Letting horse roll while on leadrope

[Proffie]

I board at a busy place, and in this weather my horse is blanketed 24/7. He likes nothing more than a good roll in the indoor arena after removing his blanket. But lately, the arena is always in use when I’m there.

Several boarders will bring their horses in on a leadrope or lungeline and let them roll (they always ask the riders first, to avoid any spooks). I’m hesitant to start doing that, but I hate not letting my guy get his itches out! The only time he isn’t wearing his blanket is when I’m there.

He’s super calm, so no worries about him getting up and freaking out, and I would stand where the rope wouldn’t risk getting tangled up.

How do you all feel about letting a horse do this?

[EmilyM]

I have one horse that does that, stands up, bucks and gets loose, so I don’t actually let him do it. He escaped 2x in the same week at a horse show with that manuever (first horse show with him) until I wised up. Luckily he just ran back to the barn.

Lunge line would be safer if they did go to bolt.

[Bluey]

In that situation, if there are not too many others using the arena and they say it is ok and mean it, why not?

When we trained our race horses, we had a pile of sand outside the barn we always took our colts after a bath and let them roll there.
They expected it, were happy to do that.

If one was a little of a handful, we put a longer, 15’-20’ leadrope, maybe one with a chain, here called a stud rope, so we would have better control, but that was rare, most just rolled and then stood up and shook and that was when you regained control, before they could do more if they felt too frisky.

I would ask the BO for some set-up to do that, maybe in a round pen, or add a load of sand in an appropriate place for that, if there are many doing that, so they don’t have to use the arena for rolling.

[buck22]

I feel rolling is good for horses. A BM in a former life used to say it was their way of doing a self chiro adjustment : ). I used to always take my horse to the indoor after riding to roll during winter. I felt it was a good strech after working, and dirt helped cool and dry his coat faster than a wool cooler could too.

If you ask permission of the other riders first, have your horse in a part of the ring that is as out of the way as possible, and he’s well behaved and not leaping up and around after, then I see no reason why not. Its better than having them so desperate to roll they try in their stalls and get cast.

Keep an eye on your lead rope - it can very easily get wrapped around the head or foreleg if you’re not paying attention.

[toady123]

Is there an option to turn horse loose in arena to roll when nobody is in there?

While I do know that people do this, my concern is that the horse will develop the habit and drop on you at times when it’s not appropriate (e.g. when you are walking over to to the show ring in your expensive tack!), or the situation could present dangers to the horse if they start tossing themselves around.

[Bogie]

One of my hunt horses always rolls after I untack her. I think she deserves to get the itches out after a good hunt. We have a handful of horses that will do that and it has never bothered the other horses, so if riders don’t mind, why not?

Luckily she shows no inclination to roll before I untack her, and after she shakes, she’s pretty mellow.

[tabula_rashah]

When I get back from a ride, my horses always get the chance to roll. I’ve never once had them try to roll with tack on or at an inappropriate time. I’ve actually noticed when pulsing down for endurance and ctr, that letting my mare roll will drop her pulse a bit so it must be doing something good for her.

[invinoveritas]

As long as you ask any riders, and as long as no one objects, let him roll.

[LSMarnell]

I do this all the time. Never have had a problem, but you do have to be careful they don’t get tangled up. I keep a little tension in the rope and don’t let it drag around their head or feet. This means you have to move with the horse as they are rolling, so stay on your toes!

[cayuse]

I used to let my mini do this but now I discourage it because he started using it as an evasion. If he did not want to do something, down he went for a nice energetic roll :eek:. But he’s a mini and that is a problem it itself sometimes :lol:.

[rockymouse]

We had a pugnacious little leopard Appy that was the cutest horse you ever saw. We took him to 4H horse camp one year and twice - twice - during the week’s sessions he decided he was itchy and dropped quite suddenly to the ground to roll while my eight year old son was on him.

Both times, the clinician’s young horse thought, geez, what a great idea and tried it herself.

Happily, boy and clinician both handled the situation. Boy jumped clear and clinician drew up the reins and changed his filly’s mind right quick.

The following year, our son was old enough, savvy enough and strong enough to stop his little gelding from dropping to roll. The little Appy went on to live elsewhere, but every year after that at horse camp, some adult or kid would say…“remember when Sancho decided to roll?”

Not quite what you were asking about, OP, just sharing!

[theresak]

I do it. My horse can get a bit fresh as he gets up - he’s gone from his belly to all four feet in the air. I will let him roll with a chain and a lunge line and if he’s got that look in his eye when he starts to get up, I’ll give a little growl and pop on the lead line as a reminder.

My horse rolls all the way over twice, so I have to keep flipping the lead rope over his head - that’s where the lunge line is handy so I can stay further away from the flailing front feet as he flops over.

