Teaching horses to ly down

[Blacksmith]

Hay people

Well im 16 n i have really wanted to teach me horse to ly down i have done a bit of reading about it and well they say u should teach them to bow first which i do agree but i have got him to bow once n now he is a bit unsure with it he didnt get hurts or ne thing he got rewarded the lot. but i was wondering if ne one has there horses doing it if u do cause u plz talk to me or sumthing to help me even website that will help me this is really sumthing i want to acomplish cause when i first got my horse he didnt know how to do ne thing now we are winning jumping, dressage, cross-country n highest point score at pony camp all in a year n a bit.

plus my horse friends dont think i will b able to do it. I want to so them i can.

The site i read about (http://www.naturalhorsesupply.com/down1.shtml#Part%201:%20Teach%20your%20horse%20to%20bow%20down)
hope it works

[G.Gracious]

Quotes from the site:

"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."

"This is an advanced horsemanship exercise that should not be attempted unless you have complete control of your horse and you feel comfortable with your horsemanship skills. "

"We don’t work with our horses on laying down until we have gone through all of the groundwork issues and have a dead calm horse – this is important! We would never consider working with a horse to lay down unless the horse can move it's feet softly, has respect for your space, and already trusts you enough to let you touch it anywhere on it's body. We have some horses that are years away from getting to this -- don't force it to happen."

If i were you i would start with getting a VERY strong bond with your horse before going anywhere near trying to teach him to lie down. Read through that first quote i put.

Why not try with a smaller trick? Say, coming to his name or something?

[virtuallyhorses]

I second that - lying down is an advanced training goal. I too would love to do it but I am working my way through a wide variety of other 'tricks' before even starting on lying down. You need to be 100% aware of your training skills and have 150% of your horse's trust before this one.

My horse currently - smiles, says 'yes' and 'no', sidepasses, shakes hands, stands 'on', counts and bows - we're working on Spanish walk and 'turning around' but I won't even begin lying down until I have some of these either 'bigger' or 'faster' so that I know that his co-ordination and trust is there for me AND that I am competent at working through problems or asking for 'better' performance without getting either of us flustered or in trouble\danger.

If this is your first attempt at trick training - start at the head. To ensure that you have good training practices, make sure you have 2-3 'head' tricks - like smiling, nodding etc before you start on any 'leg' tricks like counting and only once you've got good leg control should you aim for 'full body' tricks. :) Good luck, I'm sure you'll find it fun and rewarding.

[LittleD]

How on earth do you get your horses to do any of these tricks.

I know it's possible to teach horses some tricks (old cowboy films) but never even thought until reading these threads how it was achieved.

How can they nod and count?

Please tell!

[virtuallyhorses]

Nodding and shaking the head are incredibly easy to teach as they are based on reflex actions in response to an annoyance. Pretty much any horse will shake it's head \ neck if something irritates it on the neck - you just have to find the spot - with some horses you may need to tickle or poke near the ears with others it'll be along the neck or at the withers. So training consists of voice, cue, wait for desired action (re-cue if necessary) reward. Repeat. Eventually the trick will work off cues that an audience wouldn't notice and\or voice command alone.

Nodding is achieved by annoying the chest area like an insect- the horse will attempt to bite or dislodge the 'fly' - you reward as soon as you get something like a nod and work from there, to get a good nod working from a voice or remote cue.

Counting is a leg cue, so if you haven't trained any tricks yet - get the head tricks first then we'll help you with leg tricks ;) :)

[Blacksmith]

thanks for all the help i will still want people to right in with tricks for me to do and how to do it i really want to get these happenin n even if sumone has a different way of do tricks please write it in it may be better for me. Plus i got my horse to bow once but i was rocking him. he not working off the feel of it but he should get there i hope but iwant more tricks.

[horsecrazysarah]

Hi,
I know what you mean by wanting to teach your horse to lay down. I am currently working on that with mine and can get him down to both of his front knees which he usually only does to eat grass lol. I figure that if he's down on both knees then by gently pulling his head around to the side then his weight will just kind of give and naturally lay down. We're still working on it. I have found that by teaching several other smaller tricks and working up to the bigger ones that it will boost the horse's confidence and will learn quicker. I have a very close bond with my horse and it really helps a lot. He's actually my first horse (I am 19) and I just got him March of last year and I taught him most of his tricks over the winter months when we couldn't ride as much. He loves learning and doing tricks and he does it so fast. I've taught him to : shake hands, give kisses and hugs (my favs. :) ), say yes and no, smile, act ashamed, act bored (lays his head on my shoulder), pose and wave (which is the same thing but opposite legs), tell me secrets (blow in my ear), open or close gates on command (when I'm on or off him), take a hanky from my front or back pocket and give it to me when I pretend to sneeze, play my lap size piano (so cute), rear (when I am on him), and his favorite "eat" when I say so (hold his head up and then when I say "eat" he can put his head down to graze). He's such a character and the light of my life.

