How to Lay a Horse Down and Why We Do It

Laying down this 3 year old filly for the first time. Why do we lay horses down? Does it hurt them? Answers are in the video. (Gets a little western about half way through).

[@verticegirferd5069]

I don’t see the point of risking a horse getting tanglesd and risk them breaking their leg.

[@rasmusdanborg7803]

This man is, in my opinion, an extremely good teacher! - it was clear what he meant, when he described the process and with every action, may it have been unforeseeable, he was calm and sure of himself. Thank you sir for a great tutorial! ✌️

[@oliviahoman1873]

Thank you, I have been waiting for a long time for a horse that hasn’t already seen this stuff and a real reaction I knkw to look for in mine

[@SteveDyer]

Glad it was helpful.

[@leaannsavage2231]

YES! VERY grateful this was done from scratch. Much better than doing it with a horse that has already been laid down before.

[@tabbyMartz]

I've been STRUGGLING with a gelding that has evidently had some trauma with his former owners. He is FEARFUL of everything, has complete meltdowns. I was ready to give up, and I came across this video. I took notes and studied and watched this video 5 times, and decided This is what my gelding needed. So this afternoon I did it. It got pretty western but he finally laid down. I was finally able to remain calm through the whole thing. I walked up to him and sat with him for a good 20 minutes ( he didn't flinch) I finally got up and asked him to join me. And he got up and it was like he completely did a 180. it was amazing. To top the whole thing off, when I put him back in his stall he allowed me to pet his face and neck without shying away like he always has for the last several months... Thank you for making this video and giving me hope again

[@sarahfannin906]

Ive tried this two days in a row with my almost three year old filly. We didnt get her down. She crashed into a panel and cut under her jaw. I ended the session by holding her foot up some more and doing some groundwork exercises she knows well. She is an absolute doll. Really doing well in her groundwork. She is super respectful, BUT we decided to try this because she at times is still fearful of me. Ive done a whole lot of groundwork exercises to get rid of it. Ive also slept in her stall. She is confident and calm in her surroundings. But fearful at times of people. We prepared to try this for the last week. Getting her used to her feet and legs being tied. Leading by the feet. Giving to the pressure. Anyway i dont know if I have the strength to put enough pressure on the rope. I had my husband help me and she went crashing around the round pen. He tried but his timing might be off. Cut under her jaw. Im scared if I have ruined her by trying something traumatic and failing to show her what im asking. I dont know of we should keep trying? Whst would yoi say?

[@Heelers508]

My mare is almost same, high head, anxiety, honestly she has nothing to worry about. She just very dominating and spooky. It’s honestly a bad combination.

[@rlredifer410]

I guess that works for you but from my experience there are much easier and better ways. Btw…..I’m 61 and have done a thing or two.

[@SteveDyer]

I’m curious what you do that is easier. I do know of quicker ways to do it, but they are forcing the horse down.

[@rlredifer410]

@@SteveDyer I break it down in smaller pieces and I start with a cue such as tapping the shoulder. Then I follow with the giving up the foot. With a lead or reins, I tip their nose away and rock back to eventually get them to go to their knee of the foot that’s up. With my lead/rein hand I apply downward pressure to their withers too. All this is broken down in steps and releases along the way. Key is the release the moment they settle. It takes me several days to get them down but when they got it they got it. If the horse truly understands pressure release they don’t get fearful or struggle. In my opinion it’s a lot safer to go at it slower. It’s hard to describe what I do in a short writing.

[@rlredifer410]

@@SteveDyer regardless of the hows, in my opinion I think teaching a horse to lay down on cue is an important safety skill. Where I’m at we do a lot of backcountry riding with potential for injury. I teach it so I can get on him if I’m injured and can’t get on from the ground.

[@SteveDyer]

@@rlredifer410 I understand your method now. It is less stressful on the horse but takes sometimes quite a bit longer. Thanks for your informed comments.

[@tammygeletko8875]

What a great informative video. I was happy to see the bloopers that others edit out of their videos. This helps me know that it does and can happen.

