[Pusher]

I have a horse that does not want to be caught. He stays out in the pasture 24/7. I have other horses that will walk right up to you,but this horse makes you catch him. Can anyone give me any advice on how to break this horse from running away. We tried luring him with apples etc. and this works sometimes. He is a 14 year old gelding TW. Thanks

[sian]

what you can do is dont have a headcollar and have an apple in your pocket...and SIT in the horses feild...he will soon get curious and come over...then lots of praise...then he assosiates you with good things! also dont just bring him in to ride....bring him in for a feed and a groom......a way to a horses heart is through its stomarch
! patience im afraid!

[Lindsayanne]

I agree. Frequently go out to "catch" him, and when you finally get him, give him a REALLY good treat like a peppermint, a few scratches, and then leave the pasture. After you've got him coming to you reliably like that without a halter in your hand, start doing the same but putting a halter on him, treating him, then removing the halter and leaving, etc.

[Pusher]

I think your right. Most of the time when I go get him, it is to ride. I often use treats to catch him but often he knows he is going for a ride and will stay away. This is a smart horse, he can figure out how to open a gate if the gate doesn 't have a very good latch. Thanks

[sher327]

I think you got some good advice, if everytime someone came to my house was to take me to work I don't think I'd run to the door either LOL Really though, bring him in for some grooming and treats and sometimes release him right after you've praised him for being haltered, that goes a long way sometimes!! Mine aren't hard to get, they come to the gate like your others but some just need some extra incentive

[PaintedRocket]

and make sure you're repetitive. None of this will work w/o repetition!!

[juliesowner]

We have a TB that was like this and we came up with a method that works great.

When you go out to catch him walk towards him until he looks at you. When he looks at you stop. Then when he looks away walk to him again. When he looks again stop. Repeat until you ae right next to him. It works great for us.

[pnh]

i think join up would work great in this situation. does someone wanna explain?please! ive written about it so many times! if youre really interested pm me.

ill just say my horse was hard to catch so i did join up and she followed me at the shoulder, then when i went to catch her for a couple of weeks after that she cme runing over to me, and then id do it agian and we developed a great partnership. i then found parelli and carried on that partnership in all other areas and i didnt have to keep 'redoing' join up... she hasnt run away since. its great. and none of this bribary, tricking ****... this is true horsemanship and it WORKS!

[PaintedPNH]

Today Ringo didnt want to be caught either and its kinda hard to explain but I forced him to run away from me and he kept running in circles around me and when I felt he was ready to come to me I crouched down on the ground and he came to me. I pet him and then he stood quietly while I haltered him. Its more of giving him the choice and having him say "Okay I would like to be caught" It really hard to explain...maybe I'll get a video clip of it and post it if I can figure out how.

[AQHA_Gizmo]

John Lyons Perfect Horse has a really good article on that topic. It was a few months ago I believe!