Teaching a horse to lay down?

Jen Maday: is this a riddle?

Boris Hadsall: Make sure you do this while he's got on a halter and lead rope, so you'll be able to give him direction; and like the other person said, use rewards. You can place your horse's favorite food on the ground to act as motivation, or simply use treats once he learns to do as you ask. However, when you try to get the horse to lie down, lift the horse's leg as you would when you're picking the hoof. Gently rub the chestnut so the horse will lift his leg, then, once he picks up the hoof, hold his leg in the air as you gently press on his back with the other hand. Obviously, you're not pushing him over or causing him to fall down - I don't think human strength can do that, except with only the weakest of horses. This is just to give a little pressure, which shows him that you want him to follow the direction of urging by laying down. If he doesn't respond, pull his head around to his side using the lead rope, causing his balance t! o go off, which gives yet another cue to lie down. I've never taught a horse to lie down before, but this is the method I'd use in trying to get there. Hope this helped! :)...Show more

Azzie Trembly: First, make sure your horse trusts you. Also, remember that like the other people are saying, it is hard for a horse to lay down around us, humans, because they are vulnerable on the ground and we, prey animals, are standing over them. Next, make sure your horse can give to rope pressure and doesn't freak out with having a rope wrapped around its legs. Take a long softer rope and wrap it twice around your horse's front leg and ask your horse to pick up that leg. Keeping your horse's leg up, loop the excess rope around the saddle horn (don't wrap it around, it's only looped over it to have something for you to brace against). Then pick up the reins and slowly, but steadily ask your horse to back up using the reins and keeping the reins short. Your horse will begin to! 'bow' down because they can't actually back up since you have! their leg. Once they are bowed down, it is only a matter of you 'pulling' them over. Some horses will drop down right away, others may put up a fight. It depends on the horse and how desensitized and trusting of you that they are. You don't need to have your horse saddled, but it definitely helps as you can use the saddle horn to help you keep their leg up and once they bow down, you can grab the saddle and help use it to 'knock'/'pull' them over. Once they are down, sit on their shoulder to prevent them from wanting to get up right away, and rub on them and praise them while having them lay for a few minutes then get off of them and ask them to get up. Some horses like to lay there so much they may need a little encouragement to get back up such as voice commands or clicking, etc. IMPORTANT: once your horse is laying down, make sure you unwrap the rope from around the saddle horn so that if/when your horse gets back up they have their foot back and don't get tangle! d. Also, when you have their foot up and you are grabbing the reins to start asking them to back up, just before you back them up, use some sort of a cue that will be your horse's cue to lay down such as a slight 'pinch' on their shoulder. Eventually doing this enough and your horse will associate this cue with laying down and you won't need the help of taking away their foot or using reins to back them up to lay down. It takes lots of practice, and it does usually seem to help if you do this at the end of your session with your horse so that your horse isn't so 'fresh' and is a little tired. Also, you'll be pulling your horse over toward you, so watch your feet so that your horse doesn't land On you. This is also how you can teach your horse to take a bow, as well. Plus, make sure that the ground where you're asking your horse to lay down is soft, such as a soft, deep arena....Show more

Jacinta Moitoso: you cant teach an old horse dog tricks!!

Magda Vande! rgriend: ignore the people at the top - it is perfectly possible to tra! in a horse to lie down on command, and also to get up with you allready on their backs. I've seen the parelli people do it. The above answer seems good, but I think you can also try and encourage the horse to lie down by using food lures. Make sure if you try and teach this that it's done on a soft base such as a shavings bed so the horse can't get hurt.

Mozell Sponsler: Teaching a horse to lay down is a particularly difficult trick to teach a horse. Remember that horses are fight or flight animals, to ask them to get off their feet and lay down, is asking them to give up the ability to either fight or flee. You must gain a horse's trust before ever asking or expecting your horse to lie down for you. There are several methods to teach a horse to lie down- some involving ropes and actually forcing the horse down the first few times, but many horse trainers believe that method to teach a horse to lay down destroys trust rather than building it. For your horse to perform! on command, in stressful situations like demos and clinics, the horse must perform the trick because they want to. The problem in teaching a horse to lay down is associating the action with the command. All horses lie down, but because it isn't a general action when being worked with (or shouldn't be!) it's difficult to find a way to link action with the command. One way to do so, however, to teach your horse to lay down, is to find teachable moments. For example, if you know after a sweaty ride your horse will roll as soon as he's untacked and turned out into a certain type of footing- do it. Set the stage, stand at a safe distance, and as soon as the horse lays down, but before he rolls, praise him and repeat the command you'll want to use. (example: "Good Lay Down, Good Lay Down") If you train with a clicker, click at this moment. If your horse gets up right away that's okay, as long as the horse understands it was the laying down that earned the praise and/or treat.Tea! ching a horse to lay down with this method takes a bit longer, but keep! s handler safer and helps the horse perform more willingly long term. When teaching a horse to lay down, be very careful approaching the horse, if you choose to do so....Show more

Alonso Crehan: whip it

Nedra Oltz: Hey, e-mail my sister, she has gotten our mare to lay down. I have gotten horses to lay down too, but I can't really explain it. If your interested, send an e-mail and I'll pass it on to her, as I don't want to post her e-mail in public. Good luck! :D