up in the air. Put gentle downward pressure on the lead rope and hold it until your horse puts his head down, even a fraction of an inch. As soon as he does, release the rope and reward him. Practice this again and again until he will put his head all the way to the ground for you. If he throws his head up against the pressure at first, just hold steady, neither increasing or decreasing the pressure, until he brings his head back down. For more horse training info, check out www.horsetrainingquestions.com