How to catch a Shetland update with picture

Dizzy Woo

Dizzy Woo

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Apr 20, 2008
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Dreamer is 17 years old, I have had her 3 years as a companion field mate. She had been loaned out to many homes before and in between was used as a brood mare and is meant to have had 10 foals.
Up until about 6 months ago she was easily caught, regularly by myself and taken for walks or groomed, all lovely times but for the past 6 months she had proven impossible for me to catch, apparently she was always terrible before coming to me and it looks like her behaviour has returned.
Nothing bad has ever happened to her while she's been with me, she follows me round the field and is an extremely friendly Shetland, it's just when she sees headcoller or rope and she's off.
I've spent loads of time recently just hugging her using large arm movements and this doesn't bother her, she knows the trick when I put her bucket down then catch her, can't do that anymore she's just too quick.
Any suggestions, she missed farrier last time and vacs are due on Thursday. I've started calling her my shity Shetland :unsure:
 

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Funny you should say this, there is a lady who has a portioned off section of our field at Hurn for her 3 (totally drop dead!) Shetties. They are little lovelies and look quite funny when stood talking to our three huge mares! Anyway, the lady who owns them could not catch one of them the other day, he was being a little blighter. She's had them for years but he wouldn't let her near so asked if I wouldn't mind trying. It took me a while as the little tinker soon caught on to me but eventually I just went for it, give him a scatch & popped the collar straight over his nose. He looked gutted!

So I'm afraid no advice, just empathy!
 
We have a lad with LD live with us, he caught her straight away but I can't take him with me every time I want Dreamer in for something!
 
Yes - do you use treats to catch them? With mine, it depends how hungry they are. If the grass is going well, they'll amble over; if there isn't much, they canter. But fast or slow, they'll always come for a treat....
 
Sheep hurdles and make a pen and bait the trap and shut her in a small space.
 
Doesn't sound like she's remotely scared or worried, just choosing not to be caught, if that's the case then using pressure and release by sending her on when she moves and then taking the pressure off when she stops can be very reliable. Doing a search on here will bring up some suggestions on how best to do it, but you do need to be willing to out persist them and it can sometimes take a few hours the first time. Rio was a can't be caught at all horse when we bought her and this approach worked a treat in a 40+ acre field.

Once you have her and can work with her I'd be inclined to get her targetting the headcollar, start by giving her a little treat every time she even touches it, and build up with lots of repetition bit by bit to having the headcollar taken on and off. You should hopefully find that she'll actively look for the headcollar in the field if it works out :)
 
Thanks ladies.

I will try the approach from Wally to get her in for her vacs, I think I will be able to tempt her into a shelter and then catch her, but what I was looking for was something like the approach Yann has suggested so she is happy to be caught again, I can see that this is the long term approach i am looking for and will put a few hours a week(or day) into making it work over the next few weeks.
Fingers crossed
 
Isn't it odd that she comes for your lad that lives with you so easily? Horses are very perceptive in odd ways.

We have a cob at the yard who is 5 and has been quite bolshy at times. We had a young livery at the yard who was 12 or 13 who fell in love with him and used to fuss over him and fly spray him because he hates flies. And he fell in love with her - she left the yard but came to visit the other day and the livery who owns him said he was just over the moon to see her.

But onto the catching issue, as Yann says, I think you just have to make her decision to not be caught a difficult decision for her by putting pressure on her to leave until she decides to stand and be caught. And then I think I would just give a treat and let her go, and continue in that vein really.
 
Shetlands see through many a ruse, you don't catch old birds with chaff and you don't catch Shetlands with mind games and treats.
 
If that's the case then tricking them by luring them into a corner with a bucket and then trapping them isn't likely to work too many times either...
 
Wally said:
Shetlands see through many a ruse, you don't catch old birds with chaff and you don't catch Shetlands with mind games and treats.
Click to expand...

Totally agree, when she first started this I could catch her out by putting her bucket down with some nuts in but she knows that one now, she's just so quick, our lad only managed to catch her cos he launched himself at her.
As Ie said I can probably pen her into her shelter and get her but I would really like it if she returned to her old catchable self, do you think the sending away, pressure and release plan will work?
 
Totally agree, when she first started this I could catch her out by putting her bucket down with some nuts in but she knows that one now, she's just so quick, our lad only managed to catch her cos he launched himself at her.
As Ie said I can probably pen her into her shelter and get her but I would really like it if she returned to her old catchable self, do you think the sending away, pressure and release plan will work?
Click to expand...

Based the the :poop:lands I've known I doubt it, but it'll probably keep her amused for hours :bounce:
 
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I've gone for the smaller paddock and sending away trick in my time and that worked. The smaller paddock gave me a smaller area in the middle to walk round to keep him moving. I did it like join up, waiting for the ear and then went over. We kept going until he stood still to be caught.
 
Got to be worth a try - I used it very successfully with a very canny little exmoor, although she was so canny that it only worked with me, and she still ran away from everyone else :D The cleverer they are (and lazier) the quicker they're likely to cotton on to the new state of play, but you definitely have to out persist them :)
 
I must admit, since I have started tending to a rather large herd of shetlands, things sometimes just dont work as they would do with a larger horse! Sheep hurdles have been a resort after trying the usual nicely nicely approach - otherwise appointments would of been missed!

the whole ' entrapment' isnt as harsh as it sounds, they are not petrified squished up behind a hurdle! Ive found generally they then just stand there realising the games up, happily let you halter them and toddle off with you in hand ! Some of these ponies have made me feel utter useless and seem to have enjoyed the game of human mockery.
 
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