The skilled practice of laying horses down.
Time to get real cowboy here.. we’re talking laying horses down. For some, this might be a completely foreign and strange topic. It’s typically more seen and accepted in the western world of riding and sports. So if you’re immediately put-off by the idea, that’s OK. But hang around and see why we do it. I promise, it’s for good reason. And it works wonders.
DISCLAIMER. This is NOT something I encourage just anybody to do. You must have exceptional feel and an eye for the feedback the horse is giving you. If you’ve got this, please have experienced horsemen who have a successful (and humane) way of laying them down walk you through how to do it. This isn’t something you want to practice by yourself until you’re confident in your knowledge and ability how. I don’t say this lightly! It can be dangerous, and is something that does not have much room for error.
So now you’re probably really wondering why it’s done in the first place. First, we must understand the psychology of the horse. Horses are prey animals, meaning they have a flight or fight instinct. Their first response is to run, if that is taken away from them, they’ll resort to fighting. Hence why horses don’t naturally lay down for long periods of time - they are vulnerable here as a predator is more likely able to attack. A horse that will willingly lay down for you shows an extreme amount of trust that he has for that person. He is fully submitting his entire agenda (and in his brain, his life) to you. He trusts you entirely.
“Cobra”, a 3yo stud colt of mine, was the first horse I taught to lay down.
The reason you’ll see this more often in your western world is because cowboys generally deal with breaking horses. Oftentimes even established trainers in your H/J and Dressage world will send their colts to a be started by a cowboy that specializes in training young warmbloods. Cowboys also tend to deal with the really rank horses - those nobody else can seem to get a handle on. One might lay down a really insecure and flighty horse, which would essentially show him that he can trust you to keep him safe. Another common reason is for the horse that needs a good humbling.. example a horse that’s in training that has miles of bad habits and zero respect for its handler. Or a stallion that has no right to be in tact and thinks he’s hot stuff. I’ve personally witnessed and experienced laying horses down for both reasons, and can attest to its productivity.
Obviously, this is something that is done in addition to a solid basis of groundwork training. And still, the horse usually doesn’t initially go down easily. Remember, we are asking them to do something completely unnatural! Some fight more than others, it varies on temperament, how much he knows and trusts you, what his foundation of training and knowledge already is, etc. I’ve laid down green horses that required time and patience for them to understand and be willing about it. I also laid down my already trained mare whom I started myself and spent countless hours working with, and she immediately went down without questioning me once… something that left me speechless and still leaves me in awe to think about today.
There is a time and place for something like this, it’s an old trick I’ve got up my sleeve that I haven’t used in years. There’s no need for it with what I am doing now, but it was an invaluable tool that I am so grateful to have learned! Maybe a bit of a controversial subject, but that’s any training topic when it comes to horses. There’s thousands of methods out there, and I’ve picked and chosen what I like and don’t like from the various horseman I’ve learned from. This is a handy one that taught me so much that I’ve got for whenever I might need it again!