Horse Rolling On Hack!

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Count Oggy

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Fun and games today. I was riding out my neighbour's youngster when he went down with almost no warning. He shook his head a couple of times but I thought he was bothered by a fly. Next thing I knew he was on his knees. I was off in a sec and let him get on with it. I wasn't scared ( apart from when I thought he was going to break his reins) and I wouldn't say what he did was dangerous. When he'd finished I got back on and we carried on with no other problems. I think he was just a bit sweaty and doing what he'd usually do in the field.
I was just wondering if anyone had any comments on what I could / should have done, any ideas on how to stop him from doing it again as he is sometimes ridden by kids or if I should just put it down to fat horse on a sticky day and move on?
 
Count Oggy said:
Fun and games today. I was riding out my neighbour's youngster when he went down with almost no warning. He shook his head a couple of times but I thought he was bothered by a fly. Next thing I knew he was on his knees. I was off in a sec and let him get on with it. I wasn't scared ( apart from when I thought he was going to break his reins) and I wouldn't say what he did was dangerous. When he'd finished I got back on and we carried on with no other problems. I think he was just a bit sweaty and doing what he'd usually do in the field.
I was just wondering if anyone had any comments on what I could / should have done, any ideas on how to stop him from doing it again as he is sometimes ridden by kids or if I should just put it down to fat horse on a sticky day and move on?
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Knee boots, leg on & flick with the whip as soon as he gives a hint to go down.
 
Count Oggy said:
Fun and games today. I was riding out my neighbour's youngster when he went down with almost no warning. He shook his head a couple of times but I thought he was bothered by a fly. Next thing I knew he was on his knees. I was off in a sec and let him get on with it. I wasn't scared ( apart from when I thought he was going to break his reins) and I wouldn't say what he did was dangerous. When he'd finished I got back on and we carried on with no other problems. I think he was just a bit sweaty and doing what he'd usually do in the field.
I was just wondering if anyone had any comments on what I could / should have done, any ideas on how to stop him from doing it again as he is sometimes ridden by kids or if I should just put it down to fat horse on a sticky day and move on?
Click to expand...

rolling with a rider and or tack on IS dangerous and is one of very few things I would deliver a short sharp smack with the crop for-with me they do not go down under saddle full stop
 
I'm old school here. My horses all have they're teeth, back, saddles checked , so in theory should be comfortable in their work they are allowed to have the odd nose/shoulder scratch, but rolling whilst i'm riding is a no, no . None of mine have ever tried, but a swift kick on as they buckle and maybe a slight whack on the rump with stick saying "get on" Has always worked for me.
 
Agree with others, it's a real no, no.

Out of intetest, was he in a leather saddle, and what sort of numnah?

Also, if the horse is overweight, think about riding at a cooler time of the day.
 
This needs to be corrected quickly. He's a youngster, so part of his education is to realise that when he is working, looking after the rider on his back is his priority.

Agree with the other suggestions to ensure the horse is comfortable when working, (although, I'm sure you do :)) Its a two way deal between horse and rider.
 
My horse went to roll as a baby when we walked onto the new sand outdoor. You just reminded me lol. Quick tap and walk on, never happened again.
 
sorry to sound harsh, but if you continue to do that you will teach him that it's ok to roll whenever he likes if there's a rider on him. If it's not a pain issue then you need to up your game ridingwise and not allow him to do it. I'd murder a horse who tried to roll with me (if it wasn't pain/saddle related). I wouldn't let kids ride him till i knew 100% he wouldn't do it. If he gets away with it a couple of times then you have an ingrained, dangerous habit. you need to educate him ow that it's not acceptable. If you're not confident doing it, then get someone in who is. There is no excuse ever for a horse to roll when there's a rider on it.
 
He'd get a smack and a 'GET ON' from me for sure! Completely unacceptable, not ever under any circumstances would I let them roll even if I thought the horse genuinely thought it was Ok, they need to put it on the short list of things you get very told off for doing!
 
As others have said it is dangerous and the saddle is probably trashed - time for a saddler visit. I wouldn't have got off it was me - the horse would have had a dig in the ribs and a smack. No excuses for that
 
I remember as a teenager riding a horse that tried to get down and roll, it was on it's knees before I knew it. I kicked, whipped, flapped and shouted at it until it got back up. Aside from it being unacceptable behaviour, it is dangerous, and rolling with a saddle on can cause damage to the horses back and irreparable damage to the saddle.
 
Thanks everyone.
This has happened once before on an other horse and I did as you all suggested, but this this time he went down with no warning. I felt I had to get off as I didn't want my leg to end up underneath. I probably should have stood my ground and given him a wallop. I'll watch out for that head shaking as I don't want it to become a habit.
I checked the saddle and it seemed ok, he didn't go right over and the ground was good. I'll give it a thorough check again in the morning though.
 