Anyway, my advice is to start with smaller tricks. I have a book called "Trickonometry" that I got some of them out of, but thought up a lot on my own :) Then when it comes to laying down, first get him to bow, then to get down on both front knees then try to get the back end down. That's all I can think of.

GOOD LUCK!!!

:D

[Lucy J]

i have decided not to teach ciara tricks, as my old horse knew a few and would do them constantly which became very annoying. especially when they do them uncued!

[QH~FAN]

Hey guys...
Im at the beginning of teaching my QH/appy mare tricks.
She's 10 yrs, never done a trick in her life - only been broken a year, and she's a very dominant, impatient mare.
We have a very good bond, she's a quiet mare - but can be pushy and crabby at times. his morning i got up and thought - im gunna teach my girl some tricks. (as you do)
I searched the internet wide for tricks, methods, pro's and con's.
I read the best tricks to start with are infact head tricks - but also read those tricks can come back and bite you in the bum, particularly in riding horses - but i believe in most cases - its all in the training and the horses respect for the rider.. So - essentially i'd like to teach her and erray of tricks - but im quite excited about teaching her to bow.
I read one particular site that said one good way to do this is to get a treat, get her to follow the treat down, to the ground in front of her feet, then bring the treat back thru her legs, bring her head down, thru her legs and eventually with practice and persistance, the horse will drop her knee and kneel down and under to get her reward. ---- So this i did, in 5 mins she was dropping her knee,(not putting her leg completely on the ground - but almost) bending her head right under almost biting her girth area happily. Obviously, i will have to keep doing this trick - not every time is as good as the last, and she's quite the impatient horse - so i dont want to push and sour her.
But obviously i wont use carrots for ever to get her to bow - so how do i move from treats to commands, and then to sitting on her asking her to bow - i cant find many sites with good info on them.
If any one has done this - effectivly, i would love to hear about it - and where to go from here...

XXXXX ~k :rolleyes:

[horsecrazysarah]

HI,
Your horse sounds a little like mine except he quits getting so crabby once he sees a treat and we do tricks. :)

Like I said, the book "Trickonometry" is a big help and one thing that it mentions when you come to teaching your horse to do a trick while your on its back is to get a friend who can do the cue from the ground while you're on its back. Eventually you'll need to associate it with a cue that can be used from the ground as well as on its back.

Good Luck :)

[murphy moo]

is it acctualy a good thing teaching horse tricks i mean like when you are riding an you accidently say the word that ques ure hore to lie down or they use these tiricks to get what they want. there is a horse on our yard that has been taught to strech its head sideways i dont understand y but every time ppl walk past its stable it does it.
I can understand asking your horse to lift its leg etc but why would you want your horse to nod an say yes, also a horse is very vunerable when lying down, sorry if i sound v negative but i just dont get why you would do this.

[Rips]

I like most of what that site has to say, what I don't get is why they rock their horses to teach them to bow in the initial training?
The first thing I did with my horse was teach her to put her feet where I tell her to put them, after that bowing was easy. If I ask her to place one leg outstretched and drop her shoulder and bend the other, then stretch down, voila - a bow. I don't need to rock her off balance and force the position.

Granted I haven't attempted anything more difficult then that and they seem to have mastered quite a bit!

[horsecrazysarah]

Hi,
Wow, its been 2 years since I last posted to this thread. :) My horse still knows all these tricks and he doesn't just do them all the time on his own. I think that horse do that because they want the attention. I may sound crazy but I spend at least 2 hours a day just brushing and sitting with my horse if I can't ride him, so he's always gotten lots of attention and the bond is an incrediblefeeling. Also, he knows I'm in charge. I'm not bossy, just in charge. If he moves into my space to do some of his tricks (like kissing me, he used to be notorious for sticking his nose in my face, lol) I just ask him politely at first to move back and a little firmer the next time and he figures it out. It helps if they are extremely sensitive like he is. Also, I think that three quarters of the command for a trick is body language, if not all of it. So if I say "pose", or "gimme kiss" or "up(for rear)", he won't do it unless I'm standing in the right place for it to happen or giving the right cue: like my arm in the air for pose, or the light pressure on the sides and nose for rear when I'm on him.

When I taught him to bow down to his knees, I used a treat, but he wouldn't know what I meant with it unless I ask him to pick up one foot and swing the treat down under him at the same time--body language. Horses naturally tune into body language, I'm sure you know, and if your horse knows who's in charge it shouldn't be a problem. =)