I have a coming 3 year old who rolls in his stall and gets cast. I want to try an anti-cast roller but I can’t seem to find any in the U.S. Does anybody know where I could purchase one? (new or used). Thanks!
A vaulting surcingle might do it? Readily available.
I would probably invest in anti-cast strips for the stall wall, over a roller. Rollers have to be tight enough that they don’t just slide around if the horse is actually rolling or struggling, which isn’t healthy for the length of time they’re usually on. You can also add extra bedding to bank the walls, which can also help.
Unfortunately, they seem as rare as hen’s teeth. My barn had luck putting out an ISO on local facebook pages and a friend happened to have one laying around, I guess you could try that?
As a youngster my gelding got cast often. The solution was cheap and easy. Cut 2 inch strips from a regular stall mat and screw them to wall about 3 ft high horizontally all around stall. When your horse rolls he can get purchase to push off wall. I agree that an anticast roller would be uncomfortable for any length of time.
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Treat for ulcers. Purposeful casting is a way to move the stomach acid off ulcerated areas to gain temporary relief. If this is something the horse does on the regular, invest in a few days of whichever heavy-duty horse dose antacid type treatment you can get your hands on and watch for behaviour changes. If the horse stops casting itself in a day or two, go ahead and do a full treatment.
In the meantime, agree with anti-cast strips on the walls over a roller.
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Some youngsters haven’t figured out their size relative to their spaces. Some never figure it out LOL I had a 2yo who regularly got cast, and the morning feed crew (self-care barn) would just roll him over. He also rolled into my fence twice as an adult, taking out some of the electric tape (Horseguard), and once a post as well. After he fully matured, so like 7/8, he never did it again.
Yeah, maybe.
For me, looking back at my giant 2 year old casting himself pretty regularly the first winter he lived inside and then a few years later getting a figurative smack upside the head with a client’s yearling that cast himself in front of our very eyes and then showed us all how he could bloody well hop up whenever he felt the time was right … well, I wish those 2 experiences had been reversed. I will be forever grateful to a vet who was ahead of the ulcer game back then and saved that little guy a lot of discomfort and his ‘parents’ a lot of hair tearing, but sure wish I’d known a couple of years earlier!
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I will try treating for ulcers and see if that helps. I have seen him roll over and get cast against one wall, then flail himself off that wall, roll and get cast against another wall. I’ve had him about a year and moved him to a smaller stall because he was rolling all over the big stall and getting cast all the time. I thought the smaller stall helped at first, but now it’s not looking that way.
But I really want to try the anti-cast roller, it’s weird that I can’t find one in this country! I put something on Facebook but have had no replies.
Casting is no joke but I have to laugh at how he’s looking all around, like, “Baroo?”
Also: Worth a call to tack shops all over the country. Since I’ve been back to horses I’ve visited at least a half-dozen locally, and some have the zaniest dusty stuff still in stock. A roller is just the sort of thing I’d expect in a consignment corner. Or call an equine vet practice and it could hook you up with its source?
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I honestly would put more shavings in the middle of the stall and bank the sides high.
He’s trying to roll where the most shavings are which is towards the back.
The ulcers thing is interesting. He almost looks like he is trying to get an itch somewhere.
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I would bank, and what about bolting an entire thinner stall mat to the back wall since they tend to be grippy enough to push off of? I do love how he gets himself flipped and up, then goes straight to his buddy next door like did you see what I just did!!! I just almost died and survived… right there!! As he looks to the back wall…Sorry, not funny that he got cast, but he seemed pretty amused at himself afterwards and I really hope you can find a way for him to stop being a daredevil and scaring poor mom!!!
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I tried banking but it didn’t work. He still managed to get himself cast. Plus, I can’t bank the door and he’s already got himself cast there too. I walked in the barn and his legs were in the aisle under his stall gate.
It just amazes me that he just keeps doing it! He’s never terribly upset by it, like it’s just part of his day. I’ve never had this problem with any of my other horses. I hope he’s not this dense when he’s under saddle. Haha.
Just curious but does he do this while naked as well as when he is blanketed?
He does it with or without a blanket. Summer, Winter, Fall, Spring, it’s always a rolling celebration.
Did you ever find something that was helpful? Dealing with this issue with my young horse.
No, I couldn’t find one. I put him in a smaller stall and put boards on the wall so he could push off them. He also grew up a bit and has stopped doing it.
