Here, I’ve fixed the post title for you: “Horse owner lets horse get away with a negative behavior and won’t accept responsibility”
Makes the solution a little clearer, doesn’t it?
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Here’s another way of looking at it that has NEVER failed me with even the hardest to catch horse (including feral ones) and can sometimes be a bit quicker than just walking after them, so might appeal to the owner a bit more.
When they walk/run away, still follow them. But try to do it in a way that you cut them off and get in their line of sight. As soon as they stop (or if they run far away then stop, walk until you get about 50 or so feet away into their line of sight), you stop and take a few steps back. If they look at you, take a few more steps back and look away. If they start walking again, do the same thing. The goal is to get them to both stop moving their feet, and to turn and look at you. Once they get the idea that you want them to stop and look at you, you can start walking up to them, but not just straight up. Walk casually (not timidly) up but without looking straight at them, if they show any sign of tension stop and back up. The ones that REALLY don’t want to get caught will usually get about to this point and then walk/run away again, but after the second or third time they either let you come up and get them, or actually walk up to you once you catch their eye and take a few steps back.
It’s kind of a mix between walking after them and the “approach and retreat” method. Essentially, you are trying to “catch” the horse’s eye. once you do, it’s like a magnet, if you back away from them it’s like they are pulled toward you. The hardest part is to not get frustrated and to not ever actively PUSH them, that usually (though not always) makes it take longer. Best to have an attitude of " haha this is a fun game, let’s see if you can understand what I’m asking you to do". Like a puzzle.
On another funny note, when I go catch my gelding and he just REALLY doesn’t want to leave his buddies and his grass, he will pretend he didn’t see me walking out towards him (won’t even look up) and start casually walking away in a way that he CAN’T make eye contact with me. It’s always very casual, lasts about a minute (or until he gets to a friend), and then he looks at me and walks up to me like, “Oh hi Mom! I didn’t see you there” and is the happiest, snuggliest horse you ever met, sticks his head in his halter by himself, would follow you up without a lead rope. I swear he just thinks if he doesn’t actually look at me, he won’t have to come up to me, but once he sees me the jig is up.
@RainWeasley yes, this is roughly my method too. I agree that ‘walk them down’ doesn’t mean you go following after them in their tracks. My guys are in multi-acre pastures, too big for that. But you can cut the angles, make them change direction, and in general just make it obvious that you’re still in steady, casual “pursuit”. They never get any peace enough to start to graze, I can apply a constant pressure without having to be all that close. First time my old foster pony was in the big fields, it took 2 hours (and yes, I was tired but there was no way she was going to win, not even once.) After that, the longest it took was 20-30 minutes for a few more times, and from then on, she was fixed–walk right up with a halter no problem.
The owner needs to commit, vow to herself to have more patience than the horse has energy, and to have faith that this method does really work if you stick with it every single time. If she can’t do that, she should not be buying project horses.
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I have a mare like this. I’ve had her 17 years. She’s 20. She has always been this way, and frankly, she will always be this way.
To echo others, she was at her best when she was stalled full time and I was really her only “herd”. She’s awful when she gets to be out with friends.
In my case, she’s been taken very, very good care of her entire life - both health wise and handling wise - she’s just not a snuggly people horse and she never will be. She loves being in a ring with jumps and adores her job - but the grooming, and the conditioning, and day to day “stuff” is just not her cup of tea. She’s also wicked smart and recognizes that the day to day stuff is 95% of being caught and so she’d just rather not if you don’t insist.
I try not to take it personal. My other seven horses come running up to me when they see me. My mare’s own filly was all about people. My mare is just not a horse that never has been excited about humans. She wasn’t when she was young, she wasn’t when she was grown, and she’s still not now that she’s a senior. She prefers other horses over people. I get along with her best of anyone and she still has an attitude of, “if you’re going to insist I be here, get on with it.” Very no nonsense chestnut mare.
The owner needs to make sure that it’s not a health issue (ulcers, arthritis, etc), and she needs to make sure that people aren’t inadvertently training the mare to get away with this - but in some cases, it’s a square peg, round hole situation. You can’t make a horse be an “in your pocket” personality. Sometimes they just aren’t. But, after looking at health and training - if you need this horse to be caught regularly, it should probably be stalled alone.
I just tried this with my standoffish horse in his stall. (Well, he was in his stall with his head over the door, and I was in the aisle). This horse normally won’t engage - if I try to pet his head or neck, he either moves away, or just looks in the other direction. Well, after doing this, he was coming closer to me, and moving his head towards me, whichever direction I went. In about 5 minutes, not only was I stroking his head and muzzle without him withdrawing, he sat there and licked my hand for a couple of minutes! Thank you!
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@Defying Logic there was a great article about just this in Noelle Floyd today
I really liked the technique these described and thought immediately of your post- hope you find this helpful!
