How can I catch my horse

If you are one of those owners who owns a horse that has developed the idea that quality time spent involves the owner lovingly chasing after it whilst it playfully avoids being caught. We know your pain.

There is nothing more frustrating than having to wander after your horse in the attempt of catching it. Spending most of your time out in the paddock instead of out riding with friends.

However the correction of this is not as simple as we would like it to be. Placing a horse in a smaller paddock or leaving a halter on will not always make matters better, the same as locking a horse up in a stable could lead it to kicking.

The unwillingness to be caught is a vice the same as any other developed or acquired vices a horse may develop. It has a cause and often runs hand in hand with two other bad habits.
These being the likely hood of bolting and the unresponsive horse. It is very rarely that a well-behaved and responsive horse will run off when it is time to work.

We explored ways of correcting these problems as well as how to get your horse to be more willing to be caught.

A horse turning tail and heading for the far side of a paddock is the first warning that somewhere something in its basic training seriously went wrong. It now associates the human with bad or often painful experiences. The first step to take is to change your horses routine, no riding for a few days, place the horse on three meals a day (divide daily ration into three) and bring it in for lunch, it will soon enough realize that there is food involved. If needed take your horses' friend or companion in as well. This way your horse will not necessarily associate mid day captures with riding. Also capturing your horse mid morning and moving it to another pasture with "better" grazing will help, as your horse will not always associate being caught with work and punishment.

Learn too approach your horse with a less demanding front. Just walk up to it and spend some time with it, approach the shoulder and not the head. By showing your horse you are not out to get it every time you see it goes a long way to developing a relaxed relationship.

Most horses that run off know only frustration and often anger when they are finally caught. Show your horse you can be a nice person by taking it a snack and walking off. It will soon start looking out for you and often may even start following you. Horses want calm and confidant owners and riders.

Once the horse is more willing to be caught a handful of food in a manger will suffice in keeping it happy. (Bribery works)

Horses prone to being irritated or bolting off whilst ridden usually require a lot more work than a simple change of routine. Please do not confuse irritation under saddle with a hot horse. A hot horse is willing to work, it responds and will listen and conserve its energy for when it is needed. An irritated horse is unlikely to stand still or respond to aids when asked, an irritated horse will also run through aids and is less likely to balance itself or its rider. These two are often confused.

A bolting or irritated horse associates pain and punishment with work and therefore has no interest in responding positively to a riders aids. These horses require patience and experience. All to often they are bitted up in an attempt to slow them down when in fact they require the opposite. Bitted down and schooled with patience without a whip. These horses are often sold as horses for competent and experienced riders and often marketed cheaper than their actual worth.

Horses who do little or are unresponsive under saddle, and are difficult to catch are often overworked. They know there is work to be done and will avoid it at all costs. And when ridden will drag their toes or shuffle about. These horses require a change of workload or alternatively a holiday turned out in a pasture for a month or so with younger horses (visit him or her everyday with a treat) He or she needs to learn how to become a horse again. Its workload needs adjusting with some variation included.

Catching an unwilling horse often means working at eliminating the cause. And horses that are unwilling to be caught, have issues that need to be resolved, before positive results will be seen.