[@chrisw5847]

No physical pain to the horse, agreed 100% physical pain to the rider/trainer very possible 😂 All jokes aside, great content. I've been looking for a good video explaining this and finally found something. I'll give this technique a try on my 17 y/o TWH 16.1HH. I just subscribed to your channel good sir

[@SteveDyer]

Great. Let me know how your horse responds.

[@msm7927]

Firstly respect for the courage to show this. It is a controversial subject and even though I'm not specifically for it, (I am no professional) it might hold some value if done correctly (only after correct training and good foundation) and I won't be so bold to say I know better. I would like to ask you though why you don't just train her to lay down. Obviously it would take a lot of time but wouldn't that be a good alternative? It would be much less stressful. Or do you want that stresslevel just to prove to her that even then she'll still be OK?

[@SteveDyer]

Thanks for your thoughtful questions. I actually addressed them in the most recent lay down video I did about a month ago. I don’t need to teach a horse to lay down. The way I do it is supposed to be stressful, but not painful. The stressful method helps the horse deal with its fears.

[@101kiwi]

What do you think of the idea for non professional experienced people who are confident enough to give this a go but instead use a one legged hobble for a couple of days first to get them used to holding the leg up but without trying to lay them down. That way during the initial fight of the trying to regain their leg and spinning there is no chance of us losing the contact keeping the leg up. Obviously can’t use to lay the horse down as won’t be able to untie it, but at least when moving to the belly rope leg up system that initial stage is removed for most part.

[@SteveDyer]

Should work fine. You can always break something down into smaller steps and do it slower.

[@darwincorbett2008]

People don't understand how good this is for your horses. Great job

[@bethfiori4708]

What is the purpose of this? I missed what it's designed to teach the horse.

[@SteveDyer]

It helps a horse deal with excessive levels of fear.

[@amberblyledge7859]

I think I'm going to try this with my gelding and mare, slightly less invasively, but still lay them down. I don't have deep sand and I'm terrified they would break their leg. But I think hobble training my mare would be better for her mental state than stalling. She'll tie good for a while (few hours) but can't stand stalls for more than a day. Weaver, pacer, and tendencies towards cribbing. Seen her hook her teeth on a few things and begin thinking about it. Only when she's stressed though.

[@SteveDyer]

Hobble training is good for any horse. I am not a fan of locking horses in stalls. It's unnatural for them and many of them develop bad habits because it is stressful to be confined.

[@p4radigm989]

What do you think about this method to lay down a horse: kzbin.info/www/bejne/m4i3lYWda6qbbcU It took the girl a month not 30 minutes and is less scary and dangerous, but it might not achieve the intended purpose to confront the fear and get more confident. I don't know. She teaches horse by tapping with a whip to step under, raise the legs, and lower the head. But he really only figured it out when she gave him a wet shower before going into the roundpen, so he wanted to lie down anyway. Then he rolls over, which I guess could be stopped. Probably her method wouldn't really do anything for his fears...

[@SteveDyer]

She is basically teaching the horse to do a trick. Certainly nothing wrong with that, but you are right, it does not shock the nervous system. I’ve never done it the way she does, but it seems it would be good for the horse.

[@lisabass5188]

XLNt as well, each horse is different as we know.

[@DungNguyen-hf8fu]

Cảm ơn bạn đã cho tôi kiến thức về ngựa

[@CanIgetAnAmen]

Snowflakes living in New York 😂

[@FknNefFy]

Give her an apple down there

[@FknNefFy]

That’s the most beautiful filly….❤

[@Jim007baker]

John Rarey in the 1860's uses a similar technique to make the horse subservient to humans. He could tame any unruly horse. If you have a chance let me know what you think of his methods

[@SteveDyer]

I have one of his books. Horsemen have been laying horses down for many centuries.

