Choosing where to roll

Kanji Matsui and colleagues investigated the benefits of providing specific rolling areas for grazing horses.

Their study “Do horses prefer certain substrates for rolling in grazing pasture?” was published in the Journal of Equine Veterinary Science. The work was carried out at the Education and Research Center of Alpine Field Science, Faculty of Agriculture, at Shinshu university.

Four native Japanese Kiso horses were included in the study. The researchers observed the horses' behaviour in paddocks with and without rolling areas made of different substrates.

Two experimental paddocks were available for grazing, each 120 x 60 metres. One paddock , (the control) contained pasture only; the other contained three rolling areas – each 5 x 5 metres - made of  dry soil, sand or straw.

The researchers found that horses tended to roll more often, but for less time overall, in the rolling paddock compared with the control paddock. The difference, however, was not significant.

Horses spent significantly less time rolling in the rolling paddock than they did in the control paddock. Most of the rolling took place in the constructed rolling areas..

According to the researchers this indicates the absolute preference of horses for rolling areas. ”Thus, building rolling areas encourages horses to roll in these contained areas, thereby reducing damage to pasture.”

 

The horses appeared to prefer rolling on the dry soil area, rather than on either the sand or straw.

The researchers conclude that “offering a rolling area encourages horses to roll in these areas and keeps the pasture in good condition.” They point out that it also allows an increase in grazing time, which reduces the need for supplementary feed.

They recommend that rolling areas be provided in  pasture for horses and that these rolling areas be constructed of soil.

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