If you’ve ever brought a new horse to your ranch, you might have noticed it dozing off while standing up. In fact, even a horse you’ve had for a while might demonstrate the same peculiar sleeping habits. But why do horses sleep standing up?
Before you call your vet to get your trusty steed checked, there’s a few things you should know: how do horses sleep? For starters, it’s perfectly normal for horses to sleep standing up. And there are more than a handful of reasons why they might conk out even while they’re upright.
How Does a Horse Sleep?
Your horse will fall asleep standing multiple times throughout the day. Typically, these short series of naps will occur while they’re standing up. One interesting thing you might notice is that while your horse nods off, they can keep one leg up off the ground.
Throughout the horse’s body is a unique collection of muscles, tendons, and ligaments called stay apparatus. This system works to lock three legs and rest another up off the ground.
It can also interchange which leg they want to take a load off of. Because a horse can weigh a pretty hefty amount, taking its legs off the ground lets him rest his limbs.
But just for the record – horses don’t sleep just in the standing up position. Just like humans, they can sleep lying down as well. It’s all a matter of how safe and comfortable the animal feels in the situation.
Why Does a Horse Sleep While Standing Up?
To better understand how horses sleep on their feet, it’s important to discuss how they are in the wild. Generally, horses are considered a prey species. That means in the wild, horses are subject to the dangers of being pursued by predators like cougars, wolves, and bears.
Because of this natural order of things, these creatures have evolved to stay alert and ready to flee, especially since they graze in open fields where it’s impossible for them to hide. As a result, horses developed the anatomy and physiology required for them to be able to sleep without having to lie down.
On top of that, adult horses have different needs when it comes to sleep. Unlike humans, horses need very little REM sleep. Rapid eye movement sleep is a form of deep sleep which horses can only achieve while lying down. In humans, REM sleep helps to process memories and emotions, and plays a vital role in healthy brain function.
For a healthy human adult, scientists recommend that REM sleep in the SWS phase should make up between 20-25% of the entire sleep duration. If you’re targeting 8 hours a night, that’s about 90 minutes of REM. But then again, horses aren’t like humans in that respect.
Equine experts state that these animals only need about 30-40 minutes of deep sleep for every 24 hour period. That’s why your horse will often feel satisfied and well rested even with just a series of standing naps.
Does a Horse Snore While Sleeping?
Standing up horses rarely snore while snoozing. That’s because a standing nap doesn’t really let them enter such a deep state of sleep. While lying down however, it’s possible that you might hear your horses letting out some pretty annoying snoring sounds (one of the many funny things horses do).
These are huge animals, weighing several hundreds of kilograms. When they lie down, they push all of their internal organs down against the ground, adding pressure to different parts of their body. So when they breathe as they sleep on the ground, it’s likely they’ll produce a snoring noise because of the way their innards are all smushed together.
This is also why horses can’t lie down for an extended period of time – because it applies unnecessary pressure to their organs. Needless to say however, quick bouts of lying down may provide enough opportunity for a horse to end up snoring – and quite loudly, at that.
Do Horse Sleep in Groups?
As naturally social creatures, horses prefer staying together with their herd. This simply makes each animal feel safe in knowing that if a predator comes along, they have better chances of escape since multiple horses in a group can cause a commotion and confusion for the predator.
If you’ve got a small herd on your ranch, you’ll notice that they enjoy sleeping together in groups. While some horses lay down on the ground to doze off, others will stand around if taking standing naps. As the horse’s need for REM sleep is fulfilled, it will stand and switch places with one of the napping animals.
Taking turns to sleep lying down guarantees the safety of every animal, even if there’s technically not a predator around. In case one does come along, the horses taking a light nap can wake the sleeping horses and alert them of immediate dangers in the environment.
What Happens When a Horse Doesn’t Get Enough Sleep?
Just like humans, horses need sufficient sleep to support various physiological functions and therefore their performance. A lack of sleep in a horse may result to:
- Reduced ability to control body temperature (learn about heat stress in horses)
- Impaired metabolism
- Weight loss
- Poor performance
- Changes in mood and behavior
- Reduced ability to learn
What Factors Affect a Horse’s Sleeping Habits?
Horses are neither nocturnal nor diurnal. At night, their habits differ greatly from most mammals in that they don’t spend most of the dark hours sleeping. Instead, they’ll cycle between periods of rest and activity because of their hardwired status as a prey species.
If your animals have been under your care for quite some time, then you might notice that their patterns of rest may change. As they come to realize that your ranch is a safe space, they could lay on the ground, doze off, and spend more time resting while lying down. Comfortable, happy horses may also stretch more often as they rest and lie down.
Frequently Asked Questions About Horse Sleeping Patterns
How do you know if a horse is sleeping?
If a horse decides to take a snooze while standing, you’ll notice that its eyes will appear wide awake. So how can you tell if it’s actually napping? Well, a horse taking a nap will typically lock one of its hind legs so that the opposite hoof’s tip just rests on the ground. This is indicative of the horse using his stay apparatus so he can rest his limbs.
How long does a horse sleep?
Adult horses will only require an average of three hours of sleep every 24 hour period. On top of that, they only need about 30 minutes of slow wave sleep or REM sleep in a day.
And keep in mind – three hours a day is a cumulative measure. They don’t need to complete hours of sleep in a single go. Instead, they’ll nap throughout the day for minutes at a time until they meet their requirements energy and deep sleep.
Off to Dream Land
So how do horses sleep? Don’t worry – it’s perfectly natural for your horse to sleep without having to lay on the ground. Hardwired to run, these majestic animals come with the perfect anatomy and physiology to escape predators in the wild.
With time however, and as your animal becomes more comfortable in your care, you might notice them falling asleep on the ground more often. Take that as your sign that you’ve got a healthy, happy animal that feels safe in your care.
