Judy’s four legged friend has turned into a bolting horse – and I’m sure we can help her without the drastic ideas she has in mind!
“I have a three year old mustang that has been so sweet and had his feet trimmed several times, halters well, etc. We put him in pasture for the first time last Oct. and he loves it over the small stall.
The ferrier was coming on Friday, so I went and put his halter on..no problem but as soon as I started to click on the lead rope he bolted and for two & one half hours ran circle from me not letting me get close.
Bolting horse
That was last Friday, we left the halter on and have tried grain from my hand, carrots, hay, and he will come only close enough to eat it but don’t reach for the halter. I almost got my hand broke twice when I got it and he jerked so hard.
i am out of ideas except two drastic ones. Calming,sleepy pills in grain to make him sleepy or calling someone with a tranquiller gun and shooting him in the butt to put him out and then we trim his feet and put on a lead rope.
Any suggestions..when he was in paddock no problems. he wanted to get out so the rope was fine but now he is free and does not want to listen. We want to start ground work with him.
Judy”
Any ideas? Please do post your thoughts below on Judy’s bolting horse – I’m sure you won’t be helping just Judy…
Here’s a comment from Sarah below which I rather liked:
Bolting horse
“I know what it is like having a horse that won’t trust you. This is going to sound a little bit crazy but it works.
1) Hide the head collar and lead rope under your shirt.
2) Go down on your hands and knees and crawl away from him.
3) Do this until you get to the gate.
4) Stand up slowly facing away from him
5) Slowly put the head collar on and give him a treat.
6) Have someone hold the gate open for you
7) Hold the lead rope right at the end, let your horse stand there, but walk through the gate yourself.
8) Hold a treat out and gently put pressure on the lead rope. He may be scared so gently reassure him in a low soothing voice.
Another thing to remember to stop a bolting horse is keep your body rounded and relaxed. Don’t show him fear or make your body squared. It will take a few weeks for him to trust you completely. Do this once a day at the same time. Horses tend to work better in a routine.
I hope this helps.
Good luck!
Sarah”
A big thanks to Sarah for comment below. If you can help with Judy’s bolting horse, please do comment!
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It takes some time but when one of my girls get like that I get out the lunge whip and chase her, and chase her and chase her until she is fairly begging to be allowed to come in to me…when she starts to turn and look at me I’ll drop the whip and just stand still until she comes right up to me…if she only gets so close and the stops I start chasing again… eventually they will come right up to me and generally follow me without having to put a lead rope on them. I would expect that if you did that every day leading up to the farrier visit he will be fine by the time it trim time.
cheers
sme
This really works! It is the method I used with my first pony who was a nightmare to catch. I used to leave the gate to the yard open and chase her until she would go and stand next to her tie up spot! After a few times she got the message and was fine 🙂
If you have a corner in you’re paddock tie a long ropeabout 2metre from the one corner there must be someone helping you. Then slowly bring him to the corner take the rope around him and tied it up. We’ve got the same problem so when you got him tite to the fence tie a long rope permenantly to his halter that way you can just pick up the rope
If you have a round pen that you can chase him into you can try this: Establish the direction & speed you want him to go (if he is hot then let him trot, if he is lazy get him to canter). Establish change of direction to the inside (always two eyes, never two heels). Establish consistent change of direction to the inside. After this is all pretty good then catch his eye & invite him in to the center. Make sure his head is at the center of your chest & you have his full attention then pet & rub & praise & he will associate you with rest & will want to be near you. Repeat as necessary. Good luck 🙂
I agree with you Sylvia and Helen – see post below – this horse needs to accept the owner as the Leader or Alpha and the roundyard is the best place to establish this – in a safe place and without halters/leads or whips. Trish
You need to do the yo-yo game…lots of coming to you and backing away. Pretty soon when you say, ‘come’ he’ll just come to you. First you need to get control over his feet. Check out Parelli.com They have been the best trainer for me with my problem horse in solving any problems. They offer the first month free to check out joining their program.
