How do you teach a horse to lay down?

Question

i use natural horsemanship with my mare and i want her to learn to lie down on command.what kind of command should i use and how should i train her to do so?

thanks

Ayshaya

Answer 1

To the 1st answer, most old horse men didnt spare force!! We have a boarder at our barn who was telling us about how his trainer trained the horse he keeps at our place to lead correctly...with a war bridle...its a crazy contraption! Im not condoning it or saying it is cruel...I am just saying...yeh lol Im not sure there is a ''natural'' way for you to make your horse lay down...I mean its gotta trust you a h**l of a lot, because you are taking away the fight & flight things..both at once!! Crazy nuts! Good Luck with that...It may take a while!

Answer 2

There used to be ,I guess the 1st horse whisperer about 60 years ago selling mail order horse training books .His advertised name was Professor Beery if I remember correctly.The old guy would make his pitch that he had techniques to break any bad habit, or teach any trick.His 1st price was about $29.oo for the full set of books + the BEERY breaking bridle.Well I waited ,and soon just as today the 1st price is still the highest..At $9.95 I ordered.These prized books came in a nice box ,and I studied.Then copycatted his war bridle.I trained several horses to count,some to say yes or no by shaking their heads depending on what answer I needed Yes he also had a methid to teach a horse to lay down.So find Prof. Beery"s old books in some old horselovers attic There will be a chapter to teach  horse LAY DOWN ,,and the command is SOFT COTTON ROPE.Prof.Beery did not spare force.

Answer 3

I had Professor Beery's books as a youngster. Even then, I found his methods to be cruel and excessively forceful. He advocates using the bridle as a punishment device which will just about guarantee that your horse will never accept the bridle, but hate it. He also recommended tying up a horse's foot to a surcingle so that you could force him over onto his side.

Please do not use his methods. They are the antithesis of natual horsemanship.