Hi

Trying to work with a untrained gelding - but catching him is a bugger. 

Any tricks, ideas ?

The last mare I worked with was the same - this is what I did.

I would approach her with the halter and lead (in view) - if she turned - I would make her run.  When she stopped - I would ask her to stand - and approach her again.  You get the picture.  I am not sure this will work with this gelding.  I am afraid that for him it is like a game.

Any ideas, suggestions, will be appreciated.

There are many ways for sure.  First, we expect by nature of their training, for our horses to approach when we "the alpha herd boss" make our presence known.  Second, the grain bucket or hay usually brings them in.  This works best in our smaller 1/4 acre turnouts than in the 1 - 1.5 acre pastures.  When the horses are on the 1/4 mile fenceline trail, then herding works best.

A few days ago, I enjoyed watching my wife ride bareback along the fenceline with the setting sun and pines as a backdrop.  It was a beautiful sight with her hair and proud Arabian mane and tail flying in the wind.  She was trying to herd two geldings who decided to have some fun!  Back and forth they went along 200 yards.  After about the third pass, I crossed the field to assist, swinging a lead rope to block the trail.  As soon as the geldings decided the game was over, they galloped directly to the hay piles.  Sometimes, boys just want to be boys.

haylori:

I would approach her with the halter and lead (in view) - if she turned - I would make her run.  When she stopped - I would ask her to stand - and approach her again.  You get the picture.  I am not sure this will work with this gelding.  I am afraid that for him it is like a game.

This is how I did it with my mare. Although, she was 17 and trained at the time.  She just had issues with being caught.  I have done it a bit with my other mare and it seemed to work well with her too.  I'm not sure if it would be too much of a game. Hmmmm...

We have 10 horses & ponies. Most of them I could not catch if I tried by approaching them. When I want them, I just holler one of their names and since they are afraid someone else might get fed, the whole herd comes up in a stampede. We have a small catch pen that I open the gate to, they all eagerly go in to await their treats. I then halter the ones I want, and release the rest after they have each gotten a treat for coming so quickly. Sure beats walking after them. It took the newest horse about 2 days to figure out the routine, and many times now she is first.

Star has always been, shall we say, a "challenge" to catch.  Granted now, some days she'll march right up to me, but there were a couple of years after I first got her that my most frequent view of her was a retreating backside and she took off across the pasture.

I'll admit, even now I hide the halter and on some days, have to ditch it in the middle of the field in order to get close to her. Just recently, she's been a complete pill, thundering from one side of the field to the other for 10 minutes before deciding to let me catch her.

Basically I did what you did though, adding that I praised her verbally if she stood and gave me her eye. To keep her attention I'd approach a bit, move sideways a bit and ask her to follow me with her eye.  As long as she was fixed on me, I could be pretty sure she'd stand and let me get her, even walk toward me.  But there are still other days when she'll toss her head and take off (with Annapolis in tow) when I'm still 30 yards away.

Good luck with your gelding, I know how frustrating it can be.

Does anyone have a horse-fetching dog?

My border collie would probably round them up if given half a chance, but my mare has a history of kicking at dogs so I don't let her try!

Jayne-Admin:

Just recently, she's been a complete pill, thundering from one side of the field to the other for 10 minutes before deciding to let me catch her.

LOL!    And I'm not laughing at you Jayne, because I know how that feels, you just described it in a really funny way.  I know it's frustrating, I've owned horses that pulled those stunts, usually when I had to be somewhere at a certain time.  They know.  They can tell by our reactions when they do it.  And I really don't think this is so much an owner error or lack of training issue, because none of the horses I have currently do it.  And they didn't all do it all the time.  I know there are some that just need some basic training, but most of the time I think this is just one of those individual idiosyncracies (sp?).  The kind that make you want to knock the fire out of em sometimes (but of course you don't or wouldn't, instead you go open an empty barn door and scream inside it for a minute at the top of your lungs, then return calmly to catch up your good horse. 

A couple of weeks ago, she let me catch her without a problem at all. I was grooming her by the pasture gate (outside the pasture) and had not tied her up.  I just draped the rope over the fence like I always do. She usually stands like she's taken root.

On this occasion, as I was at the back end, grooming her tail, she started to stroll off along the fence line.  As I reached for the rope, she sped up a bit and the next thing I know, she's trotting along the driveway toward the gate (which thankfully was closed).

By this time, Annapolis on the inside of the fence, has decided to join the action and comes galloping across the field calling to his girlfrieng.. "Baby come back!"

So the next thing I know, I've got Star (remember, she's a draft) galloping full tilt on the outside of the fenceline, and Annapolis, Mr. Studly almost 30-yr old ex-racehorse.

I trailed after Star, having grabbed some horse cookies to tempt her with.

She turned at the end of the field and followed the mown trail that goes around the property.  By this time, all the other horses in the other pastures are all thinking this is great fun and we've got thundering hooves everywhere. 

Star started running back toward me (and the gate) but I got her turned because I didn't want to trust that the automatic gate wouldn't open at the wrong time.

This went on for a while, can't say how long. She'd trot a bit, stop a bit, gallop a bit, up nd down the path at the back of the property. I followed behind her, but not trying to get too close and waited to see what would happen. A couple of people came across the pasture swinging ropes but I waved them off.

Then, as Star turned toward me again, I could tell something was different. She wasn't going to try and charge past me as she had tried several times. Her eye had softened.

Sure enough, I was right.  I held out a cookie and she walked right up to me, snorted as if to say, okay, that's enough of that, and let me take hold of the lead rope which had been trailing all the while.

And this past weekend, I groomed Annapolis first and then went to get Star and she high tailed it across the field.  For 10 minutes she free-exercised herself and then, as I had given up trying to catch her and was standing in the middle of the pasture talking with Dee, Star walked right up and blew in my face "where's my cookie?" She stood still while I put her halter on and let me lead her back over to the gate to be groomed.

 Never a dull moment at 2K Stables.

For those of you who haven't seen it yet, there's an interesting little article in this month's Equus about eye contact while catching (or trying to) catch a horse.

Tsk tsk... I haven't read it yet.  A little hurricane got me all disorganized and behind on my reading. 

I know from working with Star it's all about eye contact - if you can keep it, you have more chance of catching the horse. Lose it and you lose the horse too.