There's an old saying which ties the monetary value of a horse to the number of times he can roll over. You might hear someone say: "He rolled over once, he's worth $100oh, he made it over a second time, now he's worth $200..." and so on.

As it turns out, there is a great deal of truth to that adage. The manner in which a horse rolls can tell an observant horse handler a lot about the animal's coordination and strength. As a horse-crazy 10 year-old, I was told about the importance of rolling by an elderly horseman who had ridden in the Army during the last years of the cavalry. He said rolling was crucial to a horse getting "the kinks" out of his spine. He insisted that all horses be given time to roll as part of their regular health care.

Since first hearing those wise words, I've studied horses and their rolling movement and behavior. I've combined this interest with an extensive education in equine anatomy and movement, becoming a horse trainer specializing in equine massage, acupressure, and alternative health care. From over 25 years of experience, I definitely agree that the way a horse uses his body to roll will tell you if the muscles, nerves, and joints in his back and hindquarters are strong and healthy. This movement also lets you know if a horse's hip, stifle, hock, and fetlock joints are as flexible as they should beit can even help you to assess a horse's mental state.

Healthy & Safe

A physically healthy horse who feels confident and safe in his environment can easily fold up his legs and smoothly lower himself to the ground, like a well-oiled piece of machinery. He lies flat and, after a few scratching and scrunching movements, easily flips over to the other side. If his back is healthy and he can freely stretch his spine, roll back and forth enthusiastically, then stand up in one strong, smooth motion.

One of the exceptions to this is a horse with an exceptionally high wither. This horse might enjoy perfect body health, and yet, because of his wither conformation, be unable to roll all the way over. When healthy, this horse will get down and roll vigorously on one side, then get up and immediately go down and roll on the other side.

Rolling Trouble Means Body Pain

On the other extreme, is the horse who is unable to roll easily. If you see a horse that can't lower himself to the ground easily, roll over at least once, or get up easily, you can be sure that he has a physical restriction somewhere in his back, hips, stifles, or hocks. From my experience as a horse massage specialist and performance trainer, this horse will also have performance problems: he may be difficult to saddle and, once mounted, may dip down and flinch his back. This horse often travels with head held high, back hollow, moving with short strides. He may also be weak over jumps, reluctant to push strongly up a hill, or have a poor canter. One canter lead may be rough or the horse will have trouble with lead changes.

Trouble Lying Down

The worst-case scenario is a horse that harbors a lot of pain through his body. He may walk in circles, sniffing and pawing the ground as if wanting to roll, but be extremely reluctant to even try to lower himself to the ground. A sore horse may begin to fold up his legs and lower himself to the ground, change his mind and stand up, fuss around, and start to lie down again. He may do this several times before finally committing himself to lying down.

Another sign of body trouble occurs when a horse lowers himself part of the way to the ground before he gets kind of "stuck" or his legs start to shudder. Then, instead of lowering himself gracefully, he drops hard to the ground. This horse may not be able to bend his joints enough to fold all the way down to the ground or some of his muscles just aren't strong enough to lower him down smoothly.

Weak Getting Up

Similarly, if the muscles in a horse's back and hind end are weak, he will get up from the ground in a strange fashion. A healthy horse gets up by first placing his from legs out in front of him. He unfolds his hind legs in a big pushing movement which propels him up off the ground. A horse with physical problems will pull himself up off the ground with primarily his front legs, barely unfolding his hind legs in the process. A horse which habitually gets up in this manner almost always has joint soreness.

Not Rolling Over

When a horse can lie down and get up successfully, but is not able to roll completely over to the other side, he has a less-serious, but nonetheless very real limit within his body. This is also true of the horse who always gets down to roll on just one side of his body. (Remember, the high-withered horse may not be able to roll completely over, but if he is healthy, he will usually get down and roll on one side of his body, then get up and go down to roll on the opposite side.)

This lack of symmetrical use of the body may indicate that the horse is experiencing pain or weakness in the joints and muscles of the back or the hind leg on one side. He may be reluctant to get himself into a position where he'll have to use the weak or painful area to get up.

