From day 1 Goose has been a hard to catch horse. There have been times it’s taken us HOURS to catch her. She’s gotten better over time, but she still has a mind of her own and likes to use it. 🙂
I don’t really consider myself a horse trainer, but I’ve spent the last 3 1/2 years studying horse training. I’ve joined multiple membership sites for different trainers, I’ve read articles, the biggest piece though is implementation. I usually share the knowledge I’ve acquired with Hanna and she does the training. But Goose is my horse now, and I feel strongly that she and I work together to become a better team.
Every time I see something about catching a hard to catch horse I watch or read it. Seriously. I am on the HUNT for a way to catch my hard to catch mare. Here’s the big things I’ve always heard and have tried and what I’ve moved to recently.
Make them move their feet.
Basically, if your horse doesn’t come to you, or at least allow you to come to it, make them move their feet, and not slowly. The idea is that horses don’t like to work, so if you make them work, they will quickly become tired of working and stop and let you catch them.
This has worked and not worked for us. Yes, she will eventually get tired of running around and stop and let me catch her, but by then I am usually sweaty, tired and annoyed, as is she, and then the rest of the time we spend together doesn’t go well.
Match Steps and Create a Connection
In the last year or so I heard something new. Go out into the field and match steps with your horse. It takes a lot of concentration to match your horse’s steps. The idea is that your horse can see how much you are paying attention, and that you are very in the moment, that they connect with you and trust you.
This has not worked as well. I have walked and walked, matched steps for a long time, over and over, and yes, she will turn into me, but when I get up to her she will walk away.
I’m sure the people that are followers of this method would tell me she is just not ready to be with me, or doesn’t trust me enough, and I can see that. But I have done this with her for almost a year now, and honestly, I’m over it. I want to do some work with my horse.
FEED THEM
This one comes up, but seems to be frowned upon in most of the horse community. So when I recently saw a new “how to catch a hard to catch horse” video in Michael Gascon’s membership site I watched it immediately. One of the first things he said, was rattle a bucket of food.
I haven’t really done this much, but I have had treats in my pocket and once I get the halter on I have given her a treat. It works as long as I have treats. But when I stop bringing treats, the smart girl… stops coming. 🙂
Liberty
He also said in that video, the BEST thing you can do to catch a hard to catch horse is to teach it liberty.
Interesting.
His thought behind it is this: liberty is all about the draw. Drawing your horse in to you, getting them to come to you, follow you, listen to you without being on a lead. If you can teach them that you can pretty much draw them into you anywhere… and what exactly is catching your horse? Yep. Drawing them into you.
So… Goose and I have started doing a little liberty work.
Michael also has a fantastic series on starting liberty in his membership site. I love how he has learned from a bunch of people, and has pulled things together in the most simple of terms and broken it down into simple steps that anyone can follow.
I’ve literally had the book The Art of Liberty Training for Horses sitting next to my bed for months now. It is a beautiful book. I’ve read part of it, but have not been able to figure out how to put one thing into practice yet. But after watching the first video in Team MG I went out and we worked on it.
Today was Goose’s second liberty session. We have moved up to having the rope around her neck, but me not holding the other end. I think we are doing pretty darn good!
I used some of what we had worked on in our first lesson while trying to catch her to get her to the round pen. It worked pretty well. It only took me a few minutes to catch her today. I also used some positive reinforcement for her as well, which seemed to help with her motivation.
What I’ve found in horse training is there are many ways to do anything, and everything. The big thing is finding something that works for you. Whether it’s a method to catch a hard to catch horse, or just the mindset you have around training your horse, find what works for you, and don’t give up. There are so many trainers out there… one will be a perfect match for you and your horse!
