How To Catch A Difficult Horse
There’s a few different factors that may vary the way you go about catching a horse. Such as the size of the paddock, the age and size of the horse and how much time you have to spend etc
One way is to section off their water with a temporary yard and when the horse is thirsty it has no choice but to go into the yard. This requires fencing and a lot of time on your hands.
Another way, especially with a young or small horse, such as a pony or foal, is to crouch down as you approach and offer feed. Horses being prey animals have the natural instinct of flight so by making yourself small you may eliminate some of their fear.
Also using reverse psychology by getting the horse interested enough to come forward and you backing off. The more you move away the more curious, especially if you have food, the horse may become and may follow you.
My way that I’ve used a number of times is to out do the horse. If it’s a large paddock you might need a motorbike/quad or a horse to ride to follow the other one. The other way is to do it on foot (and get fit ha ha!). The idea is to not give up. No matter how long it takes. If you give in, the horse has won and knows they can get away with running off. I will not give in and will keep following the horse until they finally give in. Each time you do this and persist, the horse soon realizes that they can’t win and soon learns just to stand there.
Sometimes it’s good to go out catch the horse even when you don’t need them just so they get used to being caught. Once you’ve got them give them a pat and carrot etc then let them go. Also, as when lunging, raising your hand and saying whoa or whey can teach the horse to obey that command and stop.
By continually following the horse and every time they stop you are still there approaching them is my proven way of catching any horse. It takes a little patience but is well worth it in the long run. It’s almost a game of who can out last the other! Don’t give in and soon you will have a horse who is easy to approach as they know better than to run away.
