How to Catch a Loose Horse: Lessons from Outlaw the Mustang's 66 Days

How to catch a loose horse: the short answer

To catch a loose horse, stay calm, don't chase, and make it easy for the horse to come to you: close off the dangerous exits, let it settle, then walk up slowly at its shoulder with a halter and a feed bucket. If the horse is on or near a road, call 911 first and keep everyone out of its path.

Running after a horse makes it feel hunted. It will usually run farther and faster, often straight toward traffic. The people who catch loose horses fastest are the ones who look like they have all day.

What happened to Outlaw the mustang

Outlaw is a BLM mustang living in Carroll County, Maryland. At the end of June 2026 a lawnmower spooked him, he jumped a fence and vanished into the woods around Liberty Reservoir.

Over the next 66 days he was spotted dozens of times near Deer Park Road. Neighbors worried about him and about drivers, especially after one driver reported nearly hitting him in fog.

A team came together to bring him in safely:

• Carroll County Animal Control, which led the operation
• Professional horseman JR Raulerson
• Gentle Giants Draft Horse Rescue in Mount Airy
• The Humane Society of Carroll County and Baltimore City Environmental Police
• The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which advised on trapping because Outlaw is a mustang

How they caught him without a chase

• Scouting first. Raulerson used trail cameras, a drone and quiet scouting on foot to learn where Outlaw ate, rested and traveled.
• The buddy-horse plan was dropped. His first idea was to use his own horse to lead Outlaw into a pen. Gentle Giants experts warned it might fail because Outlaw had been corralled in the wild before.
• A pen where he already lived. The team built a pen in the woods near Outlaw's spot, baited it with hay and other food, and watched him on camera until they knew his routine.
• A chute he walked through on his own. Crews set up a chute of 59 fence panels leading to a trailer. Outlaw walked through it himself and loaded without incident. Animal Control announced the capture on Sept. 3, 2026.

The Humane Society's director summed up the danger: spook a horse like this and he darts, and that dart is the riskiest moment for everyone. Officials called the voluntary approach the safest option for people and horse.

Where Outlaw is now

CBS Baltimore reported on Oct. 7 that Outlaw is safe and settling in at Gentle Giants. The rescue's latest update shows him calmly wearing a saddle for the first time, a big step for a horse who spent the summer in the woods.

Loose horse on the road: what to do first

A loose horse near traffic is an emergency for the horse and for drivers. Do these things in order:

1. If you're driving, slow down gradually. Turn on your hazard lights and don't honk; noise can send the horse into your lane.
2. Call 911. Give your exact location, which way the horse is heading and a short description. Ask responders not to chase it.
3. Kids: stay back and get an adult. Never step in front of a running horse; it can run you over without meaning to.
4. Block the road, not the horse. Use parked cars with flashers and adults standing well to the side to close off traffic, leaving the horse a calm route toward a field or an open gate.
5. Watch from a distance. A horse that is grazing quietly is safer than one being cornered. Let help arrive.

See our safety guide for more on staying safe around horses.

Step by step: catching a horse that has slowed down

Once the horse stops running, your goal is to look boring and helpful. Here is the routine experienced horse people use:

1. Grab your kit. A halter, a lead rope and a bucket with a handful of feed. In a pinch, a belt, hay twine or a rein can go around the neck.
2. Slow your body down. Walk, breathe out, keep your shoulders soft and look at the horse's shoulder, not its eyes.
3. Rattle the bucket from a distance. Let the horse decide to come closer. Many will walk right up to a familiar sound.
4. Approach at the shoulder, at an angle. Not head-on and never from behind, where you are in the kick zone.
5. Let it eat, then slip the rope over the neck. Once you have the neck, put the halter on calmly.
6. Use a buddy. Horses go to other horses. A calm companion led nearby, or waiting in a paddock with the gate open, is often the best bait there is.
7. Afterward, keep it quiet. Walk the horse to let the adrenaline wear off, check its legs and body for cuts, and never punish it. Call your vet if you see wounds or lameness.

Tip: Station someone at home. Loose horses often head back to where they are fed or where their friends are.

Catching your horse in the pasture should be practiced on calm days, too. Our groundwork guide covers leading and haltering basics.

Catching a mustang or a frightened horse: why traps beat ropes

A wild-born mustang is a different case from a pet that slipped out of the barn. Its flight instinct is strong, it may barely tolerate handling, and, like Outlaw, it may have been corralled before.

That is why the BLM uses bait and water traps on the range: corral panels stocked with hay and water that horses enter on their own. The agency limits how many people are at a trap site because horses won't come near when there is too much activity, and some of its bait-trap gathers can run for months.

The same lessons apply to any horse that is too scared to approach:

• Feed in the same spot at the same time. Turn the trap into part of the horse's routine.
• Use cameras, not crowds. Trail cameras show patterns without adding pressure.
• Fewer people, less noise. Every extra person is another reason to bolt.
• Expect days or weeks, not minutes. Outlaw's capture came after weeks of patient work.
• Call the pros. Animal control, rescues and experienced horse handlers have panels, trailers and practice.

Want to understand why horses react this way? Read about horse behavior, how to desensitize a spooky horse and what to know before you adopt a mustang or rescue horse.

Horse ran away: how to find it

If your horse is already out of sight, act fast but think like a horse:

• Search where it feels safe: near other horses, water, food or familiar trails. Check at dawn and dusk, when horses move most.
• Make calls right away: animal control, the sheriff's office, neighbors and nearby barns.
• Post a lost-horse alert with clear photos, color, markings, any brand or microchip, and your phone number. Print flyers too; not everyone in rural areas is online.
• Leave hay and water at a familiar spot and set a trail camera if you have one.
• Ask people not to chase if they see the horse. Ask them to call you with the location instead.

Prevention checklist: stop the next escape

A few more habits that pay off:

• Halter tags: a tag with your phone number helps whoever finds your horse. If a horse wears a halter in the field, use a breakaway one.
• A halter and lead at every gate, so nobody has to run back to the barn.
• An emergency plan with your vet's number, a neighbor with a trailer and local animal control saved in your phone.

What to watch next

• Outlaw's progress. Gentle Giants keeps sharing updates; his next steps under saddle will show how far patience can go.
• Fall conditions. Shorter days, fog and storms make loose horses harder to see and fences easier to damage. Check your fence line now.
• Teach the family. Make sure kids know the rule: see a loose horse, stay back and get an adult. Our kids section and horse safety for kids guide make it easy to practice.