Letting Horses Roll?

[Jim Ostergard]

Funny about some horses rolling and some not. My old Belgian rarely does it but the Perch cross does it, out the barn in the morning and after the harness is off. Had another Perch cross who did the same thing, especially after getting groomed and washed off after harness on a hot summer day.
I have a friend who pulls his guys in farm pulls and has one that is prone to colic. He immediatly loads him in a trailer and off for a ride, all night if necessary. He has for years always come out of it.
Jim

[mitchmaine]

hey jim, the old timers used to say a workhorse was worth a hundred dollars a roll. i got a couple three hundred dollar horses myself. hope all is well, mitch

[Jim Ostergard]

Going well here mitch. Not cutting a stick, too wet. Going to burn blueberry fields today. Are you still boiling sap?
Jim

[DraftDriver]

My 4 roll, sometimes simultaneously, one will go down, roll, then as they are getting up, another will go down, rather funny to watch. I know that mine roll to get the winter hair off, scratch an itch, after being worked, or just for the sheer exuberance of being alive.

A colic roll is a lot different than a normal roll. they will camp outward, ears back, look to the effected side, nostrils can be flared and wrinkled, stomach tight, flanks tucked up, etc. I have gotten good at spotting colic at the first signs and I will not wait, I pop the horse with 12cc of banamine that I always have at the farm, begin to walk them and call the vet immediately. I would rather pay the emergency call and vet’s time than hope I did the right thing and loose my animal.

[Tadziu]

This is one post I have to reply to, yes horses when they role can twist their guts. According to some vets at Kansas State University, it can happen. But it is fairly uncommon! To look at horses insides their guts are not attached to anything and they should not be alive, but they are and doing fairly well thank you very much. I think preventing a horse from rolling is like preventing a dog from licking.

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