Funny thing happened on the trail the other day. - Western Training & Behavior - Western Training & Behavior - Horse Community, Horse Pictures, Horse Forum and Information

Posted : 5/29/2009 3:11:17 PM

Hi All,
Okay so we went trail riding the other day. It was my husbands first time out on the trail with his horse Boh. (Iv taken him on the trail before) We have alot of logging roads and old river roads where we live to it was quite a long and vigorous ride. Near the end of our ride we get down in this river bottom. It was very beautiful. Tall grass, big open expance large old trees everynow and then, with the river running buy. We are all taking in the scenery and all of the sudden my husbands horse just lays down. It was the funniest thing you ever saw. One minutes he was walking along pretty as can be and the next minute he was laying there looking around like "Hey guys you should join me!"
At first I was worried I thought maybe we had hert himself or gone lame or sick. My husband stepped off once they were on the ground and got him back up got back on him and rode on. He said he could feel him try it one more time a little bit after he got on but after that he was fine. He wasnt breathing really hard or lame or anything so I am completely baffled. All my years of riding Iv never had that happen. Expecially without any warning at all. My husbands says Boh thought hed died and gone to heaven and was just taking it all in.

DarkChylde

Posted : 5/30/2009 9:33:35 AM

Horses limp when they go lame, they don't lay down. I would honestly suggest a saddle issue, while it is comical there was a real reason the horse was layin down, and doin that (or tryin to) while someone is ridin can be dangerous.

My horses would try and lay down and roll if I let them paw at water when we tried to cross, but I wuddn't let them paw the water for that reason.

PaintedChick

Posted : 5/30/2009 3:08:57 PM

That happened to me once, many moons ago. I was trail riding with my trainer and a few other people. I was riding a 4-5 year old appy girl, and we were almost back to the ranch when she tried it. We were in a dusty wash area, and she got down to her knees. I said Hey! and squeezed her sides with my legs, and she got back up. We continuted back to the ranch and the trainer checked her over, found nothing wrong with her legs or her back. No sore spots anywhere. Said she must've had an itch!

danastark

Posted : 5/30/2009 3:10:59 PM

My husband's horse did this in a puddle one time. We had been working on getting in water and I guess we did too well. We were just standing there letting him digest standing in water, had just warned my husband a few minutes prior to watch him if he started to paw, when the gelding just went straight down. Once down, he realized something was not right, there was a rider and saddle up there and he hauled himself back up, husband and all! Sheesh!!! Muddy tack!!

When we ride in the river bottoms the horses always want to lie down in the nice, soft sand. Can't blame them really......

AllieBaba

Posted : 6/6/2009 6:07:50 PM

When I was a girl my mother used to take me to a place that had horses for commercial trail rides. We didn't have a horse, and in the off season, she'd take me every weekend to go on a 1/2-1 hour ride.

My favorite horse was a roan called "Strawberry", a fat, gentle gelding of indeterminate age. Because I was the only person riding, the guides would take me different places at different paces, and stretch out our time.

We came to a creek once, a sandy-bottomed, shallow dunes creek, and Strawberry pawed it a couple of times and then laid down.

I hopped off, he rolled around a sec, stood up and shook himself. Mom thought he might be colicked, and wouldn't let me ride him again because she was very safety oriented and wouldn't let me ride anything less than sound and safe.

I think he was just itchy from standing around all day with a saddle on and wanted a roll. He wasn't otherwise distressed.

firebird96ta

Posted : 6/12/2009 10:32:09 PM

When I was a kid, my two best friends and I all had smallish horses that we rode everywhere and did everything on. There was one particular soybean field that we would skirt the edge of and in one corner, our 3 would try to lay down every single time. None of the other horses we rode with ever did, just those 3. Never had it happen anywhere else, just that one spot, and we never did figure out why. One of the horses I have now has the same attitude as my old gelding did, and I often wonder if he would try to lay down there if I would haul him back there. ':)'

chelsea03

Posted : 6/30/2009 8:16:02 PM

That is weird but yet funny, I have never heard of a horse doing that before, maybe it is a saddle issure, but if he was acting fine, like with no bucks or anything and all of a sudden he lays down, I don't think it would be the saddle or anything. This sort of thing happened to my brother, he was riding his horse max and all of a sudden he layed down and started rolling! good thing my brother never hurt, but the saddle sure did!

hunterseat

Posted : 7/1/2009 1:20:56 AM

I think it's a vice/bad habit and has nothing to do with the water rollers. I've seen horses do that when they just don't want to go forward. I'd really make life miserable every time I suspected he was going to lay down. And be very watchful! I might be wrong, just my opinion.