My 32 year old mare has loved to take a roll in the grass,mud or snow all her life .now fairly stiff with arthritis and on a small does of bute on and off - but otherwise healthy,in decent weight and alert,that roll is becoming a concern to me.there are days where she has difficulties to get back up.she will “sit” on her haunches for a few s econds,looking puzzled,and then ,with determination it seems and usually after 2 or 3 trials,she manages to come to her feet ,shakes it off and slowly walks on.i ,meanwhile,have been holding my breath.especially these days,where it might not be so easy to get a vet out ,should the worst case scenario happen.my question is,will a horse be aware of the problem ,remember and NOT roll if she knows she might not get back to her feet ?
Unfortunately not. Not being able to rise after going down is a frequent reason for an emergency call or emergency euthanasia of elderly horses. You can’t trust her judgement, and if there’s a real risk that she might not be able to get up, it might be time to put her down. A peaceful end on a sunny day after a bucket of carrots is a better option than struggling in the cold all night.
I’m sorry, it’s never easy 
What Simkie said
It might be time to think of changing up her medication for pain/stiffness. A daily dose of equioxx might help better that occasional bute. I had an old pony (30’s) with hock arthritis and he was having some mobility issues with rolling (and he LOVED to roll) and equioxx helped a lot. YMMV with this, but it might be worth a try before considering other options.
As far a remembering not to roll, no, they don’t seem to think like that. This same pony got himself stuck rolling in deep snow several times and I had to dig him out. This was unrelated to his age and arthritis and directly related to his rolling addiction.
Some horses will learn to not lie down - that’s a whole new problem.
Some will learn to get up “backwards” - hind end first, then front. It’s a whole lot easier to get the hind end up without the weight of the front weighting it down some.
And some will continue to lie down and try getting up the "correct’ way.
That is what our vet told us when our 22 year old, that had been battling a stifle injury for two years, was having trouble standing for the farrier and getting up.
What our vet said, he had been called on some such horses that injured themselves badly trying to get up when they could not.
We had provided our horses with a sand pile with a bit of a slant and that had helped him for a while, making it easier to get down and up.
You may want to try that?
Your vets can assess your situation best, ask them for advice.
Consider that may be the one time where a day too soon is better than too late, when it comes to make that final decision.
what Bluey said: We had provided our horses with a sand pile with a bit of a slant and that had helped him for a while, making it easier to get down and up.
You may want to try that?
I second that.
thank you all who have responded so far,for sharing your thoughts and experiences.every one is much appreciated and considered.my HOPE is that her weakness comes in good part from not having been able to move around much,we have a long winter here where i live and the 2 horses basically had just a fairly small paddock to walk around since november.we had a lot of snow and rain mixes that created ice patches with slippery footing and many nights where i had to keep them in the barn overnight.the situation was similar last spring when the mare came out of winter stiff like now but with melting snow and access to larger areas ,the riding ring opening up where i could exercise her ,she gained strength ,muscle tone ,her stiffness improved a lot and as a result,by pasture time she was in good shape for her age.i hope i can get her through the next month so she could enjoy one more spring summer fall .
i’ll try all of the suggestions ,and will see what my vet says about equioxx.meanwhile,i guess,i will have to keep my fingers crossed .
Horses also do need to lie down to sleep. They need about 2 hours of REM sleep in 24 hours and can only get that lying down. They can go a few days just dozing on their feet but if it goes too long they can start to get effectively narcoleptic. Know about it happening once to an older horse that didn’t like the new sand footing in his runout paddock and wouldn’t sleep inside.
So your mare is still lying down to sleep when you aren’t there separate from the rolling.
yes ,good point ,i forgot to mention this 
she does lie down during the night,i am bedding her stall deeply and i can SEE hay and straw sticking to her sides as well as flattended hair along belly.i have “caught” her a few times getting up ear;ly in the morning,it seems to be much easier for her to get up in her stall as compared to outside,likely because the ground is uneven and she has picked spots where snow is still deeper.
