Good point:)
Alot of the things some of those competitive trail riders horses did surprised me. One girl had hers trained to lay down and roll on command. She said that loosened the horse up to get ready for the ride.
Who knows.
Becky
I met a guy with a little Appy who had him trained to lay down in any water thay came to. He didn't even get off. The horse would lay down, the guy would just stand there astride of him while the horse rolled a bit (but not completely over), then the horse would get up with the man still on him. He said it was a handy trick to cool him down during the race. I thought the guy was a little nutty coz the horse was saddled and he got the saddle all wet and muddy. But I guess as long as the guy didn't mind cleaning it up it didn't hurt anything. To each his own I guess.