I've been practising trying to get Prowler to lay down when I ask him. There are many 'methods' one can use and I'm sure if you Google that topic you'll see the myriad of ways humans have used to get their horse to lay down: teaching them how to bow, asking them to stand with their front and back feet very close together (the pre-laying down stance you see horses do on their own), tying a rope to a front foot...etc. I've been watching
Carolyn Resnick's Introduction to the Waterhole Rituals and reading the posts on her blog to get a sense of how to begin doing this.
The first time it happened I felt that Prowler wanted to lay down. I made sure I gave him enough space, relaxed as much as I could in my body, went down and scratched/patted the earn and minutes later he went down. As he was going down I said 'lay down Prowler, lay down' and then 'good boy' when he went down. Carolyn says to have treats ready (your horses favourite) and keep giving them treats to encourage them to stay down. If they get up then no more treats. I haven't progressed to this level yet as I've been focussing on the communication/relaxation required to lay down.
The second time hey laid down near me. I was sitting in my plastic adirondack chair and again I could 'feel' Prow thinking about laying down. I imagined it in my own mind thereby inviting/encouraging him to do it, and then relaxed my solar plexus and dropped my own energy down to a kind of 'sleepy haze'. This time he went down right away and closer to me than he has in the two and a half years he's been in my life. Beautiful. Intimate. Very, very special.
This morning I was doing chores and then wanting to groom Prow a bit (the BIG spring shed is still on) but he kept backing up and saying "um, I'm not really wanting that right now, can you just sit and BE with me?" I said sure buddy, grabbed my coffee and sat on one of my little blue water jugs that I use as mini-barrels, treat holders or obstacles for him to go around. He put his nose down to the ground after a time contemplating laying down but didn't. I decided to get down on the sand myself and see if he would join me but he then took the mental stance of watching over me as horses often do for each other when one is sleeping. I got back up and patted the ground again inviting him to lay down and seconds later he was down 2 feet from me and I lay down and joined him.
This time I waited for him to relax and get some rem sleep in and then when he was more alert I went over and put my hands on him in a loving way and he accepted me there for a while until he told me he wanted to get up.
My friend is such a precious addition to my life.
My horse is my Guru.