First of All.....Catch Your Horse!

by Kelly Marks

Just as Mrs Beeton’s famous household management book starts with the suggestion that you ‘first catch your hare’ before deliberating on which temperature to cook it at, so it is wise to be sure you can catch your horse, before deciding how to cause him to produce the perfect half pass/gallop/water jump or whatever are your present aspirations.

Brenda who runs the office here asked me as I came in the other day ‘Would you like to know how to make a small fortune?’ I thought she was bound to come out with that old joke ‘Start with a large fortune and then own horses’ but no, she told me, we get more phone calls from people that can’t catch their horses than for any other reason. She had this idea we could make our fortunes as equine bounty hunters. We dutifully decided though that perhaps this didn’t really coming under Monty’s ‘making the world a better place for the horse’ banner and maybe we should concentrate on putting Monty’s advice on this subject down as best as we possibly can in an effort to assist some of the frustrated horse owners that call us.

The ideal situation is for the horse to want to come to you

Catching a horse can be looked at in two distinctly different ways. One is to get close enough to the animal to get a rope round his neck and you have him caught. The other is to get the horse to want to come to you and thus be caught. Anyone would agree that the most desirable state of affairs is to have the horse wanting to come to you. To which people reply ‘Yes, well that’s all very nice but how do you do it?’ The way that you do it is to cause coming to you to be the path of least resistance. You cause that to be the comfortable zone, while the other zones are not so comfortable. Cause them to be slightly uncomfortable and go to work, when they’re doing what you don’t want and cause them to be extremely comfortable, and no work, when they are doing what you want them to do.

As Monty has proved, you can go out in 42,000 acres, ride for 36 hours non-stop, and in a total of three and a half days cause a mustang to want to be with you (or at least Monty can). It was an incredible achievement, but it was done mainly to draw attention to what can be achieved without aggression and conflict. It may not be that practical for your average horse owner.

You may be surprised to hear that Monty actually recommends, at least to start with, finding a way to limit your horse’s ability to get away. You may have to find a way of driving him into some safe little catchment area alone and getting a rope over his neck. But if you’ve studied Monty’s concepts you understand the principles of giving the horse value for coming to you (depending on his stage of training it could be just release of any pressure, eyes down, submissive posture, it could be all these plus a soothing head rub once he’s learned the value of being touched) and aggravation when he moves away (pressure if there is a rope on him, aggressive body language and ‘put to work’ if he is in the round pen).

I’ve heard people say horses are ‘naturally lazy’. As they are grazers who in the wild will spend up to 70% of their time eating, I think it is fairer to appreciate that they have, as well as a natural desire to expend energy, also a natural inclination to conserve energy after a certain distance. I don’t think it’s really accurate to call it laziness. Also, although you get the lead mare and stallion in the herd and it is indisputable that some horses appear to have a ‘stronger’ characters than others, again it is their natural inclination to live in co-operation rather than conflict. These points are important to understand because they help to explain why - if you give the horse a clear and easy option, unless he believes he is fighting for his life, he will take the easier path.

It is essential you know the difference between the ‘spoiled’ horse who won’t be caught and the horse that is genuinely nervous or wary of human contact. It is fundamental that your nervous horse has to become totally comfortable and happy being with you before you have any expectations of him coming to you to be caught. There are several ways a horse can be what we called ‘spoiled’ and so made difficult to catch as opposed to frightened by humans.

One of these ways can start very young when the owner has the habit of scratching the top of the foal’s tail when he goes into the mares box. The foal learns it’s good to turn his quarters to anyone coming into the box and this habit can stay with them through life! Basic horse manners of always presenting your head to people entering the stable should be established very early on by ‘squaring up’ when they are turned away from you and being very positive when they face you.

All horses should learn to accept the halter helpfully in the stable as well, lowering their head to accept it. The mare being good to catch will make a tremendous difference to the foal’s attitude but so will your horse’s everyday companions. If he’s turned out with a bunch of wild hooligans it’s not going to help your case at all, you may have to consider a change of companions for him.

Join-up techniques will work in larger areas than the round pen…..

So once we’ve taken our horse through the handling process, halter breaking and two or three join ups in the round pen, does that mean we are guaranteed from then on that our horse will be perfect to catch? He will certainly be enormously easier than if you hadn’t taken those steps, but unfortunately, bearing in mind other negative events that may have happened in his life, perfection cannot be guaranteed quite yet. There is the possibility that you can turn him back out in his familiar field with his usual companions and he won’t be any keener to come to you than he was before. Further manoeuvres may be necessary.

