The next day, with halter in hand, go see your horse and pet him. Talk nice. Then put his halter on. Pet him again. Keep talking nice. After a few minutes, take the halter off and rub his body with it. Then walk away.
Now your horse is starting to think, “Great! That’s all he wanted.” For a while, alternate when you ask your horse to work versus not work and take your halter with you each time to keep him guessing, “Is he gonna pet me and tell me I’m purty, or are we going to work a little? I’m guessing he’ll pet me so I’ll stay put.”
Other reasons horses run from their owners is they may lack good training. Another reason is maybe the horse is getting positive reinforcement at the wrong time. How can that be? A horse could learn to run from his owner - and if he does he gets a carrot or some kind of temptation AFTER he runs.
So how do you stop the running and catch your horse?
It depends why the horse runs. If your horse is fearful then you need to get his trust back. You do that by doing positive things with your horse. When you catch him, don’t ask him to work. Get out your brush and groom him. He’ll like that. You want him to think of being with you as a pleasant experience – one that he wants when he sees you. This is especially crucial if you’re going to take him away from his buddies in the herd.
Because the horse feels safe being with his buddies in the herd, you must make him feel safe being taken out of the herd. Thus, when you catch him you can groom him and give a good experience to make him feel safe.
A good practice is to put your horse in a small pen and go up to him. Teach him that it’s good to be with you. This will give you a good foundation to catch him later when he’s in an open field.
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