I’m not a trainer, but when my house used to run from me because he knew I had the lead in my hand, I would make him run until he finally learned he was going to work more by running away. Then, I would put the lead rope on him and walk away. Eventually be learned to follow me, because that’s the only time I would reward him. Maybe this Mustang needs to be fed only in his stall if possible, to make being in the stall a reward, and the Pasture a place where he has to work.
It’s not that he’s not listening, he still sees you as a predator. Between farrier visits go out and be with him without pressure, just be calm, confident and FRIENDLY. No expectations. Sounds like you could use some natural horsemanship training. You’ll get there with the right attitude!
P. S. – that should be horse, not house! Hahahaha!
Yeah! It’s pretty bad when your house starts running away from you! 😀 😀
There is a trainer that I love named Carol Resnick. She has spent lots of time when growing up with wild horses and one of the ways she develops a bond with a horse she is training is what she calls sharing territory. It’s merely going out into the field with them and sitting in a chair and reading or just sitting, whatever you want to do. The horse(s) will come up to you and go and little by little begin to trust you. If your horse learns that you are not always there just to catch him and work him, he will begin to come up to you and sometimes just want to hang out. Do this for a little while (not sure how many days, different per horse) and after awhile he should let you at least get the lead rope on. And then slowly coax him in. It’s a slow process though.
Judy,
I have 2 mustangs. A 12 year old from the range. A 6 year old birthed in captivity, brought in off range in Mama’s belly. Not a breed everyone can understand. Their minds and behaviors are completely based on nature. Nothing but more trouble if we work against what their instincts are telling them. But, the devotion & trust a mustang offers in the end is uncomparable. I would love to discuss your mustang’s issues directly with you by telephone, if you like. Please don’t tranquilize him. I know it’s a quick fix, but not a solution in long tun. My young mare had a filly while the mare was still wild. I had to train them both. Everyone is still alive and no broken bones! I now have a mare who races to come to the gate when she sees me or hears my call “oooooooooohnahhhhhhhhhhhh”. Her full name is Ooh Gee Nah Lee ee, which means “my friend” in Cherokee language. The filly trusted and trained so well that she is another families sport horse now. Loves to jump!
I am also working with a mustang that is hard to catch. It’s a slow process but here’s some ideas I have used successfully.
1. Spend some time in the paddock when you aren’t actually going to catch the horse. Make it your goal to just pet him and give him treats.
2. Can you run him into a smaller area, then try catching him?
3. You may want to watch some videos from horse trainers that show the body language you need to use with a hard-to-catch horse.
Best of Luck! 😀
Get some treats put them in your pocket.just walk his field, DONT chase him! Then stop and just stand there don’t look at him. He might come up to you
We seem to be seeing the same problems time and time again! This horse is not recognising you as his herd leader. Follow some of the suggestions in earlier posts on similar questions and you will be amazed at the transformation!
Helen you are spot-on – this person is not being seen as the leader or Alpha and the horse is therefore choosing to do what it wants the same as if an underling in a herd tried to get him to do something – he would simply ignore it or punish it. Sheila was on the right track with her chasing around – however do this in a roundyard with no halters/leads or whips etc – I have written about this in previous posts so wont go into it again – but you are right – it works a treat. As for the immediate catching issue – I suspect he will have to be rounded up into a smaller area to be caught and then to the roundyard with this fellow and make him work – which is usually a canter (if safe to do so) – you choose which direction and keep making him change direction – until he decides he would rather be with you. The same as what Sylvia above is talking about. I don’t think you are going to get very far with this fellow until he accepts you as the Leader – at the moment you are an inconvenience and that is dangerous!! Trish
He will go for food ….so open gate between paddock and pasture – he will go in, then close the gate. If that idea wont work get some friends – those with horses works best, but not a have to – then space them all in pasture so each time he is in their area they make him run – keep him running with no stops – when he gets in your area ask him to let you get close to him – if he refuses – force him away – after awhile he will decide it is best to let you put lead on and get some rest. Then return him to paddock, not to be returned to pasture until he is trained. I had to do this with my Appy – trainer said it would only take 15 minutes – boy was he wrong – took close to 2 hours, but it did work. It was just my daughter and I on foot. Now if you have not enough friends in area to do this see if you can use a horse and just do it with the other horse. Good luck, do not get mad – he is acting like a horse. Not bad just not trained. Never let your feelings get the best of you – try to make it fun for you – work for him. Never do anything in anger to your horse. Have fun
My vet taught me this technique. It worked on my very scared Morgan mare.