Oh snow! That is a problem. Is it possible to take her to a dry area like an indoor arena just so she can roll happily before she goes into the snow? Or clear an area and throw down sand or shavings? Snow will eventually melt so this problem will be easier in the summer
Just a cautionary tale …
I knew an aged mare who had problems with both going down, and getting up again. The more the poor mare struggled to get to her feet, the more she began to feel panicky. That’s a vulnerable position for a prey animal. She began to fear going down and tried not to, leaning on the side of the stall wall. But horses do need to go down to true sleep, and sometime her legs just folded her down. She was so sad and miserable. Her owner was unfortunately clueless about what the mare was going through. She resisted letting the mare go, only because the mare was an emotional tie to when her children were younger and riding.
Finally one day the mare went down and couldn’t rise, and was once again panicky even while down. The owner wanted the farm workers to get her up. Thankfully the lead guy flatly refused to do it. In his limited English he told the owner that it was time, stood back and waited.
The owner finally gave in and called the vet, who thankfully came right out. At least then it was over quickly and the mare finally had peace. But she struggled for months before she got it.
OP, sounds like you are observant as to what is going on with your beloved mare, who doesn’t sound like she is as bad off as the aged mare that I knew. Please don’t try too hard to hang on to fewer and fewer good moments. Preserve the good memories, and don’t cloud them with later regrets over the end time struggles. Whenever is the right time, your mare will go on to peace, and the discomfort and struggle will be over.
My old mare struggles to get up after her nap, but can roll and get up easily after rolling. The cramped position she sleeps in makes it harder to get her legs working again after sleeping. But I’ve watched her carefully and she seems to be managing okay. She loves to sleep flat out and likes to scare me by sleeping like the dead- not even her tail moves. And she doesn’t hear very well, so calling to her and waiting for a reaction just doesn’t work. If she’s still sleeping after an hour, i will go check on her.
Perhaps add some shavings in your horses roll spot.
Agree that once footing improves, she may have an easier time. I would keep her off snow in the meantime. But, the time for euthanasia is nearing. Ignore the impulse to “give her” a spring, summer, or fall – she has no concept of looking forward to something like that. For her, it’s “is this moment right now good vs bad?”
it is thawing fast now so it’ll be days rather than weeks and the snow is gone.seems like sinking into the snow is creating the major issue.thanks for reminding me that she still lies down and gets up each night,in her stall.my vet is available again in case something goes wrong.he can be here within an hour.we had to put down my old pony last november,he was almost 40 years old.i lightly trail rode him until he was 36.he ,too,had arthritis flare ups but the regular mild work plus access to large pastures kept him in decent shape.there was one occasion where euthanasia was considered when he ,very suddenly,started limping badly,got disoriented and did not want to leave the barn.in hindsight,we think he might have experienced a mild stroke.in any case, appropiate meds,massages and lots of TLC made a difference ( and i’m fortunate to have the time to look after the horses as much as needed) .he fully recovered and we trail rode for a few more years.one day,he collapsed,no warning signs,the vet came asap and he was put to sleep.this of course was a good case scenario and i hear you,there can be unnecessary suffering for an animal when the owner does not want to let go and hangs on .my vet had given me this advice when the old pony was on the brink.he said write down his good and his bad days.watch closely and objectively.when the bad days outnumber the good,the time has come.it is not easy to judge how a horse feels sometimes,after all they are " the mirror of our soul"and what we see is often just our own projection.but sometimes it is pretty clear and i am happy to report that up until now,my mare is content .we made it through the winter with the help of some good people here on COTH who gave great advice on how to get her the extra calories and easy to chew /digest feed.i am watching her closely and we’re spending a lot of time together .when her day comes ,i will be there for her.as she has been for me all her life.in the meantime,we’re trying to enjoy the moment,taking things day by day,hoping for the best,prepared for the worst.just like we all are doing right now …best wishes to all :love-struck:
Best wishes to you and your old girl, and fingers crossed that she can enjoy the green grass this spring. You may want to plan to avoid another winter, though.
thank you ! and yes i hear you …
