Rolling in Clover

Equine behaviourists: Robyn Greyling www.robyngreyling.com

Cell 082 6787791

As owners we spend endless amounts of time washing and cleaning our horses and ponies, the cleaner they are the happier we as owners tend to be. But here’s the thing: horses like to be covered in organic matter, which they effectively apply to themselves by rolling. They roll in mud, sand, shavings, leaves, shallow water and grass. And if you have a grey pony I am sure you will agree they always seem to find a way to roll in fresh green grass the day before a show, leaving them with what seem like semi permanent bright green patches!

When we bath our horses we effectively force them to get wet in places where horses don’t naturally get wet, no matter how hard it rains. They don’t like this unfamiliar itchy feeling in these folds of skin and nooks and crannies so they roll to get rid of the uncomfortable feeling. We often presume it is to get rid of the wonderful human chosen smell of the shampoo. Which I must say I sometimes suspect it a bit of that too, especially with the weird “flavours” and scents the manufactures are coming up with now days. If it was the horse’s choice don’t you think the “ Sunburst strawberry types” would be replaced  with “fresh cut alfalfa” or “carrot” flavour anyway.

If your horse is happy to roll right next to you or on the lead, take it as a huge compliment to yourself. Horses will not lie down close to you or roll near you if they do not trust you. It is a great indicator of your horse’s trust and confidence level in you as to how comfortable he is rolling with you.

Horses mainly roll in sand and mud as it protects them from the sun and insects. They also love the opportunityto roll in ash after a fire as it has a better debugging effect for them. On hot days rolling in cool mud or shallow water is also a way for them to regulate body heat and cool down. In shallow water it is often the feeling of soft sand under their hooves and not the water itself that encourages them to roll. Try always to teach your horse it may roll and play to its hearts content when untacked, however when tacked up this not allowed or even negotiable. It can be extremely dangerous to the rider let alone destroy the saddle by breaking its tree if a horse decides to roll while being ridden.

There is also another reason horses roll and that is to shed loose hair and groom themselves as nature intended. Usually this rolling is done on grassy patches or even on herb type weeds that have a variety of smells and textures. When horses run long distances in the wild, play or work hard enough to build up a sweat, rolling is the means they use to start drying themselves off.

Unlike drinking, feeding or mating when the herd hierarchy dominates the order, hierarchy doesn’t effect when and which horses’ roll. Often times most of the herd will roll at the same time and individuals may roll a couple times in different spots.