With caution put a rope halter on him while he is busy eating. Make sure he is confined to his stall and cannot escape.
Tie a 6 ft rope to the halter under his mouth. This is to catch him without getting too close to him. Leave it on for 2 weeks. He will get used to stepping on it. Make sure it drags on the ground. He will calm down and slow down.
When approaching him, pick up the end of the rope. Slowly slide your hand up to his head. You should be able to rub his forehead and chest. Do this as many times a day as you can.
He should learn nothing bad will happen when you halter him. It will take kindness and patience.
Have u Tried baiting him back to the stall?
If that doesn’t work, u may have to rope him.
Probably once u get a rope on he will submit. I
Wouldn’t tranquilize him.
Is there a way you could coax your mustang into a smaller area such as your corral? You might have to deny access to water to him to get him to come to you. Our farms previous owner had to do this with a mule that had gone feral on this property. It took several days for the mule to get thirsty enough to allow Ron to place the halter on the mule. In your case you have to be EXTREMLY careful with yourself when handling this horse. Another idea that might work is if you have access to the use of a WELL TRAINED horse that you might be able to use as a lead horse. Then your horse might follow into a smaller area such as your corral. We had to this with a colt that had gone feral by using a filly that he became friends with. The colt was in a large pasture in a similar situation as you describe. We hope these ideas will help you out and good luck. Fred and Joan.
we have dealt with something simmular the horses would not let us get near them so we turned around and faced the other way the horse that would not come to us walked right up because there curious exspecially if you’ve got a treat
Hello,
I know what it is like having a horse that won’t trust you. This is going to sound a little bit crazy but it works.
1) Hide the head collar and lead rope under your shirt.
2) Go down on your hands and knees and crawl away from him.
3) Do this until you get to the gate.
4) Stand up slowly facing away from him
5) Slowly put the head collar on and give him a treat.
6) Have someone hold the gate open for you
7) Hold the lead rope right at the end, let your horse stand there, but walk through the gate yourself.
8) Hold a treat out and gently put pressure on the lead rope. He may be scared so gently reassure him in a low soothing voice.
Another thing to remember is keep your body rounded and relaxed. Don’t show him fear or make your body squared. It will take a few weeks for him to trust you completely. Do this once a day at the same time. Horses tend to work better in a routine.
I hope this helps.
Good luck!
Sarah
I would like to offer some tactics I tested out on mustangs, on the path to finding what worked for each individual horse (my farrier was Amish man. W worked well together)
1. Feeding Magnesium pellets regularly (wild horses lick minerals off rocks. Digestable Magnesium is lacking in their diet in captivity. It is so important to a horse’s stable mind set)
2. Feeding ground raspberry leaf. Encourages calmness.
3. Keep horse haltered at all times in a break away halter. If pasture is safe, clip a 1 or 2 foot lead to hang from halter & leave on at all times.
4. Keeping a treat of some sort in pocket and offer whenever horse willingly joins up with you. I know I will get a lot of flack for this but Mustangs are 90% stomach oriented. Stop treats when horse coming to you is 2nd nature to horse.
5. Allow horse to stand tied up safely (safe halter, panic snap, safe environment, NOT enclosed, you be close enough for dire emergency) for consistent amounts of time. Build up to 20 – 30 minutes. Do this on a regular basis & very often, till standing quietly occurs. Do not stay in eyesite of horse during this training exercise.
6. Spend lots of time devoted to grooming horse with no agenda. Look at nature of wild horses. Grooming displays affection & is one tool they use to calm or comfort each other.
