My Standardbred

Question
I just bought my first standardbred about  a  month ago, he is six yrs. old. He is very quiet and gentle and I have been riding him for about two weeks. Last week I took him for a ride and all was well then  he suddenly laid down in the middle of the trail and rolled around. I considered this fairly normal. If I had an itched  I would want it rubbed too. But tonight he did the same thing but without the rolling . He just laid there and started to eat  a little. I was able to get him back up and he was fine the rest of the ride. I have checked all the tack and looked for bites. I can't find anything that could be irritating him. I have had a horse do this once before but he rolled around too. I am experienced and have had horses all my life., but this is getting a little odd. He is very calm and laid back. Am I taking him to slow and is he bored? or could there be something wrong. ? If you have any ideas I would appreciate it.  

Answer
Hi Deborah,

Thanks for your question!

What an interesting problem!!!  I have heard of horses doing this on the odd occasion, especially in water, but as a regular event is strange indeed.

It sounds to me more of a bad habit then boredom with his routine or an illness.  Did you get him off the track?  Can you talk to his ex trainer to see if he ever did this sort of thing with a cart on?

I doubt very much that there is an underlying illness as I would expect him to exhibit some sort of distress when he goes down.  But that said, if you have any doubts get a vet to have a look at him.

Does he give you any signs that he's about to go down?

The best way to combat this is to get him thinking forward.  The second he shows signs of thinking of going down, get him forward.  He has to stop still to go down, so if your thinking he's going to do it, move him forward into an active walk or trot.  If you have a bit of a dressage background it will help to do some flatwork with him, getting him to move forward, actively in a good frame and rhythm and then use this training when taking him on trails etc.

Vary his work, even on the trails with changes of pace.  Practice halting on trails, but the second he moves to go down you have to move forward again for a few seconds and then try halting again.  Repeat until he stops trying to go down.  This could take weeks!

It's a very odd habit your boy has picked up, and one that isn't easy to fix.  Patience and perserverence are the keys.  If this continues over a long period or gets worse, it would be of benefit to have a knowledgeble person/instructor go with you so that they can see this phenomenon in person.  They might be able to see something that you are missing.

Good luck with him!!