How do you teach a horse to bow on command?

Question

i'll be working with some horses soon and one of them can't be ridden, so i'd like to know how to teach him to bow down. this is a picture i got off the internet showing what i want to be able to get him to do:

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k133/katnap74/thank%20you%20comments/bowinghorsecopy.jpg

(just ignore the writing on the photo)

Answer 1

Well it cant bow on command but I beleive if you tap on the withers its a way to start but why would you want to teach it tricks anyway?! Just try to ride him.

Answer 2

Why can't he be ridden?  Is there a soundness issue?  If so, the last thing he needs to do is "tricks".  Just think about it, how would you feel if someone wanted to know how to make you crawl around on all fours at command?  It's not that you couldn't do it, but it would be pretty degrading, don't you think?  We should allow our horses to maintain their integrity and dignity and not ask them to participate in this kind of spectacle.  Why would anyone want to do this?  It doesn't make sense to me.   I do recognize it as a "human" idiosyncrasy because a horse would never sign on voluntarily - it is beneath his noble nature and design.  I understand that people of exceptional ability with horses can lay their horses down and get exceptional responses through their relationship with their horse, but this is a very advanced, beyond riding accomplishment.  It would not be a goal to achieve with a horse that is unable to be ridden????  I don't know why the horse has limitations, but there are probably many tasks that could be more interesting and safer than doing "tricks".   Again, I don't get it.

Answer 3

ok have you tought hi how to bow period well if you have get a dressage whip and to make him  pick his leg up  tap him just above the knee then make him bow  after he does it give him a small treat soon you will be able to when your on him tap above his knee and he will bow always reward him afterwards any other horse questions email me at [e-mail] ill amswer anything

Answer 4

* Steps

1.Walk out into an arena or an open space with your horse in a halter and lead rope.

2.Give your horse a short warm-up session.

3.Once you're done, walk into the center of the area you are working in.



4.Loosen your horse's neck muscles by stretching its neck to the left, right and down.

5.Before you start, gather several small-sized rewards like broken-up carrots or treats.

6.Stand on one side of the horse and put the leadrope between the front legs.

7.Put slight pressure on the leadrope with one hand to get the horse to follow your other hand with the treat in it down towards the ground.

8.Once your horse lowers it's head a little ways, reward him/her and release the pressure.

9.Repeat steps 7 and 8 and get your horse's head a little lower than before.

10.Continue steps 7-9 until you get your horse's head down so far that it has to bend a knee to retrieve the reward that's between its front legs. Once you have reached this point, reward him/her lavishly.

11.Give your horse a short break, then continue with steps 7-10 to get to where you left off before, or even lower.

12.Practice, practice, practice.

*Tips

Do this in a calm/quiet place so your horse won't be spooky.

Always reward even if he/she does the slightest thing correctly. This is positive reinforcement and is more effective than punishing.

A full bow is when the horse has one leg stretched out in front, the other leg bent with the knee on the ground, and the horse's chin is underneath its belly.

It would be best to do this in an area without grass so your horse doesn't get distracted when its head gets near the ground.

*Warnings

Be careful while doing this, the horse could easily lose its balance!

It is very important that you warm your horse up so it doesn't injure itself.

*Things You'll Need

LOTS of carrots or other small treats

Halter/leadrope

Plenty of patience

VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4tgu3nV7...