How to train a horse to come when called?

Hot Mess: How to train a horse to come when called?
In the winter, all the horses stay up close to the barn in their pasture. But in the summer, they have hundreds of acres to roam and I know my new gelding will be all over it. I don’t want to have to walk over creeks and streams just to get to him. And I may not even find him- they even have little forests and such. My trainer has a horse that knows how to come when called, but she bought her that way. Plus, my trainer is on vacation right now.

Anybody have any tips?

Answers and Views:

Answer by Bobbi
Give him a reason to come. Set the example in a smaller area where you have control over the issue, Once he gets the idea that when he comes, he isn’t ALWAYS going to get ridden, but he is ALWAYS either going to get a treat and/or groomed and turned back out. As he gets more reliable, make the area larger and larger, until you can depend on his responding right from where he is right now. I would probably find a whistle that travels a long way and use it exclusively for this purpose. Be patient and good luck.

Answer by jonparks1
it’s easy
feed them grain daily in the same buckets and you should shake them so they can hear it when you feed them. then anytime they see the buckets they will come running once you have them grain trained you can move on with adding whatever you want to call them at feeding time. eventually a carrot will work with your call.

Answer by HorseLuver17
First off, I am not sure if this technique will work for you because I do not have hundreds of acres. This is what I did to teach my horses to come to me when I call them (I am not even sure if this is the proper way, but it still kind of works). I can see all my acres of grass whenever I am standing by the barn, and so that means my horses can see me and I can see them. First of all, I whistled. The horses looked up at me, but they continued to eat. I whistled again, and they still did not come. So I grabbed a halter and lead rope and walked over to where the horses were. I caught my mare, Sandy, and lead her back to the barn. I took a carrot, let her loose (but she did not run away, she stayed right where I let her go) and fed her the carrot. Then I brushed her, petted her, and gave her the normal TLC. I did that with all the horses. Then I left and went back home. The next few days I had to follow that technique until, finally, one day I whistled and they walked up to the barn. I fed them their normal oat ration and gave her TLC like I had those other days. To this day, they still come to the barn. I think they come just to be fed, but they save me from walking acre after acre just to catch them. Like I said, this may not work for you, because you have loads more acres than I do, but I hoped I helped a little.

Answer by scare face
well every animals they know their name so if your horse has a real name for long time that she or he can remember when you call try to give some good food on your hands like corn, or horse food, and when you call then show hands and a backed that they know you have food and love too, do not scare them

Answer by charm
Find out what your horse’s favorite thing is. It might be food, it might be grooming, it might be a special treat.

Make sure that each time you call your horse– even when you have to go out and catch him. Whistle, call his name, even if he is ten feet away.

Once you catch your horse, treat him. A lot. Also, any time you ride, begin and end the riding experience with a treat– again, it might be grooming, it might be food, it might be both. It depends on the horse.

Never follow a set pattern– don’t always ride at such and such a time, or they quickly learn to think, “Nup, not coming– I know what time it is.”

As long as most of the time, being caught is rewarding to the horse, he will come when called. Oh, and if it is a herd of horses, it pays to treat the rest of the herd a little bit– that way they all come, and you aren’t trying to tempt your gelding away from the entire rest of the herd.

Answer by i luv my horse!! 🙂
if he comes to the barn give him a treat and reward him for that…that is what i did with my horses and now they come to the barn when ever their name is called.hope this works!!

Answer by Lilian
Grain treats is a good Idea but handing out grain when there is a bunch of horses can be very dangerous. If you have a dominant horse that will charge at the others and you are in the way, a scared horse will run over you before he will get bitten by an angry horse. If there is another corral they could be taken to and fed, if you are feeding hay. Let them get hungry, catch them one at a time and take them into another corral where they are fed. Then they would want to be caught.

Answer by ♥BananaAnna♥
I actually trained a horse to do this.

Start in an enclosed area, such as an arena or an area you have blocked off with logs/jumps/fence/etc. Get a bag of carrots/some apple slices/etc. Start a few steps away from him, hold out the treat, and call his name. When he comes to you, give him the treat and some pats, and then walk away from him again. Keep repeating this. When he will come to you immediately at this distance, increase it. Go back twice as far, and repeat the above steps. Keep increasing the distance until you can be on the opposite end of the arena and he will still come to you. Then try it in a small pasture. Just keep increasing the distance until you can’t even see him and he will still come. You might want to try a bullhorn once he has this mastered so he can always hear you.

Also, teach him he will not always get a treat in FOOD FORM. Teach him that he may just get a grooming and some love. Teach him you may just pet him for a little and then let him go. Last thing you teach him is that sometimes you’ll ride him.

Answer by palominopeaches
mt horse knows her name, i never really trained her. i just said her name everytime i saw her and she caught on lol just feed him alot of treats when he comes to you and soon hell recognize you and his name