am i takeing too much on?

[ckreedy]

Help! any suggestions on how to catch a pony?
actually the problem is worse than that. I bought a 4 year old pony last october for a companion for my horse. I was told she was hard to catch when i bought her.What i wasn't told was she was in foal. I figured this spring i would start working on the catching. but know i have a foal and a pony that is hard to catch. The baby is only a week old. I want to try and fix the problem before he gets too big. or should i waite until we wean him. I don't think she is a bad pony .i think she is really afraid of people (momma). any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[Sonia]

Does your pony run away or ignore you?

Try a few pony nuts in the bottom of a bucket. Rattle these like mad and see if she comes

Good luck
Sonia

[Celtic_babe]

I some-times have this problem as-well.
May-be the pony knows that every time he/she is caught it is perhaps eg.ridden, washed...
The pony then associates been caught as a bad thing and will obiously not want to get caught. Perhaps before u got it it was badly treated?

Any-way this is how i got around the problem with my pony. Don't just visit the field when u want to catch the pony, go there just for a nose around, give the pony(some-times only) a treat,like an apple, carrot...
the pony hopefully will begin to think that u onlycome to the field to bring dislike,
excuse my yakking on plezz
hope I could be of help
~*Aoife*~

[ckreedy]

If she sees me at all she runs away. unless its feeding time she will come in. but won't eat until i leave. We don't ride her. usually when we catch her. we will groom her a little and then let her go. I think she is afraid of us. she sometimes shakes when we catch her. Carrie

[bren]

First of all, she should be kept in a small area until she comes to you willingly, preferebly with no grass so she will rely on you to feed her. Then come in the pen and offer her food...place it near the fence and stand on the other side. Eventually she will learn to associate you with food. Try this for a while and let me know what happens.....

[Medalia]

Ah! :eek: Don't wait! The longer that this foal gets away without being caught and fussed over by humans, is the longer that this foal will have to develop ideas that humans are NOT favourable! The mare that has the foal was likely like that, and that's why it's hard to catch her, because she was always allowed to stay out all day and not have anyone make her mind.

Try a bucket of rocks. Horses aren't smart enough to know that rocks are different than cookies, so they sound the same. Just rattle the bucket, and they usually come runnin', and try that.

[This message has been edited by Medalia (edited 12 May 2000).]

[Flo]

Hi Carrie

Your pony does sound pretty nervous if she shakes when you catch her up. I think you need to think along the lines of taming a wild animal by gaining her trust.

You could try being around her field in every spare minute you have - not having anything to do with her, but looking busy/unthreatening in her field so that she doesn't associate seeing you just with a battle about being caught - it should also mean that the foal gets used to seeing people around. When you are about to leave the field give her a carrot/apple or whatever she seems to like and then walk away before she gets scared or feels threatened by your presence. Then build very slowly on this.

Good luck with however your decide to do this.

[Jennifer Harris]

first off, sorry that such things were sprung on you!! I dont think you should wait, because if you wait till weaning, the foal will probably already have a fear of you,because her mother fears you. then you take her mommy away, and then she will probably be reinforced in her idea that humans are bad (after awhile she will probably get over it, but it could make her hard/dangerous to deal with in the mean time)
I would try giving her more attention when you bring her in to feed, maybe not attention, but spend some time around her, so that she knows that you arent her enemy.Maybe tie her next to, or at least within eye range, to your riding horse while you are grooming . Just so she knows that there really is not anything to fear.
it sounds like this pony has been abused or neglected, and she needs someone to show her that not all humans are bad.
I wish you the best of luck with all three of them! :)

[Olivia]

It may take some time, but try going and sitting in the field - go and enjoy the sunshine. IF you do this their natural noseyness means they'll come and say hello. When they do don't react for the first few times just let them have a good sniff then when they are confident try giving them a nice head rub etc. Although this is similar to being busy I think that maybe will scare them off. Good luck and be patient - it'll all be worth it!

Olivia

[CHRISTINE]

Hi i have just bought a pony that is just like your pony, only i have got loads of advice from experienced people, as i am not. We are taking things slowly when we catch her we make a fuss, only difference being she will now let us, she was not for letting us near her, i think she was badly treated as she is still very head shy. You have to try to coax your pony with food, be kind and don't give up she will come eventually, we sat in the feild and it does work she was very curiuos as to know what we were doing sitting on the floor in her feild.when she came to us we did not touch her , we just said hello and carried on talking to each other my hubby and me.Then we left, and one day after doing this she followed us to the gate where we gave her a mint, persevere for the foals sake as you don't want the foal to turn out like this, one wild pony is enough. I am not giving up on this mare of mine.