Many of us have had difficulty from time to time with catching a horse.
The horse may be wary of humans, may associate catching with work, or may
just be hyperactive and not feel like being caught. There are several
different directions in which to go.
First, however, be sure that you're not in a rush. You must take time to
work on catching him. Any time that you are feeling stressed, he will pick
that up; he'll be less likely to get close to you. Any time that you try
to catch him but do not manage to, you will set yourself back. Be sure
that you have plenty of time and are willing to be very patient. Now, on
to the tips for catching a horse:
Make being caught enjoyable for the horse.
I put this first because I feel that it is most important. Many horses
are only caught to be worked; such horses are likely to avoid being
caught, because being caught leads to unpleasantness.
Plan to spend other time with your horse. Show him that being caught is
not always a prelude to work. However you catch him, be sure that the
interaction is pleasant: catch him, give him a treat, let him go. Give
him several visits where you catch him and speak sweetly to him, give
him treats, groom him, and turn him out again. You must make an effort
to show him that you do not ALWAYS just get him out to go riding. Set
aside other plans for a while, and spend your time with him only
catching him and turning him back out again. Continue until he has
become easier to catch; once you are catching him with ease, you can
start thinking about working him again. Methods for actually catching
him are below.
Also think about your riding regimen. Is there anything that you do that
he likes? Can you find a way to give him obvious rewards when he does
well? If you can make riding more pleasant for him, he will likely be
more willing to participate. If he learns to enjoy being with you, he
will be much easier to catch. You may find that he even walks up to you
in the pasture, rather than running (or walking) away.
Make staying in the pasture just as much work as being
caught
When a horse does not want to be caught, he ends up controlling a lot of
your movements. When you have to chase him all over in order to
eventually catch him, he is making YOU move. You lose all control of the
situation; he's in charge.
You can change that. Watch him; when it looks like he's about to move,
get in there first: TELL him to move. Shake your halter & lead rope
at him, wave your arms, tell him "TER-ROT!" or "canTER!" Make it your
idea for him to be moving. By doing so, you take control of the
situation back into your hands. Granted, you don't have the "control"
that you want. You would like him to be caught. But if you can't catch
him, make sure that you are "in charge" anyway. If he doesn't want to be
caught because he doesn't want to work, well...he can work without being
caught. You can think of it as free-lunging in a *very* large arena
;)
This is yet another adaptation of the "join-up" method. By controlling
the horse's movements, you gradually take charge. Eventually, the horse
would prefer that he be caught rather than chased away. Often, the horse
will even walk up to you, when he is ready to stop. Sometimes just
running him around once will make him perfectly catchable for many more
times. With some horses, though, you have to repeat it several times
before he becomes easier to catch overall.
Remember, once he is easy to catch, be sure to make the experience a
pleasant one. Don't always catch him to ride him; spend quality, bonding
time with him on days when you don't ride. Your relationship will
improve and he will enjoy being with you much more.
Use quiet body language
When a dominant horse approaches a less dominant horse, he uses one of
two different body language styles.
The dominant horse walks directly toward the other; she looks
straight at the other, and moves with purpose. Ears are typically
half-back to flat back.
The purpose of this body language is to express dominance and to make
the other horse move away. The dominant horse is essentially saying,
"Get out of my way; stay out of my space." This is a very bossy and
demanding body language.
The dominant horse moves in quietly, ears floppy (not forward nor
back), neck down, not looking directly at the other horse.
This body language is expressing an invitation to the other horse to
stay in place. The dominant horse is moving into the space of the less
dominant horse, but is not demanding that the less dominant horse back
off. This is more of a companionable move, rather than a bossy one.
You'd like to be the dominant horse in the relationship. You have to
be either dominant or submissive; the horse needs you to either lead him
or follow him; for more discussion of this topic, see Partnership with your Horse. However, a
dominant horse approaching head-on and purposefully causes the other
horses to move back (or run away). Many horses have come to accept such
body language from people, but many also have not. Much of what we
consider open, honest body language is interpreted very differently by a
prey animal.
Once the horse is in a position where you think you
can approach him to catch him, you must change your mannerisms. To
approach the horse without chasing him off, use quiet body language.
Look away from him; point your face at the ground in front of you, or
even in the opposite direction from him. (You can flick your eyes toward
him to see what he is doing, but don't turn your head.) Move in a
zigzag, but never directly toward him.
If he gets tense, braces to run, or looks like he is going to move away,
stop. Freeze in place, turn well away from him. Kneel down and "graze"
(pick at the grass). Wait until he has relaxed before you move any
closer.
When you do come closer, move toward his shoulder, not his head. As you
come closer, he will likely turn his head away; wait for him to turn
back and acknowledge you before you turn to him or touch him. Horses
often play the "aloof" game; the horse who
is most distant and uninterested is the most dominant. If you are
more "aloof" than the horse--you wait for him to look at you--then you
are in a better position to catch him. He has acknowledged that he will
follow you--at least tentatively.
When you are beside his shoulder, and he has acknowledged you, continue
to move calmly and slowly, keeping "control" of the situation. If you
think he will not let you catch him, give him a treat and walk away. Be
very obvious; make it clear that it was your idea to leave. Try
not to let him move off first. This can be repeated several times in a
day.
If the horse seems reasonably calm, then slowly reach over and loop your
lead rope around his neck. With the lead rope in place, he is held
enough for you to put the halter on. Here again, the first few times you
should probably halter him, give him a treat, and then take the halter
off and move away. The more you are confident and in control of the
situation, the more cooperative he will be (and happy about it,
too).
After you have caught him and released him a few times, then you can
bring him in to groom him, give him a bath, something that he will
enjoy. Then release him into the field again; try to make sure that you
move away first, although you may have a tough time with it. If you show
him a treat before you remove his halter, he may pause long enough after
being loosed to take the treat. Then you can move away first.
When you are able to catch him reliably, you should be able to start
riding again. Be sure to intersperse riding with days when you catch him
but do not ride.
When I first got my two mares, we couldn't catch either without an hour
and a half long chase--or by tricking them by grabbing them while they
were eating. Neither of those methods put us in charge of the
situation, nor did those methods encourage the horses to trust us.
Because we worked to inspire trust and build a good relationship, we
now have horses who walk directly up to us when we show up in the
field. Usually they'll stick their noses into their halters willingly.
It's very pleasant to know that your horse enjoys spending time with
you.