[@FknNefFy]

Seems like you should life the leg then walk TOWARDS HER TO BACK UP making it easier to LAY DOWN

[@guppynuttynz7729]

I've just recently done this with one of my mini horses. He was scared of everything and super defence. He's had a total change in perspective, attitude is much better. And safer to work with him now. I love your description of why you would do this. 100% agree, not all horses need it. But for some it's necessary to become a safe horse, and a happy horse in the long run

[@Chanelson2010]

I wish you showed her get back up

[@elusiveDEVIANT]

Roy Good might have a thing or two to say

[@alejandrobonilla1303]

I’ve been trying this technique I got him to bow in like the first 30min but won’t lay down. What do u suggest to get him down, just patience? Been doing it for a week

[@whitneymcfarlane9325]

We just did this technique with my horse and we increased the pressure until they got further in the process then release it and so forth until they lay down

[@FknNefFy]

6:05 I mean…. You were asking for that one…ya pulled her off balance.

[@daniellewelch2430]

Would this help a hard to catch horse? Very well trained, can be spooky at times but super easy to reirect.

[@SteveDyer]

Probably would help.

[@lisabass5188]

...Oh dear, I have low blood pressure, but watching this is the cure, haha! She really is a lovely filly isn't she? Is her color called Palomino or?

[@SteveDyer]

Palomino. Very light color

[@Yearite84]

Why is she just laying there? Can’t she get up? Is she panicking?

[@camillamowbray4707]

she's in freeze response - total dissociation

[@FknNefFy]

Hahaha ❄️warning!😂

[@hassansabbagh310]

Job very well done my friend all the way from the land down under 🇦🇺

[@SteveDyer]

Thanks for watching.

[@famousdex7327]

My kind of trainer 👍

[@Yearite84]

I wonder what Rick Gore thinks of this method.. he uses carrots to get horse to lay down and they’re never scared.

[@lilg1231]

This isn’t him training a trick, which is what you can do with carrots. This is a last resort method to help horses work through deeply primal fears. Horses like this won’t lay down for carrots, treats only work when food is the strongest motivator and primal fear outweighs that every time. Training tricks is fine, but that’s not what this is. Think of it like exposure therapy.

[@Yearite84]

@@lilg1231 but if someone did this to you…would you trust them after?

[@lilik6945]

​@Yearite84very valid argument. as someone who has suffered from a panic disorder, exposure can be a huge break of trust. connecting the positive (reward) with the bad (scary situation) eventually removes the bodies stress response just like exposure does, but without the dangerous aspect of the horse being overwhelmed.

[@lilik6945]

​@@lilg1231you CAN definitely fight deeply rooted fears with rewards, its a very simple pavlovs dog response.

[@likaangel8302]

Great job 👏

[@thewoodshows]

Snowflakes 😂

[@katiemadden531]

Thank you for this. How many days in a row did you lay her down? I have a rescue mare that is kind a vicious when asked to do things she doesn’t want to do such as try to bite, offer to kick. Yesterday we saddled her after passing all the major ground work prior to saddling. When we asked her to move her feet, she kept trying to kick our heads off but she didn’t win. After, she was skittish with a horse blanket so I worked on that for 20 minutes until she relaxed and allowed me to throw it on her without moving her feet. I returned to the round pen to get her and as soon as I stepped foot in there she offered to kick me. I grabbed my flag right there and made her work, until she turned into me and stop showing her butt it me. This girl needs to be laid down, I want to make sure we do it safely for her and myself though. I hope it will reduce her aggression and lack of respect. I can get her to respect me in that moment, it’s when we move on to fresh new contact we have to start over.

[@SteveDyer]

I understand why you say your mare is vicious. Believe me, I have been attacked plenty. However, I think it will help both of you if your understand she is using her “fight” instinct in response to fear. She’s not trying to be bad, or evil, she’s trying to survive. Overall it sounds like you are handing the behavior well and I expect, if you are consistent, it will gradually decrease. That has been my experience with those types of horses. Concerning laying down, it might be better to wait until her ground work is better and her trust in you improves. I typically lay a nervous horse down at least two times on different days. I will do it more if I think it’s warranted. I know a mustang trainer who does it dozens of times. What you are looking for is relaxation and acceptance of you from the horse when it is on the ground.