Rolling in arena!

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David Hurst

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We are at a small yard where one person trains by way of natural horsemanship. Her horse tore up the arena (Sand and Rubber) so she has been told not to free school in it. She does however let her horse roll in the arena. She has been confronted as to whether is is good practice and safe in the arena, but she know best and dismisses others concerns. The horse has now rolled with her on it, causing her concussion but escaping serious injury. I am not disputing her methods, but whether or not you should allow a horse to role in an arena? My main concern is whether or not any scents left after rolling would encourage other horses to do this! Help please!
 
I don't think a smell would encourage other horses to roll, no. The concern is her safety which has proven to be correct if she has been injured. However, not sure there's much you can do. If the YO is concerned about the arena, then the YO should deal with that and stop her letting her horse roll.
 
Yes my horses roll in the arena but they would not dream of doing it when ridden .
I do have one who occasionally thinks about on the Lunge but that's all he does think .
 
There are 3 arena's on our yard, and only 1 of which I will allow Nugz to roll in, for the very reason you have written about. That said, he's respectful enough that should he try to roll with me on board and I booted him, he'd stop. If he didn't then I know there is a reason aside from bad manners or habit.
 
We have a number of horses in 24:7 for various reasons on our yard and they are all allowed a play in the indoor school during the day. Most of them have a good roll in there - but none of them have ever done it with a rider on their backs.

I quite often loose school my horse after they've been in and you can spot the flattened rolling patches. S will often sniff them but she's never shown any signs of rolling - she knows she's in there to work.

One of the Sec A riding school ponies went down with a kid on her last summer. She got up when the instructor yelled, but was taken out of work - tummy ache from the grass suspected. (or just had enough of kids probably!!)
 
I wouldn't allow it. But the school is a place to work here. Rolling is for the fields and all the horses get turned out every day.
 
All of mine have a roll in the arena after they've been ridden. Leaving a patch of loose hair on the groundis the worst damage they've caused :)

They've never tried it under saddle in the arena but my gelding did try and get down to roll in a muddy puddle with me once during a hack...
 
Thank you for all responses. Much appreciated and I think the plain and simple answer here is common sense. Everybody I've spoken with today is in the general opinion that the Arena is for working, paddock for playing. If the horse is trained well trained and well behaved, it won't try to roll with a rider, unfortunately in this case, the rider believes they have the perfect method of training, but the horse is having none of it. Thanks again for your help.
 
Hello David. Firstly ask yourself why horses roll ?
Horses roll just for several reasons, to ease the irritation of drying sweat, by drying the sweat with dirt (and because it feels nice!) This dirt acts as an extra layer of protection against biting insects. Horses in a herd usually share the same spot for rolling. They will normally return to the same spot to roll every time. This is fact.. Then as you rightly say employ common sense to the equation.
Why would anyone knowing these facts allow or encourage a horse to roll in a school? It defies common sense and fact.
 
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We didn't have an arena until about three years ago, so had to work the horses in the paddocks they were turned out in, and obviously rolled in. Never had a problem with them trying to roll when ridden in the paddocks. Now we have a school, I do let the horses have a roll in there, particularly in the winter on days when it is fairly sunny and warm but the ground is saturated, and then it is nice for them to have a roll rugless in the arena without getting totally coated in wet mud. Again not ever had a problem with them trying to roll in there. I have also been on livery yards in the past, where turnout was restricted when it was very wet, and they turned out in the school for a while instead. Again never had a problem with horses rolling under saddle.

However, you do have to use a bit of common sense and knowledge of your own horses - we have a rising 4 year old who was very lightly backed end of last summer and will be coming back into work in a couple of months. Because he is not established under saddle yet, we don't let him roll or turn him out in the arena, as he is not established enough yet to understand the difference between being worked and being given his freedom.
 
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My horse has the arena as his winter turnout, and rolls every day. We have to regularly harrow the school to keep it nice for riding.

It has never even occurred to me that he would roll in there while I am riding. If he even thought about it he would be whooped well and truly up his jacksie! He also rides in his field, and knows to behave.

I can understand that you are upset f someone has damaged the arena surface by loose schooling, but she has been told to stop that and it sounds like she is complying.

As far as I am concerned, she will be feeling rather foolish for having a concussion, and probably does not need further criticism.

From the tone of your post it sounds like you do not like this livery, and it sounds like she is not generally having a supportive time, for example being confronted about her horse rolling. I would say livery yards have a lot of different people in, who all have different ideas. If something impinges on the property (such as tearing up the school) or if the YO thinks something is dangerous, it is up to the YO or YM to have a professional conversation. For me, other liveries would be more successful enquiring rather than confronting, for their own enjoyment as well as the enjoyment of the other liveries.

Obviously, if there is something like cruelty going on, and the YO or YM does not sort it out, then the authorities should be informed.

Many livery yards become quite cliquey.

I used to train Police Horses, and it was not unknown on a hot day to cool off, pull the tack and allow a roll before taking in. None of them would have rolled under saddle.
 
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Thank you for your reply. It would be fair to say that this livery is the odd one out. They have been confronted about various issues and do seem to go out of their way to be awkward. As I mentioned in the initial post, I do respect their view/beliefs, but my main concern was whether or not any rolling would leave a scent that would encourage others to roll. The answer is no, which basically leaves things down to the person in question, whether she continues the practice or not. Thanks
 
David Hurst said:
Thank you for your reply. It would be fair to say that this livery is the odd one out. They have been confronted about various issues and do seem to go out of their way to be awkward. As I mentioned in the initial post, I do respect their view/beliefs, but my main concern was whether or not any rolling would leave a scent that would encourage others to roll. The answer is no, which basically leaves things down to the person in question, whether she continues the practice or not. Thanks
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I would just like to add, yes it is common sense, each horse is different and u do know your own horse. I would add if you are concerned, a sensible precaution if you see a flattened roll spot from the other livery user, is to rake or kick over this area, as although they may not leave a scent, in the wild and in herds they share roll spots.. so to discourage yours I would abliterate the roll spot.. I respect others opinions, I just personally think it's a risk I'm not prepared to take.
 
I don't see what the issue is tbh. My horses are all free to roll in the school if/when invited. I've done it in the past, but they wouldn't think about it while wearing a saddle :)
 
Little ponies will sometimes try to get down and roll as a quick and easy way to get rid of the rider! Even thinking about rolling under saddle should be strongly discouraged and not allowed. You can feel their legs start to buckle but generally someone else notices first and yells.

I guess a trick rider will teach a horse to lie down with a rider on top, but they would know what they are doing and teach it in sequence.
 
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