6. Keeping horse enclosed during trimming with rump against wall. Some horses find this position calming.
The key to mustangs is working with nature. Flight instinct has been highly developed in them & passed down by elders. We want them to believe that coming along with us is the best chance of their survival in any circumstance we ask them to enter into. WE are their new herd leader. They need to trust we lead them with their safety as the primary concern. And what we ask of them is always asked only to better their lives. Remember the herd mentality these horses have. Humans may be in control, but we want them to gladly accept us into their herd family. That takes time.
John Lyons said “the best lead rope you can obtain for a horse is the one inside their head”
I like the suggestions from Lisa Williams. I didn’t know about the magnesium. I will take care of that asap!
The part about working with nature with mustangs is dead on!
Thank you
I purchase from United Equine on-line. Best price I found, free shipping and no sugars/starches as fillers. Mustangs should not have the extra sugars or starches that is added to much of equine feeds on the market.
Jules, Wanted to share how I feed all the other nutrients my mustangs need. I use Equi-lix by Sweetpro. It is everything they need to supplement hay or grass forage (except magnesium). It comes in a tub & I buy at a local store. Horse lick or chew the block like a salt lick. My mustangs are out 24/7 roaming pasture. They have free choice to the Equi-lix. To keep them moving in winter, I use plastic 55 gallon drums cut in half to make feeders (rough edges filed down and drilled holes). I tied the feeders to a tree or post strategically around the pasture & fill feeders every couple of days. Wisconsin winter has just set in. My mares will keep very warm by feeding at will and roaming around. It is a glorious site to see them in winter with nature keeping them warm, fluffy & contented!
Hi Judy,
I had the same problem with a wild Australian brumby we rescued. She was 18 months old and in foal. It took a very long time to get close to her, but you do need to go slow, you need to build a loving trusting relationship, that takes time. If you have another horse, put that with it and then call the other up preferably into a small yard you can close off. then remove the other horse. With Bella I use to take her for walks and do things around the paddock while I held her lead rope, she started out very nervous and shy and still is around strangers however with us, especially my 10yr old daughter its very different, she is affectionate and loving and extremely smart. She now does tricks for her dinner as she use to be quite pushy so tricks were introduced to get her to back away. It worked and she will give kisses now too when you ask for one. The only I can say is be patient, it will come but you do need alot of patience to work with horses that have wild instincts deeply ingrained into their brain.
Lots of these methods work though leaving a halter and rope on a horse in a a field can be dangerous if he hooks himself up on something. You always need to be the leader and if you are not, you need to establish that first, otherwise he may well play with you. Chasing the horse till he prefers to come to you works, but if the pasture is large, you may need to be on horseback yourself as well! Letting him see that all the other horses have gone and are being fed can be quite an incentive too, but ignore him and then come back 10 minutes later and he will be waiting at the gate! In the end, nothing works as well as bonding with your horse so he wants to be close to you, then you won’t need a rope or a halter. If you use a rope, some horses are claustrophobic if you hold it close to his head. Let there be a smile in it and long enough so that if he does pull away, you still don’t lose him.
All of the above are right but try this one. When walking up to your horse and when you think he will move away, you then turn away a quarter take two to four steps away and stop, only turn and move towards him if he’s stopped,(if he moves away you’ve got to close to him), keep repeating this. It could take an age but the plan is not to get him to move away from you. You will get nearer and nearer by taking your time. When doing this, head to his shoulder, never from the back. Alway;s end for the day with you walking away, not him from you. No treats till caught. GOOD LUCK, Your timing will get better.
NO PILLs!!! for some reason he needs some space, not sure what’s going on with him, has he been in a small stall for a long time? Was he wild when you first got him, used to the open range? I think if I were used to wide open spaces and then had to adjust to a small stall for a while, I’d probably be pretty hard to rein in, too. He may be afraid of being confined again if you catch him. Seems like you may have to work on a trust issue…?
Oh goodness! 🙁 Some suggestions will make him fear you. This is a breed that survives on instinct. Please be patient. If he is not shod, than leave the farrier for a later time. As long as he can have free range to get his 20 to 30 miles a day, than his hooves will be alright.5 to 10 acres will supply the right mileage.
