Can't catch my horse?

Question

I live in CA and bought a 2 year old filly from MO. First thing I noticed is that when you walk up to her, unless you have hay or grain, she turns away and will not let you get near her head. I have tried walking after her in the pasture (2 hours later I gave up and will not do this again). Round penning her until she turns towards me (no matter how hard I work her she never turns towards me). I have spent hours of "quality time" with her in the pasture and she will let you come up and pet her. But first sight of a halter or rope and she is gone.

We had her in a small paddock for awhile but I cant leave her there forever. I have never had this problem this bad with a horse and now wonder if I will have to shoot her to catch her (just kidding).

She is not turning away as if she is scared - she is just not into people and does not like them. She will come right up if you have hay but if she sees a halter or rope she is gone. She is stubborn and crafty.

I am ready to give up and try to sell her as I don't want a horse like this. Any last ideas?????????????????

Answer 1

I had a little black mare like that.  Until I gained her trust she just would not let me catch her very easily.  I actually had a friend of mine round pen her for me and he got her to "join up" but it took an hour and a half, and even after that she was very reluctant.  I got to the point where I would use a specific whistle every time I fed her.  I would call her up to a small paddock to feed her, give her some grain, then try to put the halter on.  After I got the halter on, she got the rest of the grain. It took a while to be able to get her, but any time after that, any time I whistled she came running, regardless of where she was.

  If you have to, and this is kind of a last resort, leave a breakaway halter on her in your paddock with a short catch rope on it, about 2 feet long, so that when you get close enough to her with the grain, you can grab hold of the rope.  Just make sure it doesn't have any knots in the end of it so it won't get caught on something.

Answer 2

GIVE HER A CHANCE!

part arabians or abused horses are horses

that are usually like that! she might not of been

halter broken completely or her trainer did something

to her that scared her. you should get some one to

come and help you catch her. it some times helps to

corner her.. but can also make her buck. if you got her

you cant just give her up. horseback riding is tough, and

you have to work you *** off to be good. you and your

horse have to understand each other, you cant go out

to catch her and not want to do it your self. you have to

belive and so will she. you cant be scared or anything or

shell be scared too.

Answer 3

I bought a 2 year old Oldenburg last year. When he got off the trailer he was absolutely gorgeous, and with perfect manners. I put him in the small paddock with my oldest grandfathering horse. When it was time for dinner, my old man came in as usual and the colt would not let me near him. I got so frustrated after an hour of chasing after him that he spent the night alone outside. He was ready to come in on his own term. Anyway, the reason for me babbling on is that i finally got so mad a few weeks later that i just took a lung whip out with me and pushed him away from me. He stopped dead and looked at me like "what? you don't want me?" Surprised, I dropped the whip, and walked towards him. I got the closest i'd ever gotten to him and he ran away again. So i pushed him away from me. Long story short, it took a few tries and a few days but if you push him away from you and make him run. He'll figure out that if he wants to stop going and just chill, he'll let you catch him.

Answer 4

I don't have a lot of horse knowledge, but I'm learning from others, from reading, and from my personal experience.  Have you thought about leaving a halter on her in the pasture, at least till you can get her with no more problems ?  My horses had halters on all the time when I first got them.  For me it was a lot easier that way.  They don't anymore.  I can go out there now, whistle, my special whistle, and my 2 horses and a donkey come running.  I started to do it this way because they have free roam on 20 acres.  I call, they come. And I would give treats all the time. Some treats are just reg horse treats or cut apples, cut carrots,chunked fresh corn, and once in awhile ritz crackers (that's their favorite).  Now I can call and have no treats and they come.  I do this with feeding time also, twice daily.  If they are close I just walk up to them slip a rope around there neck and put the halter on.  I also just take them out sometimes just to walk with them in our yard and let them eat some grass, let them eat the spilled bird seed on the ground.  Most of the time (99%) my horses and the donkey will come up to me while I'm working out in the pasture or just strolling.  My neighbors, I'm sure think I'm nuts.  To me they are big puppy dogs.  I spoil em every chance I get.  This has worked for me for the past few years that I've had horses...

Sometimes a way to a horse is through their stomache...Just my experience.

