rwtag

Meet the Moderators

Meet the Moderators of these forums

Meet the Experts

Meet the Experts in these forums

Presently, there are no Experts to meet.

Your Horse Forum and Community

Search Forums

Keywords

You are in... Forums > Discuss This > Answers > HELP! My horse NEVER comes to me

This is a discussion topic

This topic is a discussion topic, linked to a page in this site. You can navigate to the linked page by clicking on the link in the topic.

Go to most recent reply

Harryoneinamillion

Joined:

Nov 10

Posts: 6

Harryoneinamillion says:

HELP! My horse NEVER comes to me

Live life to the max!!

Reply to this Topic 

 
  • Posted 3 years ago (29 November 2010 13:40)
soniadevereux

Joined:

Jun 08

Posts: 4228

soniadevereux says:

RE: HELP! My horse NEVER comes to me

What do you do when you catch him? Do you ride him every time? Do you bring him in just to groom him or spend time with him, take him out for walks in hand and generally spend  time with him?

 

Horses - if God made anything more beautiful, he kept it for himself. ~Author Unknown

Reply to this Topic 

  • Posted 3 years ago (29 November 2010 14:31)
HorsesRmyDrugs

Joined:

Dec 10

Posts: 4

HorsesRmyDrugs says:

RE: HELP! My horse NEVER comes to me

 is he in a feild with grass? my pony does this , now i keep him in a starvation paddock and hes a much nicer pony : )or maby its something your wear my pony hates waterproff trousers or really bright colours. maby stop his  feed untill he comes to you, i done this to my pony once he was in a small grass paddock and i didnt feed him any hay or feed for a week , pritty soon the grass ran out so he had no option but to come to me, just dont leave him too long without food but a few days wont hurt if he wont come to you. 

Reply to this Topic 

  • Posted 3 years ago (08 December 2010 17:44)
tess1987

Joined:

Dec 10

Posts: 2

tess1987 says:

RE: HELP! My horse NEVER comes to me

What do you usually do with him when you get him in ? Join up is only successful if the building blocks to a good relationship are continuosly put in place , it is not a miracle cure so i suggest you read up on the benefits and understanding behind it . If he is on his own the only reason he doesnt want to come in is because he is obviously reluctant for some reason , try building a better relationship with him as if you want to sell him because he can't be caught says it all , he will also know if your annoyed and be more reluctant to come in , horses arent malicous so he isnt doing it to spite you . Sit in the field with him and for a few weeks forget about riding everytime you get him in or anything he dislikes and get him in , feed him , groom him then put him back out and sit in the field with a book or something and let him see that everytime he see's you doesnt mean you are going to try and catch him . and starving him will do nothing but mean he will lose condition and when you put him back out with food again he will do exactly the same thing. horses dont understand long term punishment such as food starvation .

Reply to this Topic 

  • Posted 3 years ago (08 December 2010 18:48)
dibdabz

Joined:

Dec 10

Posts: 3

dibdabz says:

RE: HELP! My horse NEVER comes to me

 I used to have the same problem with my old pony, he like tried to kick me and bite me. My friend always told me to show him who's boss. If you keep on joining up with him it will start to work. Join ups can take a few times before your horse starts to trust you.  

Reply to this Topic 

  • Posted 3 years ago (12 December 2010 04:46)
izzymcq

Joined:

Nov 10

Posts: 400

izzymcq says:

Re: HELP! My horse NEVER comes to me

 I've got the same problem. But it's a little bit more complicated. Well, Justin lives in the same field as this other pony Flynn and Flynn always bullies him!! And Flynn comes first to our calls when we call Justin- I think that he thinks it's his name. I eventually have to walk into the field every time, but Justin used to be so good about coming to his name and would come cantering up with his ears pricked up and he'd look happy. Now he just walks and stops and walks..........................AND STOPS!!

Sorry I haven't been very helpful have i? 

 

Reply to this Topic 

  • Posted 3 years ago (12 December 2010 06:59)
cindy33

Joined:

Feb 10

Posts: 65

cindy33 says:

RE: HELP! My horse NEVER comes to me

Hi Harryoneinamillion,

Perhaps maybe you should spend sometime bonding with your rather than just catching him and say taking him for a ride, or every time you catch him, making him doing something he would rather not do.

I am not sure if it will work on your horse, but I know it has worked on some of mine, try putting his night time feed out (or if you dont feed, try see if you get a block of hay) and standing next to it while he comes and eats it. As he is eating, also have some treats spare so that once he is finished, offer him some and hopefully he will stay with you to eat the treats. You could also walk around the paddock, as if you are not paying any interest in him, and slowly, as he appears to be more relaxed, get closer and closer to him and just get him used to you being in the paddock. If he goes away, just leave him and start again, walking round the paddock, slowly getting closer to him.

