Abington Hills Farm
Waverly PA
2010

Whenever an animal as large as a horse drops to the ground it captures most everyone’s attention.

Fortunately the most common reason a horse does drop to the ground is to roll, and rolling is a perfectly natural behaviour for horses. It is both beneficial to their health and an indicator of their health. Horses that roll relieve themselves of accumulated physical and mental tensions.

While we are not certain what stimulates rolling and what it means in all circumstances, it likely serves several purposes.

Typically horses about to roll go through a “ritual”: snorting, blowing and pawing at the ground, circling, and then slightly bending at the knees coming to rest on the ground with a satisfied grunt. Leaning over to one side they then begin to roll, often vigorously back and forth, writhing and wriggling. It’s a full body experience with many horses getting enough momentum to roll all the way from one side to the other, although it may take several attempts.

Although there’s much speculation about the reasons horses roll, it would seem the common denominator driving the behaviour is simply the horse’s inherent desire to feel better. Many aspects of the body receive benefit from the roll. The horse’s hair coat is certainly changed when a horse rolls. This is most obvious in the springtime when the horse uses rolling to relieve itself of the winter coat and aid shedding. The amount of winter coat left on the ground following rolling is a testament to the effectiveness of this practice. Horses rolling in dust derive the benefit of dust-bathing to maintain a healthy hair coat. Horses may also roll in mud to protect and soothe their skin during insect season.

Horses that typically seek to roll after being bathed and groomed are likely attempting to restore “things” back to “their” normal — the horses having less of an attachment to being “all clean and shiny.” Rolling re-establishes the loft of the hair coat and restores its thermoregulating effect after becoming wet. Grooming and bathing can change how a horse’s skin feels and rolling is the horse’s way of getting things back to what they feel to be “their” normal.

Rolling also plays an important role in the health of a horse’s spine and musculoskeletal system easing stiffness and maintaining its flexibility and alignment. When the horse rolls it has the ability to favourably affect and change the muscles of its body and spine in a manner unique and unavailable to it in a standing position.