Trying to lay down while mounting.

I have a 16 year old Morgan that we bought in September 2009, didn't want to do too much with him when we got him because he was underweight, although we did saddle him and I had my 16 year old get on him to see how he would do, he did good for her, so I tried to get on and he tried to lay down.

After that we let him have the time to get the weight on and he is coming along nice so for the last couple of weeks we have been working with him, a couple weeks ago my 13 year old got on him while he was tied so I could adjust stirrup length and he tried to lay down, then we brought him into the pasture to ride and he tried to lay down again. He doesn't actually get all the way down, but I got him to stop and then she rode him fine. For the last 2 weeks my 16 year old has been doing really good with him bareback, we thought maybe it was something to do with the saddle but tonight when she went to get on he did the same thing, she ended up falling off twice. He did have his feet trimmed yesterday so I don't know if his feet are sore although he tried doing it a couple weeks ago, so thinking it's not that. Our farrier did tell me 2 trimmings ago that it looks like he foundered in the past, have never dealt with a horse that has foundered.

Anyone else ever have a horse that does this?? How do you get them over it while keeping the rider safe? Could it be his way of saying he doesn't want to be ridden?

I got mine underweight as well, 500lbs underweight, and when I was able to start getting on him I had some what of the same issue, but he would sit down. I palpitated his back and with his body ever changing his back was sore and off. Also appling weight to his spine was painful as well. I started to do some stretched for him to build his topline and tummy to better hold my weight and now the only issue we have is standing still when I mount!

Maybe his back is sore and needs to be adjusted. For stretches there were two of them that I did.

1- put both hands at the girth area on his tummy facing his withers and start to "tickle" him. As you see his back start to arch upward, then move the hand closes to the hind end up his tummy to just before the sheath area and tickle there. Only do it in 30 second increments. After he starts building muscle you can just start where your second hand ends as he's probably built enough muscle and knows the drill. I have seen a DRASTIC change in this.

2- From behind, place both for-fingers at the top of his hips, one on each side, and slowly "tickle" him as you move your hands down his hind end toward his tail. You should notice him lifting himself up and his butt kind of sticking up. Again only do in 30 second increments. Eventually you will just be able to apply pressure to each side of his hind end on either side of his tail and he will stretch for you.

And I always finish with carrot stretches!!!

Hope this helps and good luck!

Its his way of saying that he doesn't respect you enough to let you ride him. Rolling is an expensive and dangerous problem.....you can get hurt if you try to fix it on your own, and your saddles will break if he rolls on them. Consult with a trainer who has experience in dealing with problem horses.

We had a Morgan/TB who did this. We tried everything to stop it. Finally the only thing we could do was give her a huge smack on the rump when she started to go down and a bigger one if she did go all the way down. She started to understand it was better just to stand up. We spent hours and hours working with her on this problem. I would try other things before that though. We tried everything before that and even had the vet out to check for problems. She has never went down since.

Do you have a trainer you could get help from?

It could be many things: the horse was sweaty or itchy and wanted to roll, The horse might have a mild colic, the girth might be too tight, or he might have learned if he goes down the rider gets off. I'd have your vet look at him to make sure there is no physical issue.

My friend had an older horse (QH) and every time you got on him he looked like he was going to lay down. But honestly, someone had just taught him to make himself shorter so people could mount him. He basically parked himself like a morgan. Which is what you have, so maybe that's the problem?

I too think he is trying to park for you. I think you are poking him in the elbow with your foot while mounting (cuing him to park). Try poking him in the elbow and see if he parks without mounting…that'll tell you.

Thanks much everyone for the advice, I am going to have my vet check him when she comes out to make sure his back isn't out of whack. I was wondering about the fact that maybe someone did train him to do that to help his rider on. Thanks again.