Have you ever wanted to teach your horse to lay down on cue?
The lay down always gets a lot of attention. I think audiences are mesmerized by this trick because they don’t understand how it is possible to get such a large and powerful animal to trust a human enough to lower its guard in such a way.
However, the lay down actually can be one of the more simple tricks to teach a horse.
In this post, I am going to discuss two methods of training the lay down, including pros and cons for both methods. These are not the only methods out there for teaching the lay down, but they are the only methods that I have had significant success with.
Method #1: Capturing Natural Behavior
Prerequisites: Absolutely no prior trick or liberty experience is required for this method, but you should have established a trusting relationship with your horse.
I don’t need to tell you that laying down is a natural behavior for a horse. What we need to do is capture that behavior and then assign a cue to it.
The first step for this method is getting your horse comfortable with you being in their “bubble” while they are laying down. If a horse is laying down on their own, they will get to their feet if they feel at all threatened. So, your horse must be completely comfortable with you before you can capture the lay down.
If you’re lucky, you can catch your horse laying down in their stall or paddock and carefully see how close you can get before they feel the need to move. Some horses will already be secure enough to let you approach and touch them, while more nervous horses may have a larger bubble. If your horse gets up when you approach them, just have patience. Make sure you move slowly and take pauses when you approach them, and pay attention to their body language so you can stop before you get past their threshold.
Another great opportunity to get your horse comfortable laying down around you is when they want to roll. Most horses most like to roll after a ride, when they are sweaty, after a rinse off (warm weather only), when they are shedding, and when they have been wearing a blanket for awhile. They most like to roll in soft sand, so if you have good footing in your arena, it will make this easier.
I like to turn the horse loose if possible while they get used to laying down around me. I then follow the horse at a distance that they are comfortable with while they lay down. Over time, I will reduce the distance. When I feel the horse is ready, I will ask for the lay down while the lead rope is attached so that I have more control over the horse’s position.
When your horse is comfortable laying down next to you, you can start to add a cue. For my cue, I say “down” and point to the ground or tap the ground with my whip. You can use a different cue as long as you are consistent.
Give your cue as your horse starts to initiate the lay down, so they start to associate the cue with the behavior. In time, you can begin to give the cue earlier, until eventually you can give the cue before the horse has even thought of laying down.
Once your horse is laying down consistently on your cue, you can start to test the training by asking your horse to lay down at times when they might not normally roll and in different locations. Always aim to work within your horse’s threshold. In all trick training, it is always best to not be greedy. Work in small sessions and aim to end on a positive note, even if it means ending early.
Always give positive reinforcement as soon as your horse lays down. You can use a food reward or pets and praise.
Pros: Easy skill level, accessible for nervous horses, builds trust
Cons: Sometimes it can take a long time for your horse to lay down with this method. For example, some horses are picky about laying down and will circle three or more times before laying down. However, the lay down can be quickened with practice.
Click here for full video tutorial on training using this method.
Method #2: Lay Down from the Bow
Prerequisites: Able to hold bow for several seconds with knee on ground.
For this method, you will start with your horse in the bow position. If you have not yet taught the bow, I do plan to write a post about that – make sure you subscribe by entering your email at the bottom of this page so you don’t miss it!
From the bow, guide your horse’s head to the side in the direction of their bent foreleg. You will be aiming for your horse to touch their opposite shoulder to the ground which will initiate a lay down.
Be careful not to be forceful with this method. Small steps make fast progress! If your horse begins to feel uncomfortable, immediately release pressure so that you do not lose trust in the process.
Pros: Since you are managing the horse’s position more actively, you can better control where and how quickly your horse lays down.
Cons: Requires previous training in bow, can make some horses feel uncomfortable, can cause horse to confuse bow and lay down (but can be clarified with further practice)
You can definitely combine these two methods, for example using Method #1 early in the horse’s training, and add Method #2 later in the horse’s training once bow and lay down are separately established.
Have you trained your horse to lay down on cue? Share which method you used in the comments!
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The Liberty & Trick Training Journal ($10) was made especially for liberty horse and trick training features many fun pages to help you set, track and accomplish all your goals! This journal features pages to make a training plan, write down notes about your training sessions, build your liberty act, prepare for performances and competitions, and more!
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This liberty journal includes:
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This is a PDF version of the journal, which includes both an interactive PDF for digital journaling as well as printable PDF files for printing and sharing with friends.
This liberty horse journal is also available in a printed book version.
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