[Proffie]

Thanks for the input – I feel better about doing this now. He gets plenty of turnout and I can tell he rolls with his blanket on, but I know he loves to do it naked! The arena is just so busy I never get a chance to turn him loose in there.

I’m mainly worried (like some of you pointed out) that he might start to think it’s OK just to drop down whenever :). But we’ll just see if that becomes a problem.

[Groom_amp_Taxi]

[QUOTE=rockymouse;8965974]
We had a pugnacious little leopard Appy that was the cutest horse you ever saw. We took him to 4H horse camp one year and twice - twice - during the week’s sessions he decided he was itchy and dropped quite suddenly to the ground to roll while my eight year old son was on him.

Both times, the clinician’s young horse thought, geez, what a great idea and tried it herself.

Happily, boy and clinician both handled the situation. Boy jumped clear and clinician drew up the reins and changed his filly’s mind right quick.

The following year, our son was old enough, savvy enough and strong enough to stop his little gelding from dropping to roll. The little Appy went on to live elsewhere, but every year after that at horse camp, some adult or kid would say…“remember when Sancho decided to roll?”

Not quite what you were asking about, OP, just sharing![/QUOTE]

Daughter’s horse rolled in showmanship class at county fair one year - at cone B where all the previous horses had dug a nice hole doing their pivots. In his defense, it was hot, and he had been showing (braided) all day. We have a great series of photos of the entire pattern - including the roll. Never laughed so much at a horse show, and it is now part of the local 4-H lore.

However, this horse also uses the “roll in hand” for his own entertainment and as often as not attempts his buck-pull free-run manuever afterwards. For this reason, we try to prevent rolling in hand and when it does happen (because once he is on his way down, what are you going to do?), grab hold and be ready for what may come next.

[Amber_Ridge]

Am I the only one who sees this is a problem? I have a couple of horses that board at my place and I wouldn’t want either of them to be trained that it is OK to drop and roll when they are on a lead line. My horses roll outside in their paddocks and they have room to roll in their stalls. My mare loves rolling in her clean stall. I have oiled sand in my arena and wouldn’t recommend anyone letting their horse roll in it as it will cling to their hair and takes a lot of effort to brush it out. I have never understood why anyone lets their horse roll after they have just bathed them… and I am not saying there is anything wrong with it but I would let them roll before I spend the time washing them

[ladyj79]

I do it. when you have horses spending up to seven weeks at a show in boxes, sure thing I will let them roll if they want while we’re out hand walking.

[BuddyRoo]

[QUOTE=Amber Ridge;8966215]
Am I the only one who sees this is a problem? I have a couple of horses that board at my place and I wouldn’t want either of them to be trained that it is OK to drop and roll when they are on a lead line. My horses roll outside in their paddocks and they have room to roll in their stalls. My mare loves rolling in her clean stall. I have oiled sand in my arena and wouldn’t recommend anyone letting their horse roll in it as it will cling to their hair and takes a lot of effort to brush it out. I have never understood why anyone lets their horse roll after they have just bathed them… and I am not saying there is anything wrong with it but I would let them roll before I spend the time washing them :)[/QUOTE]

I hear your concern, and don’t fully disagree.

However…I think that this is more a question of “is it okay with everyone else” vs “is it a great idea”.

I think that if an owner has command over their critter, the rolling won’t happen unless they give the okay to the horse and the real issue is etiquette in a boarding situation.

With that in mind, knock yourself out, OP!

I tend to prefer to turn mine loose to roll because as this poster I quoted mentioned, I don’t want them learning that it’s hip on the lead line, but I’m sure you can handle whatever you need to.

Thank you for asking others though. I get kind of pissed when someone turns their horse loose in the indoor to roll and I’m in the middle of a ride. So thanks for asking and keeping your critter still under your control

[fordtraktor]

I would be very surprised if your BO appreciated you letting your horse roll on the indoor footing. It packs it down and makes it uneven. I really don’t appreciate rolling, pawing, and otherwise destroying the footing in my outdoor! I don’t care if you let them roll in the grassy or snowy areas outside while hand walking but I think it is rude to let a horse roll on good footing.

[Sport]

When Sport was on stall rest, hand walking, I felt bad that he didn’t get to have the occasional roll. I started to let him have a roll on a lunge line. I used a lunge line as he sometimes likes to be explosive when he gets up from rolling. Need to be careful to keep it out of the way. He has never offered to roll on a lead other than when it was allowed. This was in an outdoor ring, not treated footing and with no one riding.

[Willy_Von_Whompers]

Not in MY indoor arena you don’t. Truly it’s not good for the footing at all. Even if they don’t paw first and dig it up, it really packs it down not in a good way.

But if you want to let them roll on the line anywhere else…hey providing you have a heck of a good grip on the lead, go for it. 90 % of mine, try and buck as soon as they get up from a good roll.