The Laying Down Mount
Here is our last getting on method. Our first and, probably, only attempt at it. The video is a bit long because it’s a long involved process. Theoretically I knew we could do it. All the pieces were in place it was just a matter of putting them all together. And I had to catch him in the mood. We’ve been working on laying down for awhile. He does a good job of it on command-ish. But when he doesn’t feel like it he doesn’t feel like it and we don’t do it. I had tried before to catch this but he said no and I turned him out instead.
There is some danger to this method. Not that there isn’t in anything to do with horses, or anything we do in life. Not just in the getting up, but in the laying down. Rusty very nearly broke my foot doing this a few weeks ago. He was doing a perfect job at it. I was standing safely on the side away from his legs and he stood up. watching him now I can see the issue. As he stands he jumps back with his right front leg then pushes hard off of it. I made the mistake of standing in that exact spot and he pushed up off of my foot. It hurt. I may have yelled a little. Not at him, just at it hurting so bad. My yelling scared him and he thought I was mad at him. I was worried it would affect his lay down and had to comfort him before I could limp off to find some ice.
Today was one of his willing days so we gave it a try. I wasn’t sure exactly what would happen when we tried it and was pleasantly surprised when he just stood there. He was a bit confused when I sat on him and started asking for up. I’ve been adding an up cue to his bows. It seems like a good way to extend duration if he knows to stay down until I ask him to get up. I also thought it might help here. He looked at me for awhile like you want what!? Then very politely stood up.
This very nearly concludes our exploration of different and unusual ways to get on. Now I’m trying to think of what we can take apart, examine closely and put back together in new and unusual ways next?? Spanish walk? Bowing? I would like to do a riding something but most of this was done in small pieces, short amounts of time, with children running under foot that I need to keep an eye on. It’s hard for me to find time to saddle up and ride. If it is something simple I can do bareback, that would be good for both of us. Please let me know if you have any ideas!