Teaching Your Horse to Reach Down (teach a horse to bow)

1. Position yourself in front of the horses. Keep one hand on the lead rope of the horse while holding it loosely but securely. In addition to massaging the horse, you can also grab treats with the other hand. Keep the treats in a bag away from the horse so that it isn’t attracted to grab and reach for the treats.

Be sure to keep control over your horse’s treats and only allow the horse to consume a treat when you want. If your horse decides it’s able to take the treats you want and not do what you want, It could be extremely difficult to teach a horse to bow.

2. Provide a sweet treat beneath your horse’s nostril. The idea is to make your horse reduce its head as much as it’s willing. Bring the treat downwards, toward its feet until it’s unwilling to lower it any further, and then reward the horse and let it consume the food. This will train the horse to reduce its nose with the pleasure of receiving treats.

If the horse doesn’t understand the concept, you can get the horse to lower his head by giving it an easy, steady pull downwards on the rope that is its lead. Do not attempt to push the horse’s head down (it’s more powerful than you). Don’t pull abruptly or forcefully at the rope.

3. Start incorporating instructions. Now that the horse can reach down, you’ll need to train it to do this at the command. You can continue to practice the exercise by using treats placed under the horse’s legs but begin to include spoken commands alongside the food. Select a short and easy command such as “bow down.” Make the request clear before you present the reward between the legs of the horse.

• Repeat the instruction throughout the course. Afterward, reward and praise the horse.

4. Gradually push the horse to go further. Accomplish this by making the treat move more and more towards the ground. You can reward your horse when the head is lowered more than it did during the previous occasion. Continue until your horse has bent its neck close down to its knees, and bend the front leg a bit.

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Teach a horse to Bow.

1. Move to stand next to the horse’s neck and head. Continue holding the rope that leads the horse. The horse might shift its head towards you or turn its head towards you. Take your time, and use the rope as a lead to get the horse to remain close to you. If it’s still, you can run it between the horse’s front legs to pull it down while kneeling.

2. Place snacks on your horse’s feet. You should allow your horse to feel your arm and leg if you need to reach behind his legs. The horse may attempt to move back, so it doesn’t have to bend its knees to get to the treats. Do not praise this behavior and insist that your horse remains at a halt. It should be applauded and allowed to eat the treat if it can reach it without kneeling. Repeat the procedure with the treatment further back.

• Continue using the rope of lead to gently aid the horse in lowering its head.
• If your horse isn’t sure about this new change, take him back to reinforcing the previous lesson from the front sometimes.

3. It is important to recognize kneeling. You should reward your horse immediately when it bends one knee to reach the reward. Take your time with your horse while it begins to learn to kneel, as it’s not the most comfortable horse position. The horse might stumble or fall when trying to kneel for the first several times. Encourage them by offering frequent rewards for obedience, and don’t stress your horse by pushing it to keep trying the task for too long.

The horse naturally puts one leg forward when it kneels and then lowers the head of its body to get to the food. You’re prepared to continue when the horse is kneeling on the floor.

If your horse is hesitant to kneel, you can use a second rope wrapped around the foot of your horse to gently urge the horse to stretch its leg and bend. Apply gentle tension on the rope while you give the treat under your horse’s nose.

4. Make sure you use the same commands. Do not change the command you’re using or alter the wording by adding additional words. Don’t repeat the command when you’re not trying to convince your horses to bow; this will aid the horse in understanding the command and bowing.
5. Gradually take treats out of the exercise. As your horse starts to comprehend your commands, you can start alternating with treats during the exercise or offering a hand with no food with the command, as well as the pressure from the rope leading to get your horse to bow.

• If your horse cannot comprehend or does not bow, keep training with treats and then try to do it again.
• In the end, your horse will perform the bow only after receiving the command and an encouraging push from the rope leading to it. Keep praising and rewarding your horse each time it makes a bow.

6. Remind your horse about his training. Just like people of horse owners, they can forget tricks and techniques you’ve imparted to them when they don’t get the chance to practice them frequently. After you’ve transferred your attention to teaching your different horse tricks, you should practice bowing and kneeling to ensure the horse’s brain remains new when it’s time to show it off.

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