Count Oggy said:
Thanks everyone.
This has happened once before on an other horse and I did as you all suggested, but this this time he went down with no warning. I felt I had to get off as I didn't want my leg to end up underneath. I probably should have stood my ground and given him a wallop. I'll watch out for that head shaking as I don't want it to become a habit.
I checked the saddle and it seemed ok, he didn't go right over and the ground was good. I'll give it a thorough check again in the morning though.
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As it's not your saddle I'd let the owners check over the saddle, preferably by a
Saddler
 
This is one of the very few situations in which I would advocate a boot (or several) and a smack with your crop...with yelling (a lot), until it woke up and got up. It's highly dangerous.
 
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Took my yearling in the outdoor school for the first time and he had a roll. I thought fine, it's his first time in here, let him relax and chill out. Now every time we're in the school to do se groundwork he attempts to roll, which I've not allowed him and he throws a temper tantrum! I had an instructor with me to do long reining and he was playing up the whole time as he was made to work and not allowed to roll. So lesson is deter it, smack with whip, kick on and get them going!
 
I have a friend with a mule who just loves to roll on the sand track that runs up between the fields on our yard. A good few years ago three of us were hacking out one day - the friend who owns the mule on her horse, another friend on the mule and me and my old boy.
Walking along the sand track the mule decided to try to go down and roll and the friend riding him managed to get him back up fairly smartish. However somehow when he got back up she became dislodged and instead of sitting on the saddle, she was left sitting in front of the saddle. Well no matter how hard she tried she could not get herself back onto the saddle and the owner of the mule had to reach down and grab her by the scruff of the neck and lift her back into the saddle.
Luckily we were in a safe environment and with three sensible equines as we were absolutely howling. It was honestly one of the funniest things I have ever seen and we still laugh about it to this day.
 
This has happened to me on my current section d mare, we were on a new ride with new horses and she had been jogging for the whole ride, she had no clip and was dripping in sweat.

She was very wound up and going along I felt her knees go, I booted her on ad she corrected herself but I could feel her becoming more agitated, I got off to check her over and she tried again ( I should mention she hates being hot and wet and has been known to do this in her stable in winter if she comes in having been rugged on a mild wet day but some dampness is in her coat.

So I weighed up my options, I was a good two hours from home on a wet agitated horse, I decided to take het saddle off and let her roll,I know it's wrong, I know I should've made her behave but I know my mare and I made the decision at the time. She rolled right next to me, me holding the reins a loft, got up shook, I put saddle on and she was fine from then on and has never done it again. I of course will clip this winter, lesson learned!

Sometimes events take over!

Saddle needs checking for op, would no way have let her go down with her saddle on even though its treeless
 
Very dangerous. I had a horse get down in a river with me on it, she wasn't overly hot, she just thought it was perfectly acceptable to do it with a rider on. Not my horse, I was on a riding holiday. If I hadn't have jumped off in time I could have got my foot stuck in the stirrup or my leg under her and drowned as she refused to get up for several minutes despite 5 people shouting, growling and giving her some stick. She cut her knee's up on the rocks on the riverbed. She tried it again on another occasion with someone else and when I rode her next we went through the same river with me in the middle of the pack giving it full on pony club legs, whip and growling and she still thought about it as she planted and began to paw. Got her out in the end but the yard withdrew her from use and went back to training as it was VERY dangerous.

After getting the obvious checked out (back, teeth, saddle, weight etc) if that's all fine and it's just behaviour I suggest plenty of training and perhaps to bin the stirrups for now or try her bareback so you can bail out safely if he does it again.
 
Saddle checked again today. I think it might have a concrete tree, not a jot of movement in it. As for the horse, he definitely needs to get his teeth checked as they haven't been done for a while but I don't think that was the problem as when I remounted there was no resistance in his mouth and he was happy and forward, even going away from his buddy for a short canter. I really think it was the sweat and we'd got to a part if the field where the grass had been cut and it was deep and inviting. I'll just be on the ball next time I ride and quicker to react if he looks like he's going down again. Less chatting and looking at the view, more riding I think!
 
Echo24 said:
Took my yearling in the outdoor school for the first time and he had a roll. I thought fine, it's his first time in here, let him relax and chill out. Now every time we're in the school to do se groundwork he attempts to roll, which I've not allowed him and he throws a temper tantrum! I had an instructor with me to do long reining and he was playing up the whole time as he was made to work and not allowed to roll. So lesson is deter it, smack with whip, kick on and get them going!
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This is a great idea. He's pretty good to long rein and the field is close to home. Maybe a session in the field would be good thing.
 
My boy tried to go down in a ford once, he'd been pawing about in the water and then I felt his knees go. The worst thing about it all, other than the uneven concrete surface, the fact I would have been very wet, and my saddle broken was I was leading another horse out with us!

He got a several big kicks and hasn't tried it again since.
 
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