If you can, see if you can catch him and then do positive things together- for example grooming him, massaging him and letting him graze on the lead.

Hope I may have helped in some way and good luck!!

Reply to this Topic 

  • Posted 3 years ago (14 December 2010 03:26)
SheriffWoody

Joined:

Jan 11

Posts: 10

SheriffWoody says:

RE: HELP! My horse NEVER comes to me

Bond with your horse dont just take him riding all the time bring him in groom him give him a feed, he may run away because he is bored of being ridden. When riding do fun things with him and make sure he enjoys the work you do with him. If you have quite a harsh bit this could also be a problem.

Hope this helps, try bonding with him first and if he doesnt enjoy the work you do with him i would sell him to someone more suited.

Team Woody

Reply to this Topic 

  • Posted 3 years ago (17 January 2011 19:29)
Lothmorwel

Joined:

Jun 08

Posts: 565

Lothmorwel says:

RE: HELP! My horse NEVER comes to me

I agree with  the others. Do lots of binding, grooming, leading, etc. Make his time with you relaxed and fun and he will want to come to you.

Have him checked by the vet. Maybe something is hurting him when you ride and so he tries to avoid the situation.

Make sure everything you do is calm and soothing. Don't yank or get angry or frustrated as this will make him tense and edgy. Be kind and gentle and respectful of him.

One thing that works well with my young Dartmoor pony is to go in the field with a stick (like a parelli stick, although I have used an electric fence pole when I was desperate). Wander around the field, don't go towards him, just wander about with no agenda. Sing or whistle to your self, keep tugning around and walking in circles. Stop occasionally and inspect something on the floor or fence/hedge, etc. It sounds mad but it will take your horse off guard. He won't be thinking 'she's here, she's going to catch me', he'll now be thinking 'what on earth is she doing?'. Keep an eye on him. What you want is him either ignoring you or showing an interest. If he's still looking like he'll run off everytime you go closer then keep wandering til he's relaxed.

Then go as near to him as you can get without him running away and hold the stick towards him (obviously, if he's stick phobic then use a different implement here). As soon as he turns towards it or stretches him nose towards it, pull it back towards you. Show him it's interesting and will retreat. He should react quicker next time you hold it out. My Dartmoor is hugely curious and can't resist wandering closer when I do this advance/retreat stuff.

Edge closer as you're doing it and hold the stick closer to its end so you are getting closer as well. Then do the same with your hand. When you can give him a pat or rub on the next, finish there and walk away.

He will be totally confused, but it will have been a different and pleasant experience for him. This should help change him outlook towards you in future times. You'll have to repeat this exercise and you will look like a crazy person, but your horse will benefit.

Reply to this Topic 

  • Posted 3 years ago (19 January 2011 14:18)
Devereux

Joined:

Sep 10

Posts: 98

Devereux says:

RE: HELP! My horse NEVER comes to me

Personally, i believe that the horse should come to you, obviously they have their times when they just want to be awkward, but i think you need to show your horse that you are in charge, The more you go to catch him and walk toward him, the more he will believe that he is the dominant horse in your relationship. Wait, and stand your ground. He should come to you and if it means leaving him out overnight and him not getting a feed, then be prepared to sacrifice it, yes, you may well lose a bit of sleep, but in the long run it may end up being very worthwhile. Other ways you can prove to him that you are in charge are for example, when you are in the stabel with him, it seems fairly simple and alot of horse owners don;t think of it, do you when you are e.g. grooming him, do you move around him ? Or do you move him around you ? He should be the one listening to where you want him to go, rather than standing and accepting his grooming section in the same way the head of a herd would in a field.

Getting back to my first point, it is always the head horse that is followed by the lower heierarchial horses in the herd, and by following him and moving yourself toward him is showing o him that if he moves awy, you will follow, possibly allowing him to believe that he is again, the head horse.

I hope i helped (: Good luck, xoxo

My World Does Not Revolve Around My Horse, Because My World Is My Horse. (: *JazzHands*

Reply to this Topic 

  • Posted 3 years ago (25 January 2011 11:51)
ponygirl123

Joined:

Feb 11

Posts: 1

ponygirl123 says:

RE: HELP! My horse NEVER comes to me

well i would get a polo mint and he should come over and then give it to him :)

Reply to this Topic 

  • Posted 3 years ago (25 February 2011 09:35)

Page

of 5

Post a message in Answers

To post a reply to this topic, please Log In.

Terms of use

Use of our community areas and forums is subject to important terms of use. By joining our community and using the features you agree to be bound by these terms. Read full terms of use


Most popular