1) Horses only sleep for short periods throughout the day or night. The average nap lasts approximately 15 minutes.
2) Horses’ sleeping patterns change as they age. While foals under three months of age may sleep for 12 hours a day, older horses only sleep for about three hours during a 24-hour period. Senior horses (just like some senior people) may snooze a bit more though.
3) Horses really can sleep standing up. This is thanks to the stay apparatus—a group of ligaments, tendons, and muscles that brace the entire joint system of the foreleg as well as the pastern and fetlock joints in the hind leg. The horse’s stifles have both a locking and reciprocal mechanism that enables one hind leg to lock in place while the other one rests. All of these mechanisms evolved so the horse could more easily flee from predators.
4) But they can only reach full REM sleep (deepest level of sleep) while laying down. Therefore, it’s essential they have somewhere comfortable and roomy enough to do this. If a horse is deprived of REM sleep for a long period of time, this could affect his health in a negative way.
5) Horses in herds will often have a “guard horse” stand watch while others lay down to sleep. As the name implies, the guard horse will alert the sleeping horses of impending danger. Different members of the herd will take turns acting as the guard horse.
6) Some horses “talk” in their sleep. It isn’t unusual for horses to occasionally nicker or grunt while sleeping. This would lead us to wonder—are they dreaming? And if so, what about? Oh, if our horses could only tell us!
7) Every horse has its own sleeping patterns. Since horses are neither nocturnal nor diurnal, each will develop his own preferred time to doze off. Because of this, any changes we make in our horses’ schedules may very well affect their sleeping routine. Just something to be aware of!
