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Training ~ Laying Down A Horse - Part 2

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CAUTION: Be extremely careful around the horse when attempting these excercises. We don't recommend trying this on your own the first time. We recommend consulting a professional trainer, attending clinics, and seeking advice from knowledgeable horseman before asking your horse to lay down -- you can get hurt.

Part 2: Laying down with a saddle

There are many ways to teach a horse to lay down, probably the easiest is with the saddle on. With the saddle, you can use the horn as a lever and you can also use a rope tied around the foot for leverage to assist in bringing the horse down to the ground. At first the horse is probably not going to think that this is such a good idea. You'll probably run into bracing and resistance. That's to be expected, don't get mad at your horse. If you didn't have a horse that will bow softly, you shouldn't be doing this excercise anyhow.

NOTE: Use a saddle that you don't care too much about. There is a chance that the horse will lay down on the saddle and damage the tree.

There are other ways of teaching the horse to lay down. One of the most common is to use a lariat looped around the foot which from the saddle horn (on the opposite side of the horse) to the hoof on the side you are working. This is a good way to start a horse, but it requires an "extra" step that you have to work through. You can bring the horse down more quickly by doing it this way to start, but you will eventually need to progress to a point where you don't use the rope to bring your horse down. We figure you might as well do it with a feel from the start.

tying up the saddle picture

Step1: Tie up the stirrups over the top of the saddle, otherwise the horse may lay down on them and then you’ll have a hard time convincing him that this is a good idea the next time. Remember to use an "old" saddle for this!

Laying down with Saddle Step 2

Step 2: Pick up a foot, just like we did for the bow excercise in part 1. Notice that I'm holding the lead rope on the opposite side of the horse. This is important because I want the head to come towards me and the feet to fall away from me.

Picking up the hoof for cleaning or shoeing and asking to lay down are similar things to the horse -- it’s easy for the horse to confuse these two -- ask differently. There’s nothing worse than a horse that lays down when the farrier picks up their feet. When you pick up the horse's hoof for the laying down excercise ask for the hoof with your body pointed to the front of the horse not backwards like you would for the farrier or hoof cleaning. Your horse will quickly understand the difference.

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Step 3: Ask for the bow like you did in part 1, but when the horse bows, continue to bring the horse over with a feel. I like to use pressure on the wither to bring them over. You can use the saddle horn to get more leverage.

Laying down with Saddle Step 3

This is another angle of the bow, just before bringing the horse over. Ask for the horse to rock back on it's hindquarters and then bring pressure over to the side. Just like they would do naturally. (I'm in there somewhere).

It's important to remember what you saw when the horse layed down on it's own at liberty. Remember how they bend at the knee, rock back on their hind feet and slowly lower their body to the ground? You need to set the horse up to do this with you guiding them down.

Laying down with Saddle Step 4

Step 4: Bring the horse over to the side. Notice that I am rewarding the horse. I'm also ready to get out of harms way in a hurry if something goes wrong.

Laying down with Saddle Step 5

Step 5: Continue to bring the horse all the way over to their side. You must have the stirrups tied up to do this.

Watch where the head and feet go down and the body of the horse lays down. Remember you want the head to come towards you and the feet to go away from you. Use the lead rope on the opposite side of the horse to make this happen. You can tilt the nose out with the lead -- the feet are going to go on the same side of the horse that the nose is pointing, remember this! Notice that in the pictures I do all of my work on the back side of the horse -- STAY AWAY FROM THE FEET!

Hang out with the horse while they are on the ground. Reward them, scratch their withers and their heads, rub them all over on their body. When the horse wants to get up, let him. Don't restrain the horse on the ground.

It took a week to get this horse laying down softly where he would lay with us crawling all over him. We did this by progressing a step at a time; bowing softly, coming over with a feel, then spending time with him on the ground. This is not an excercise that you can force the horse to do. Work on the horse's time and when it's right for the horse it will happen.

Continue on to:

Laying Down, The Bow - Part1 - Laying Down With a Feel - Part 3

There is some risk involved in horse training for both you and the horse. Horses can cause serious injury. Be sensible and don’t attempt anything that is outside your comfort level. This information is intended to illustrate how we apply our training techniques, you are responsible for using this information wisely. If you don’t feel comfortable with your abilities or an exercise, don’t do it! Seek advice or assistance from a professional horse trainer. Stay on the "high side of trouble".

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Last updated: July 17, 2003