Hey thanks, I am so glad & proud of these guys, there bout amazing!
Sterling, you are right, he isn't happy about being on his back... not because he is old or uncomfortable, its because he can't eat the grass!!! Every chance he gets, he will eat grass, there is nothing wrong with that, but he can't do it on his back!! When midnight lies on his side (playing dead) he will be flat on his side, not moving a muscle, except his mouth! He is still grazing!! So he is mad he can't eat, that’s all! Lol
The lead rope on Billy's leg is simple to explain, there are two or three ways to teach a horse to lie down: Food, force, or a trust mix. I happily use the trust mix; I gain my horses trust, reward with food & treats & apply pressure to help the mini to know what I want. Both our horses are fully trained, but the grass was tempting them, so when I asked him to lie down, he wasn’t listening, he had grass on his mind too, so went back to a training stage and applied pressure, it dose not hurt them at all & it helps them learn. The lead is only on his foot when he is lying down & I put it back on his halter when he is down, the picture was taken before I did that!
All problems are really because of the grass, all these horses were trained in our arena (With no grass!) & these pictures had to be taken outside and we were running out of time. So things weren't really done the way they usually were. We give our horses time and patients, but the lady taking the pictures (for a news paper) was out of time & getting annoyed… so we hurried them up a little, that’s all. They love doing the tricks, or they simply wouldn’t do them, I have one that won’t do them, so I let him be, & do something else with them (driving).
Desiree