Do Horses Sleep Standing Or Lying Down? Find Out Here!
All animals need rest, but there are different ways to do it. Would you like to know if horses sleep standing or lying down?
In this article, we are going to answer this question.
Equine sleep characteristics
Before talking about whether horses sleep standing or lying down, it is necessary to know a little about the physiology of horses.
Unlike what happens, for example, with felines, which can sleep soundly for a whole day after eating to excess, horses do not enjoy this “luxury” and need to be alert to avoid being attacked.
It does not matter whether the animal is standing or lying down, with its eyes open or closed. You will always be paying attention to what is happening around you and ready to escape danger.
For this reason, it is somewhat difficult to determine how many hours a day horses sleep.
In general, it is estimated that foals sleep 30 minutes every hour (ie 12 hours a day), youngsters sleep 15 minutes every hour (which corresponds to six hours) and adults only sleep three hours a day .
Furthermore, the environmental factor influences a lot, as light and dark are related to periods of wakefulness and sleep, respectively.
Other reasons why horses may sleep more or less are: the time of year, the arrival of heat, pregnancy or nursing the young.
But how do they sleep standing up? Thanks to what is known as the “static passive device”, which is present in the hind legs and is responsible for the animal not to fall.
To do this, the kneecap locks the femoral trochlea and locks the hock and, in turn, lightens the weight on the limbs.
This also starts when the animal is awake, so it doesn’t get as tired as if people have to stand up all day.
So, do horses sleep standing or lying down?
In fact, they do it both ways, but what differs is the “depth” of sleep or rest.
In this way, the horse can sleep standing up without losing balance, but dreams only in the REM ( rapid eye movements) phase when lying down or leaning.
At this stage, the eyes move very quickly and some specimens may move their legs as if they were trotting across the meadow.
When lying down, horses do this on their side or rest their chests on the ground, with the aim of completely relaxing the muscles.
During daily rest periods, horses can have between two and four sleep cycles and wake up in between to continue with the alertness necessary to survive.
It’s also worth noting that these animals can wake up much faster than others from their ‘snooze’ and have the ability to escape danger in a matter of seconds.
The reasons
Horses are believed to sleep soundly to save energy, fix learning or eliminate certain brain chemicals, as happens with other living beings, including humans.
Not only do horses sleep standing up, but there are also several species of mammals that have the same habit.
Among them we can cite cows, donkeys, donkeys, bison, buffalo, moose, deer, wildebeest, reindeer, gazelle, elephant, rhinoceros and giraffe.
There are also birds that can rest without having to lie down! For example, ducks, chickens, flamingos, sparrows, pigeons, canaries, seagulls, storks, swifts and doves.
If you’ve ever wondered whether horses sleep standing or lying down, you already have the answer: they can do it both ways, though not with the same depth of sleep.