Answer 5

Why not either leave the halter on her most of the time (if it's safe) so that way she won't see it "coming" in her direction.  Or just kinda hang out in her pen and ignore her and she'll eventually start coming to you to see what you're doing.  If you can, get your hands on a Marty Robinson (the horse whisperer) book.  He explains how to get a horse to come to you.  Good luck!  You've got a lot of work to do and if you follow Marty, you can't go wrong and you'll have one h**l of a horse!  

Answer 6

Can you hide the rope in your shirt or something? Then get it out as she is eating? I wouldn't try putting it on her at first - just hold it while she eats. Then after she will tolerate the sight of the rope, put it around her neck, then let he go. More treats. Put the rope around her neck again and more treats. You don't want to catch her at first, just have her accept the rope. I'd to this as many times a day as you can. Then graduate to a halter. Put it on and take it off with lots of treats, but don't take her in and make her work. Make getting caught a great thing that involves lots of treats, but no work until this idea is firmly established in her mind.  

Answer 7

It's a judgment call.  A horse like this needs more time.  If you don't want to give it, then you should get rid of her and find one more suitable for you.

Answer 8

my QH gelding does this although after a few minutes of him walking away from me he decides there's no point and stops.  Maybe putting a fly mask on her will help.  I have a fly mask on my horse and just walk out and grab it and he walks with me to the barn.  It sounds like she just needs attention and probably isn't used to much handling or having a halter on her head.  When you do eventually catch her, spend as much time with her as possible, this will help her cope with being handled.  Try working with her for atleast 20-30 minutes a day and after a few weeks catching her shouldn't be an issue at all.  Or try getting some grain in a bucket and shaking the bucket.  If she walks up to you to get grain put the bucket down and put the lead rope around her neck and wait for her to pick her head up and put the halter on.  I'm sure you've probably tried this but it took me about 2 months to get my QH to not bolt when he saw me coming.  She's young so it shouldn't take long. Just don't let her continue to form habits like this one because they'll be  much harder to fix down the road.

I hope this helped!!!

Answer 9

It's a game--that YOU started! Sounds like she's part Arabian. She's got lots to offer, if you give her the chance.

Answer 10

well,there could me a multitude of answers for the problem,but first and formost it sounds like no one has realy spent any time to this point socialising her.

SO you are going to have to start from that point - get her well socialised with everyone and everything...

dont go running to her,let her come to you - just go in and make her aware you are there and then just sit or stand and wait for her

Dont get frustrated, she is only 2 and you are going to have a lot of work to put into her...

if your not into all that work then it would be better to find her a suitable home and get yourself an older already expierienced horse.

try looking for a trainer that would be willing to come work with you a couple different times

Once again,you have a long road of work ahead of you and if your not into it,then find her a suitable home

Answer 11

This probly sounds like a broken record but try and socialize her more, everytime  you see her have a carrot or somthing and cut it up into pieces, if she comes to you give her a part, if she lets u pet her giv her another piece, if she lets you clip her halter giv her another piece, and if she doesnt fight to where ur trying to get her to go, giv her anothr piece, etc, hope this helps it did with my horse

Answer 12

Get a lead rope or a lunging whip and get her to run and keep her running until she opens and closes her mouth, when she does this (it could take up to 20 laps or more) drop the rope and turn your back to her. She should approach you and nudge you in the back or shoulder, then walk a few steps and she should follow. If you did saucesou have gained her trust :) this is called join up. Goodluck.

p.s just do it in the paddock shes in  

Answer 13

Have you tried Monty Roberts join up methods

Answer 14

try holding a bucket of grain and lay it on the ground and take a few steps back then when she comes up to eat it (be hidding the halter behind your back) and pet her so she knows that u wont hurt her then  gently slip the lead rope around her neck (at the same time try to still be petting her or have some one pet her while you slip the lead rope around )so she cant run away and the when she is almost done eating try to pull her head up and try to get the halter on

p.s. hope i help

Answer 15

She is probably frisky after movingfrom MO toCA .Give her a chance.

Answer 16

your horse might of been abused before you got him/her.and the horse just might not like people?

sorry if this didn't help.