You can approach the reluctance with the same principles when he is in the field as you would when he is in the round pen, your work will be cut out depending on the size of your field. This is definitely a weekend job, NOT something you take on if you’ve got to leave for work in half an hour. You’re going to need to be fit as well as tenacious.

Kelly has succeeded in making this horse want to be with her…

You will get join up in the field if you speak ‘Equus’ clearly. When the horse chooses to go away you immediately square up and advance on that horse, pushing him away, when he stops and look back which he will do eventually, you immediately stop, drop your eyes, and walk away. He’ll soon work out ‘Hey, so when I stop she walks away’. After a pause, walk back towards him with your shoulders on a 45 degree angle, never walk directly at him, it should always be at angles or semicircles. Keep your eyes down. You’ve got to keep your signals very clear. If he decides to go away you put him back to work again.

I find it best to use body language, including my arms but not the halter to send him away. You don’t want him to have an excuse to be frightened of the halter. Just keep that over your shoulder until you are near him. When you get close spend some time petting him, probably just his wither and shoulder to start with. Don’t be tempted to grab his head! Gradually work your way up to his face and spend plenty of time stroking him before you bring out the halter. Horses, being prey animals, don’t see food as a reward in the same way that predators do. For instance, a seal or dog will kill its food and see it as a reward, whereas a horse is used to having food all around him! Having said that, it is always a good idea to have a small feed prepared for him for when he goes into his stable.

You can succeed in making your horse want to be caught!

Monty was telling me recently about a ranch he visited where the owner ran about 50 head of riding horses out in the wild. They were hard working horses used for gathering the 3000 or so cattle he owned. Monty wanted to see a foal from a particular stallion he was interested in so the owner said ‘No problem, I’ll just get them into the pens’. He drove to the top of a hill and started beeping his horn. The horses came cantering into the pen from up to 3 miles away! They were all given hay while they were in there and that is the case every time they go in there. They are often called to the pens just to eat and then be turned out again. Horse psychology is in the main part very simple, it’s not like splitting the atom or trying to assemble something from MFI. Simple, commonsense is what makes the difference. There are three points the cattleman story illustrates, number one it’s so important to bring your horse in occasionally NOT to work - just to have a feed, a stroke and then go out again. Secondly, the cattle owner is making using of the herd mentality and the fact that horses are creatures of habit. He told Monty he would never just take a couple of the horses in and leave the others out, once you start splitting them up and changing the habit you open a window for them to think negatively. As it stands it is an enjoyable ritual for them and he has no horses that are hard to catch. The third important point is his weanlings are turned out with the herd over a year before they are saddled so they learn the system along with all the others.

Whichever method you decide to use (and it’s wise to have as many tricks up your sleeve as possible) just be sure you are working with the psychology of the horse and not just looking at things from a human standpoint "and he KNOWS this is going to make me late for work!" Soon you’ll have a horse that positively wants to be ‘caught’, in fact he’ll come and catch you!

Kelly Marks (as seen on BBC 1's "Barking Mad") explains and demonstrates the subtleties of Join Up and advanced communication skills with horses. Not only invaluable when starting a youngster and helping you relate to an older horse but these methods can even be used to handle 'untouchable horses', solve farriery and loading challenges or horses that won't stand still to be mounted. This teach-in clinic also includes how muddled communication affects your ridden work and can cause 'problem' horses. If you would lile to understand more about horse psychology and want to give horses that come into your life every chance of understanding you - here's an evening not to be missed.

Monty Roberts says "I could not recommend a better teacher of my methods anywhere in the world than Kelly Marks" Find out why!

Taking place in May - are we near you?

A limited number of tickets available at £15 for adults in advance, £7.50 children under 17 (£20/£15) on the door.
Send SAE to "Intelligent Horsemanship", PO Box 2035, Marlborough, Wilts SN8 2TL.
Telephone 01672 541155 before 5pm for credit card bookings (£2.50 total booking fee)

If you would like details of an approved Monty Roberts/Kelly Marks Associate to help with your horse 'Intelligent Horsemanship' course details including the "Monty Roberts Preliminary Certificate of Horsemanship" now in modular form or if you have a horse or pony suitable for demonstration, for starting or with behaviour problems, please visit their website:

www.intelligenthorsemanship.co.uk

Intelligent Horsemanship, Lethornes, Lambourn, Hungerford, Berkshire RG17 8QS