I have a mustang that was caught in the wild at the age of 2 years old. It took me time to earn his trust. I would kneel on one knee or both knees and just let him sniff me. Than I would offer fresh apples or carrots cut up and toss them to him at first when he was close to me, than let him take them from my hand while I slowly reached and rubbed his neck or shoulder. Any place away from his head at first.
Please don’t chase him or drug him. In about 2 to 3 weeks of time, he will began to trust you. I spent time brushing and touching my mustang to earn his trust. Than I slowly reach for his halter and just rub his neck, than let go and continue to rub. If all you do is catch him or chase him, he will always see you as a predator and will never trust you.
My mustang runs to me most days. Other days he walks or trots to me. He loves my attention and enjoys a good brushing. With patience and love you will have a wonderful bond with an incredible breed!
Unfortunately she got confused and frightened himself that time. You need to get him to trust you again. There is another way to join up which doesn’t involve chasing him around. You will need patience, but the rewards will be great. Go in to the paddock with or without his feed, and just be there don’t try to catch him. Just be still in mind and body, don’t think just be, once he can trust you and feel your stillness he will want to be with you. Don’t rush him don’t make demands read his body language and go with you gut feelings not what people tell you. This works because the horse wants to be with you, because you join as equals.
I had same problem with my mare and did what sheila did. chase away and they wil want to come toe you. patience and now she only turns twice before standing stil to put halter on.
OMG…..no drugs,chasing & other scare tactics that have been suggested., Sounds like you had him confined to a stall & now he is in an open field/paddock.Just be there in mind, body & spirit.
Go to the paddock for no particular reason…no bribes such as treats.No leads. You just need to bond with this God made wonderful horse. Try just walking around,read a book, sit on the ground..anything but chase him. Give him time to come to you.Take your time…what is the hurry ?
The mineral idea is good…missing in his diet. What & where do you feed him ? Do you have other horses ? Establish some routine when it comes to feed..bring them in their stalls for feed. Make sure you use grain that does not have GMO’s in it, such as modified genetically modified corn…this can have a major problem on digestion & behavior.
Let him become your buddy whilst establishing that you are the dominate one/alpha. Please do give this mustang his preordained dues…he is a mustang so treat him like one ! ! !
A rope tied to a halter is only asking for trouble..what if he gets caught up & has a serious injury ?
Be loving, thoughtful, patient,understanding…God gave you this wonderful animal to care for …so do so gently…will pay off BIG TIME.
Just let him to want to be with you…do not force yourself on him…it will come to bite you in the end & trying to force any animal into forced submission.Force against nature never works.
I do hope you do get the gist of love, patience, understanding,caring & positive relaxed attitude does wonders.
I used to have same issues, not that extreme tho. All of the suggestions are excellent. My friend and I have taken to free-lunging in our outdoor arena, don’t have roundpen. They liked to go stand in a corner and we had to chase them out. Now we stand on opposite sides of arena and chase them out, keeping their feet moving. Rather large arena so it takes 2. Now we just stand in the middle and have got them moving out, no corners usually. I don’t know if it is coincidence but when we go to catch them in pasture they come right up to us. When in the arena and done with moving them around, they walk up to us in the middle and hang out with us loose. Alot of times we scratch their backs and whatever favorited places they have to be scratched. It took 4 yrs. to get this in MY head. My approach changed, the horse responded in kind.
I think Sylvia’s idea is the best. I have a 3 year feral Spanish mustang that was picked on by the young dominant mares in her herd, and she had never been trained, haltered or saddled until I joined her. Another good idea is to be very stern when you put the lead rope on. Stand still and do not flinch or panic, that scares the crap out of them when you move aggressive. Do it smoothly and approach him like he is a prince. Then take the end of the lead rope and run around the round pen in circles with him pulling him closer to you with the lead rope. Then stop quick with him close to you. Turn to him and look him close in the eye and say no body will hurt you as long as I’m here.
Monty Roberts Join Up
Martin Clunes- Horsepower: part 3 video on You Tube
Have a look at other Monty Roberts Video’s, I think he is an Excellent Trainer.