Rolling?!

[rache]

My horse only rolls on one side in the field, he trys with all his might to get over but cant.

Does any one know why he cant.

He is weak on his right side!

[Jay.o]

Is he a barrel :D ?
LoL - Alll the ponies at the school I used to go to and a little pony at the yard were all fat and couldnt get over from one side to another. Mysy sometimes cant but mostly can.
I dont think its a physical problem so dont worry. It may not be to do iwht weight either lol, just my observation.

[TamaraC]

hehe...i think it may have to do with being a little bit too fat and not having the strengths in their legs when they push to roll their impressive bulk over :D

[nat17]

I didnt think raches tb was fat, i thought she was trying to put him some condition on so weight might not be why.;)

[Ipsa]

I have noticed that some horses have more difficulty than others to roll over. It may be something to do with his weak side and maybe his coordination. Does he get up and then lie down on that side so tha herolls on both sides even though he can't roll right over.

[rache]

lol thanks nat17, he is slowly puttin on condition now, looks nice and hunky!!

As nat17 says, he is not over weight at all, still tryin to put it on, (trial and error).

He gets down and rolls on one side tries to get all the way over but cant. then just gets up and leaves it, i have noticed that on his rug the mud seems to be on his left side- stronger and nothing on his right side.

The reason he is weaker on the right is because he used to race and was taught to go on the left leg all the time , he is now gettin the hint of the right leg, and i know do most things i.e leading him from the right etc to strenghten up his right.

Any one have any ideas now?? :D

[entreat]

You might have a point about TBs not being able to roll. Pippin tries, but only manages one side (can't remeber which one - he doesn't roll often). He was even watching Cody and Sam after their ride last week and you could tell he was trying to figure out how to get over!! Even though he hadn't been ridden, he got down and rolled in sympathy!
-Maybe they're used to rolling in sand, which gives alittle more when they're rolling?

Re: fat ponies
Cody and Sam about the fattest boys around but they manage to roll over - not with any finess or style, but they get a good scratch on both sides.

[Shiny McShine]

I would say it's just due to weakness in general. Horses that are overweight have trouble carting their weight over while horses that haven't got much weight on won't have the strength anyway. It probably depends on conformation as well. Horses with high withers should have more trouble flipping over than rounder backed horses.

[rache]

yes he has got high withers! maybe i will take him to an arena and see if he finds it any easier in sand or the material wots in there.

Does any one else know any other ideas to how i can strengthen up his right side?

[IrisSilverMoon]

I know horses that are in excellent shape and they still can't manage to roll all the way over, probably a confirmation thing too, some can some can't.

BUt for strengthening his right side you can do lots of things like circles and lateral work...:)

[entreat]

Cam suggested fat horses are better at rolling 'cause they're rounder!! TBs are usually pretty thin, and the withers make a bit of an angle at the top...

[TamaraC]

My horse was thin and underweight when I got him...and he has a high wither too. He can roll over both sides :D

[Ginger Thing]

I think it's just down to the individual horse - my tb rolls very energetically, over and over,both sides, but other half's tb finds it very difficult to go all the way over - he prefers to get up and do the other side separately!

[sallym]

Mine's a fatty and she rolls over and over!

[kedwards]

I definitely don't think it's just a matter of horses being too fat. Even when Bud was at his fittest, he never did roll all the way over, but then he's a high-withered TB. Some horses can and some can't. In fact, I always thought it was less common for horses to roll all the way over.

[makebelieve]

Its nothing about being too fat I don't think. My horse can barely roll over the whole way. She's a 15.2hh TB mare.

[virtuallyhorses]

Whether your horse rolls over to do both sides on his back or not is often due to his withers - for high withered horses they will avoid the 'rollover' on hard ground. However, it is important to check whether he EVER rolls on both sides. Horses that can't do the rollover (for whatever reason) usually sit up and scoot over on their bottoms or simply get up and then go back down on the other side.

If your horse NEVER rolls on one side - I'd get him checked out, this can often indicate a back or other injury or weakness - the horse wont roll on that side because he doesn't trust himself to be able to get up!

Rolling is not only a grooming activity, its a social one - horses often use rolling patches to confirm the social hierachy.

[IrisSilverMoon]

Originally posted by virtuallyhorses
Horses that can't do the rollover (for whatever reason) usually sit up and scoot over on their bottom.

there's a school pony at our barn that does that! it's the cutest thing ever! he rolls and then sits there for a second before getting to the other side...hehe...

[virtuallyhorses]

oh yeah - its REALLY cute when you get your hippo, sorry horse, in from the paddock and he's got mud in and around every orifice AND a completely dreadlocked tail - Yep I recall saying to him just how cute he is :mad: :eek: :D