What on earth?

[Lintel]

 

[ElectricChampagne]

I've come across that before. Convinced he has been trained to do that. Could be wrong.

 

[Floofball]

Definitely doesn’t want to be ridden!

 

[SpringArising]

I've known little cheeky ponies to do the same thing. I don't think they've taught it on purpose, I think he's just learnt to get away with it!

 

[mini_b]

He’s smiling! I think he’s hilarious 😂

 

[rabatsa]

I would say that one has been trained but I have come across a horse that lay down everytime a saddle was put on it. The owner tried all sorts from leaving all day with a bucket of feed just out of reach to dragging it with his car. In the end, after a couple of weeks drawing a blank with other methods, he spread a bale of straw round the horse and set fire to it. It worked and he shot up and moved. He never laid down again on tacking up either.

 

[hattie2525]

Its definitely trained to do it, look at how they always seem to bend the neck round and down right before it does it, that the Que most 'falling' horses are taught to perform to.

 

[Keith_Beef]

It looks to me like the man applies some pressure at a particular point on the horse's left shoulder or upper leg. Look at when the bloke, standing next to the horse, lifts his left foot up to the horse at 1m15.

 

[oldie48]

Someone who used to help an old nagsman told me they were breaking a pony to drive but every time they put him in the cart he sat down and refused to get up. Next day the old boy got this person to sit on the cart and told him to hang on, he then put a jacket potato where the sun doesn't shine, pony shot off in the cart and never did it again. No idea if it is true!

 

[Hormonal Filly]

Doesn't look like hes trained to me, more a response to something hurting him?

 

[Sugarplum Furry]

Playing dead, my childhood pony used to do this and oh, the shame.

This was back in the day when one used to ride to the blacksmiths' smithy. It was a 10 mile hack for me and the po, we'd arrive at the smithy and po would take take one look at the blacksmith, lay down on the yard and play dead. he hated the smith and the feeling was mutual. Worse still was the pony club rallies which we never completed as po thought the whole thing was a waste of time, we'd do 20 minutes of going round in circles with the others then he'd slowly sink to the ground, shut his eyes and die. No amount of shouting, pulling and being twanged with a crop would get him up. The instructor would eventually leave us to it and go off to carry on with the rally, whereupon po would open his eyes, leap up, I'd hop on and we'd sidle off away from the rally and trot smartly home.

But take him to a hunter trial or a gymkhana and he was the most alive thing ever on 4 legs, unstoppable.

 

[Trinket12]

We have a Fjord at the centre I teach at who lies perfectly still with all legs and hooves aligned while fast asleep, he does look like he's dead, and has scared some new volunteers when they go get him

 

[fburton]

It's telling me the video is unavailable.

I've come across that before. Convinced he has been trained to do that. Could be wrong.

Almost certainly trained - the question is whether inadvertently or deliberately! Without further info, I'd plump for the latter.