This week, Cactus had his first lay down!
We started the week establishing a cue for picking up the front foot. From there, I added my leg cuff, lifted his leg up, & began asking Cactus to rock his weight back & down until his knee touched the ground. Once he was comfortable with that, we moved into the full lay down. Once down, I rubbed him all over letting him know that laying down was a good experience & nothing that he needed to be worried about even though it's one of the most vulnerable positions a horse can be in.
In the final video, you'll see that Cactus was obviously not in a rush to get up & had no issues laying down. We'll continue to progress the lay down into something that requires less effort from me & something he could potentially do on command if he's here long enough.
Cactus' previous pen mates also went home on Wednesday, so Roach got to rejoin him. Another gelding will also be joining him on Sunday.
Do you have an idea of when you might want to pick Cactus up?
Next week's update will be posted on Friday.
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