How do horses sleep standing up??

Question

dogs ands cat are usually active...like my friend's cat - he curls up into a comfortable ball and goes to sleep...But what about a horse??? How the hell do they go to sleep standing up?

Answer 1

Horses definitely have knees that do lock at the joints. Horses are prey animals in the wild. This helps there survival in the wild against predators.
Horses are flight animals so when they feel they are in danger there natural instincts tells them to run.

Answer 2

They have a special tendon that does lock. They cannot go into a deep sleep or their mucles will relax and they'll fall. Sometimes the tendon can cause problems and they'll preform surgery then the horse horse will no longer be able to sleep standing. They can lay all night but only a few hours is necessary. Laying down does not mean anythings wrong.

Answer 3

Every Horse, Mule and Donkey I ever owned (about 30) total and all my friends Horses all lie down and sleep. They rest even nap standing up but lay down at night to sleep.

Answer 4

They just, simply do. So do elephants, giraffes and many others. When these animals lie down, it usually means something is very wrong.

In other words, from thier point of view, they may be asking how humans can possible sleep laying down.

By the way, horses do NOT lock their joints. Particularly the "knee" of the hind legs. the one where the leg starts to bend backwards. This one cannot lock. The muscles around this joint maintain tension all the time.

Here's a question, back at you; how do whales and dolphins go to sleep without drowning?

Answer 5

They lock out their knees (their front legs) and relax one back foot (like the way you stand on one leg when you start to get tired of standing) and use the other for balance. They do this because they are prey animals. Its easier for them to do this and then when they hear something in the night just run instead of heave their bodies up, get their legs under them, and then bolt.

Answer 6

Well the first thing you need to know is that not all horses sleep standing up all the time. (Unless they are in very small stalls)

The other thing is that they lock their knees and their muscles do not relax like humans.

Answer 7

they do sleep standing up but some horses lay down but only for a couple of hours because they cant sleep all night laying down or they wont be able to get back up.

Answer 8

horses can sleep laying down...but sometimes they just sleep standing up...i guess their comfortable like that

Answer 9

Its called mother nature

Answer 10

horses can lock their knees and they fall asleep!