As someone else has already said, I think the best technique for catching a pony, is to chase them until they get fed up! This will then make your horse realise you are not going to give up, no matter how long it takes. Also I got a naughty pony when I was ten, he was 3 and he had never had anything done with him, at first he would bolt into the middle of the road if he didnt want to do something, it took me a bunch of cracked ribs to realise that my horse was just scared, because I wasnt confident! All I needed was to build my confidence and bond with him! To be honest, what works for me is being confident, pushing on and if he does bolt, grab one rein and pull, this will send him off balance and slow him down to a reasonable pace :) hope this helps!

It sounds like you need to do some ground work with your pony. If he's good in every other way it is definitely worth investing some time in him and resolving this problem. Perhaps do less riding for a bit and put this time into leading/ handling and catching schooling. I'd recommend a control head collar (as used by parelli which I also recommend you look into). These work and pressure and release of pressure to train the pony, therefore you need to know how to use this correctly. Invest in some ground work lessons with a professional, many people do not do enough in hand work. You will teach your pony respect of the rope and handler. He's learnt this trick of bolting off and being difficult to catch and needs to be taught the rules and manners (as the lead horse would in a herd – at the moment he’s the boss). He could be doing this as it far more fun in the field with his mates than coming into the yard to be ridden. Parelli works as your horse/pony wants to be with you and see’s you as a leader. Working your pony from the ground establishes this. Alternatively if you don't want in invest in some ground work lessons you could try ... As a starting point maybe just go up to your pony (be patient with this) give him a carrot and a scratch then walk off (don't catch him)... do some poo picking or clean tack in field or something in the field. Keep doing this as many times as possible per day over a few days, you'll find your pony will soon be keen to see you (there no pressure to catch him and he's not brought in to be worked every time he see's you) gradually build this up so put his head collar on give him some carrots and fuss then turn him loose, again repeat as much as you can over a few days. The pony will be thinking “oh theirs the nice lady with carrots, I’ll go over and say I'll say hi!” Next try to lead him a few steps, pat then turn him loose. If he starts getting pushy make him step backwards 4-5 steps. Increase the amount of steps that you lead him for over a few weeks until you can bring him in calmly with you in full control. Bring him in for a groom and turn out again. Practice walking him in hand in the arena; he should walk when you walk (but make sure your leading him and not the other way around) stop when you stop and back up when you do! I feel for you it would be wise to invest in proper ground work lesson and use a pressure halter. Take a look on www.pareli.com for ground work tips, advice and schooling. Good luck!

Well the same thing happened to my pony in the summer and we decided that it was because the grass was nicer, so maby if you have a smaller field you could maby pop him in there, or you can try taking some food up with you to catch him (that worked with us). Unfortunatel I don't know what you could do about him throwing his head up and taking off. SORRY!!!