Our Animals - Lions

Public Dressage Training with Martin Lacey jr. in Ulm /Summer 2002.

He knows no fear. Why should he? He has, after all, grown up with lions, tigers,
elephants, llamas and camels. As a child, he didn't play with house cats, rather he
teased grown predatory animals. At the age of four he was on a first name basis
with lions. They were part of the family. He was eight years old when his favorite
lion, Flo was born. She lived in Martin's caravan in the middle of the mobile home
"city" of his father's circus. Martin's father also works with predatory animals.
The son has trained and bred tigers and lions as did his mother, Susan and his
big Brother Alex.

The public adores the personable young Englishman and his ten lions: LARA and SARA, MARIA and RUTH, SAHARA and SUZIE, VIVIAN, JAN and JOYCE. and of course, FLO, the gentle lion.

At age 20, Martin started to develop his own animal act. Under the guidance
of his family of course. That that meant study , watch and observe for weeks
on end. Which lions like to jump, which run, which are playful.
"Lions do only what they want to do.", he says. Every action comes from
nature. Even the pyramid. Some animals pose to the right, others to the left.
They circle their prey. Lacey controls their pace with a stick. It is the
extended arm of the trainer and serves as a communication device.
"I lack their means to communicate. I do not have pointed ears, no whiskers",
says the affable Brit.

More about Martin Lacey and his work can be found here

Lacey presents his charges as "wild" and presents their immense strength
and agility . Every movement in the ring is planned. Every word is known.
He speaks English and German with his eight lions.
"German is the perfect language for animal training", he explains. "Clear and emphatic".

Every attack is studied. "It's only show", reveals the trainer. Every centimeter is
calculated in order to maintain the proper distance. "A real attack would leave
me with no chance for survival. When one animal attacks, all the others also
attack. Just like it is in nature".

Of course, he knows the animals well. In the cage, he observes the individual
characteristic very closely. He considers their movements, he watches their
ears, eyes and the "secret" specific signals of the individual animals.
The family Lacey have bred and raised nine generations of lions.
The animals have known me for all their lives. I am part of their family
and they consider me to be a "funny looking lion", he jokes.


He spends much time with his animals in the outside enclosure: From 8 in
the morning he is on his feet: In order to create trust he feeds the animals
(5-8 kg meat per lady), offers water, and cares for them. Training is in the
morning. The afternoon is taken up with performances. At 23.00 the circus
day ends with a last look at the animals. There is no vacation.

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