Martin Lacey Jr. - lions dressage

Here is a wonderful video recorded in German circus KRONE in Munich.

Martin Lacey, Jr. was born in Sunderland/UK in 1977 as the second of three brothers. Even in his cradle, he heard the purring of big cats, because Martin Lacey, Sr. was an animal trainer  and worked with lions, while Martin’s mother Susan travelled with a mixed act of lions and tigers. So Martin grew up between circus wagons and the ring, and learned writing, reading and counting in the travelling circus school.

Martin’s parents wanted him to get a proper education, so Martin had to leave his family and the circus when he was 11 years old to attend a boarding school. In his case, it was Cordeaux Highschool in Lincolnshire. There weren’t any tigers and lions, but he got a lot of chances to play sports. Martin especially liked boxing and became quite good at it – he was three times champion of his age group in Middle England. He also loved playing rugby.

After his A-levels, the 17 year old Martin came back to his father’s circus, where he worked in the marketing department. However, his fascination with the big cats was stronger than his interest in advertising, and so he joined his older brother Alexander,  working with a mixed act with lions and tigers. In 1997 Martin started to work on his own with a lion act. Within two years,  he had won the much sought-after Chapiteau de Crystal award. One year later, at the Circus festival in Monaco, he was awarded the Silver Clown – his final break through.

Since then Martin Lacey, Jr. has won almost every important circus award – including the Golden Clown in Monaco which he got in 2010 – and has established himself as one of the best lion trainers in the world.

Nowadays the 196 cm tall English man sees the Circus Krone as his home. He came there for the first time in 2000 and it was there that he met the young lady who is now his spouse and the mother of his son.

Martin Lacey, Jr. doesn’t see the work with his lions as a “job”, but as “a way of life”. When asked for his dreams, he smiles:  “I want to breed white lions”. That’s the first thing he thinks of – and then, immediately afterwards:  “I want to show people that the training of animals is an art.”