Why does she roll?

[lauradarita]

My mare gets very excited/tense when she sees me walking down to the field to get her in. As I approach the gate she leaps around and bucks. As i open the gate she gets down and rolls. She does this everyday.
After she has rolled she is fine to catch and walks in quietly. Do you think this could be linked to stress?

I dont think she does it just to get muddy, if you no what i mean, she always looks like she has had a good roll before i get to her.
Any ideas would be appreciated

 

[clairefeekerry1]

he he how odd! sorry not much help, can only presume its a nervous excitement linked thing!!

 

[phoebeast]

is she on her own?
horses only roll when they're in trustworthy company so it's a sign of love i reckon

 

[Cop-Pop]

My pony rolls when she gets cross or excited

 

[lauradarita]

yes she goes out with my other pony

 

[Echo Bravo]

I wouldn't say it was stress, just wanting her dinner

 

[Orangehorse]

Some energetic types love to roll. I haven't heard of that particular behaviour before, though.

 

[Holly831]

I have a 16.2hh mare that likes to roll when I am taking her out!! Caught me out a couple of times - 1st time I thought something was actually wrong with her - she is really light and good to lead so didn't realise until her head suddenly disapeared!! (must mean she really loves me then PMSL>>&gt

 

[MGG]

Our Welshie rolls half way through his dinner. He doesn't do it every time, maybe a couple of times a week. The previous owner warned us about it as it does look really odd - like he may be colicking or something, but he is just fine. Their vet checked him out because of it.

It's really funny. He eats half his feed, puts his nose in the bucket and pushes it to the corner of the stable out of the way, gets down and rolls, sometimes even with his nose in the bucket, gets up shakes and finishes his tea. I think he is just so excited to see have his tea he can't contain himself.

 

[AMW]

my filly rolls when she gets stressy or having a strop, for example if I lead her pal away etc. Just seems to be her way............

 

[pootleperkin]

Our Filly used to sneak into our older mare's stable on the way to being turned out, stick her head in the mare's empty bucket and then get down and roll (with head still in bucket if she could engineer it!) - highly amusing, but she has stopped now she has grown up a bit! Looks like rolling is the highest form of flattery!

 

[MyBoyChe]

My TB does this, I can see him digging himself a little muddy patch as I walk across to him and he nearly always rolls before I get to him. Afterwards he is absolutely fine, leads in like a lamb. Before he rolls he usually runs up and down the fence for a few seconds when he sees me. He is on individual turnout but with others all around him. He can be a bit stressy, Im sure it is attention seeking with him, if he thinks he is being ignored or possibly, god forbid, being totally forgotten about. We always make sure he is the first one brought in and he is NEVER EVER left on his own anywhere but after 18 months with me this is the one thing that he still gets really wound up about. In every other respect he is a pretty chilled boy but he does have separation anxiety and Im sure this is why he does it, he knows he is drawing attention to himself.