A horse with any one of the above rolling oddities is a good candidate for a veterinary and/or chiropractic examination. In addition, this horse may need one or more treatments from a professional massage therapist and the owner needs to learn some simple follow-up massage and stretching routines. In my workshops, I teach horse owners how to use a number of easy methods which assist the horse with pain-related rolling difficulties.

Afraid to Roll

Sometimes emotional fear and anxiety makes a horse reluctant to roll. A horse is very vulnerable when lying down. For that reason, a horse that is chronically frightened, nervous, or tense may decline to lie down either to rest or to roll. This may be due to environmental factors (like a change of stabling or being on the bottom of the pecking order) or reflect chronic fear. A horse fitting this description may also be spooky, unable to relax in any situation, and perpetually on guard.

Even more rare is the horse who sincerely does not want to get dirty. I've most often seen this in mares, and usually only when they are habitually being kept show-clean for extended periods of time.

Rolling Maintains Health

No matter what reason a horse may have for failing to roll, he will benefit from taking part in this quintessential horse experience. Horses like to roll and they need to roll. Rolling over and over is not only just a sigh of a healthy back, it also helps build and maintain the strength and flexibility of the horses's spine, abdomen, and hindquarters.

Our modern horse-keeping practices of stabling horses in box stallsand even preventing them from rolling in order to keep them conveniently cleaninvites all sorts of trouble for the horse's body and mind. In Australia, trainers a the race tracks recognize the importance of rolling in a horse's health care program. After a horse works, he is unsaddled and taken to a sandy rolling pit to roll, and then washed and cooled out.

Give Them a Chance

While horses out on pasture usually take care of their own rolling needs, I recommend horses which are stalled or kept in small areas be taken out to roll every day. It's easy to build time for rolling your horse into your horse-keeping routine.

One horse that was in my care for retraining was stabled in a 12 x 24 foot pen. When I arrived at the stable, I would hand-walk him for at least five minutes to warm him up and then take him to the arena for his roll on a lunge line. After his roll, I would take him over to the grooming area, brush him off, do some body work and stretches and then ride him. After his workout, I gave him the option of rolling again. This horse had a hard time getting up and down at first but improved as his massage and gentle riding program progressed.

Keep It Safe

Many horses like to run and buck following a good roll. Because this exuberance may lead to injury, some horse owners keep their horse from rolling at all. I prefer to prevent injury while allowing the horse to roll. If your horse is stalled, warm him up by hand walking him for at least five minutes before turning him out. Place bell boots on the feet and high quality neoprene or leather splint boots on the front legs. Limit the size of the rolling area so the horse cannot get up and bolt. When I was rehabilitating horses I built a 24 x 24 rolling pen with high plywood sides and filled it with shavings. This way the horse could roll and buck, without getting into high-speed galloping.

Taking your horse out to roll will be successful if the horse has access to a clear area away from fences or trail obstacles, and one that is nice and soft. Most horses will decline to roll on hard ground, it hurts! But few horses can resist a deep, sandy, or shavings-filled area such as a well maintained arena. If your facility doesn't have such a spot, one can easily be built in any corral or pasture. Just dump a few wheelbarrow loads of shavingsor better yet, a pickup load of clean, fine sandinto a pile, and spread it thickly into a horse-sized circle. Giving the horse relatively clean material to roll in can make your cleanup job that much easier.

If a horse is out of the habit, stimulate his interest in rolling by taking his saddle right off after working him and before you completely finish your cool-down, and turning him out in the rolling area. Sometimes, being a bit sweaty can make a horse itchy enough to want to roll. Washing a horse or even sprinkling him with a bit of water may have the same effect.

Once you make rolling a part of your regular horse-handling routine, you'll find that your horse will quickly get used to rolling at a set time and place. Even if it goes against your grain to see a clean horse get dirty, find him a great spot and step back to watch the fun.

Diana Thompson is the founder and editor-at-large of "The Whole Horse Journal." She teaches massage, acupressure, saddle fit and nonviolent training methods in order to improve horse health and performance. She will be teaching clinics throughout the region from July through September. See our Calendar of Events for dates and locations. This article was initially published in the July/August 1997 issue of "The Whole Horse Journal."