My Horse is Hard to Catch

Why is my horse difficult to catch?

A hard to catch horse can be a nightmare to own, identifying the problem and finding the solution may seem impossible, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. I've put together some top tips to make catching your horse a breeze. These tips may also be useful if you are trying to catch wild horses. Here are the 5 identifiable reasons a horse is hard to catch:

1. Your horse does not respect you and has no manners. 
    
2. Your horse is being chased away by another horse.
    
3. The horse is unaccustomed to human interactions.
    
4. He is avoiding physical pain.
    
5. He is avoiding stressful situations.

Let's consider the 5 reasons in greater depth:

Why does my horse not respect me?

Horses in the field have a pecking order, with the most dominant at the top and the least dominant at the bottom. A higher-ranking horse will control the movement of a lower-ranking horse. This is easiest to observe when horses are fed in the field. In this situation, the horses have their own feeding stations but will move to another when a more dominant horse approaches their station. 

But I am not a Horse!
 

As far as your horse is concerned you are part of his herd and are higher or lower ranking. So if you are submissive your horse will not respect you. He may prefer to eat grass rather than be caught. However, this problem is solved through the process of Join-Up.

If you are higher ranking than your horse and he does not associate humans with pain and or anguish, he will be easy to catch. This is unless another horse is bullying him away. Now we need to consider whether a horse is being bullied away.

What can I do if my horse is chased away by another horse and so cannot be caught?

Sometimes a horse cannot be caught because he is grazing with a more dominant horse, who does not want to be left on its own. This more dominant horse keeps driving the first horse away from the human. This problem is exasperated if the dominant horse is difficult to catch.
 

Ok, don't worry as this can be solved.

The dominant horse must regard you as higher in the pecking order, so establish Join-Up with him and catch him first. However, if you do not own this dominant horse and this is not possible, they should not be turned out together.

What do I do if my horse is unaccustomed to human interactions?

A horse relocated from a semi-feral herd where his human interactions have been rough and infrequent will probably fear humans in his new environment. It would be good to turn this horse out in a small paddock where he can see other horses in another field but without the stress of establishing a new herd position. Don’t expect this horse to be easily caught as he will be afraid of you. He might defend himself with teeth and heels.

Teach Trust and Desensitise this Horse

Before attempting Join-Up make the horse accustomed to you but do this without entering his small paddock. What you do will depend on his personality but basically, approach him slowly until he is calm with you standing near him.

With many horses, this level of trust is slowly established at feed time. Eventually, you will be touching the horse’s neck and shoulder and then progressing to other areas. Start with a small rag on a short stick. As a note, some horses remain aggressive at feed time. These horses are natural herd leaders.

Establish Join-Up

Once your horse is accepting your presence and thinks of you as part of his little herd it is time to teach him that you are the herd leader. This is when the join-up process should be used. When Join-Up is established the horse will be easy to catch.

Is my horse difficult to catch because he is avoiding physical pain?

Your horse could anticipate doing something he will find painful and not want to be caught. This is unusual as generally speaking, pain associated with an activity results in the horse being reluctant to perform that particular activity. For example, if the saddle pinches because it is too narrow the horse might become difficult when a saddle is placed on his back or when a rider mounts. Nevertheless, a horse in pain is going to be a sour horse and this could make him hard to catch.

Is my horse difficult to catch because he is avoiding stressful situations?

For horses and humans, stress is part of life. However, too much stress affects mental stability and physical health. A sensitive horse can have a mental breakdown if constantly asked questions far beyond his level of training understanding and ability. This horse is afraid or confused when he does not understand what is required of him or can not perform at the level required. Typically he stops progressing in his training schedule. However, he could become so sour that he can not be easily caught.

This horse must be rested and started again. He must be trained for an activity that suits his conformation, personality, and intelligence. This generally means expecting less or changing his discipline to one that suits him better.

The take-home message

Find the reason your horse is hard to catch and you will find a solution. Remember that Join-Up establishes you as the natural leader and in many instances, is the effective solution. In addition rule out pain, fear and stress as possible causes of your horse being hard to catch.