I was wondering, they must get tired sometimes standing all day....
2006-11-27 01:22:47 · 11 answers · asked by fonzie242002 2 in Pets ➔ Other - Pets
How does a horse sleep standing up? The answer lies in a system of tendons and ligaments that work together with the knee cap. Animal experts call this the "stay apparatus." It's a pretty clever design, really. At any time, a horse needs only to relax the muscles on his front legs, and the stay apparatus will kick in. For the back legs, a horse must rotate its hips to activate the built-in locking mechanism.
Over a period of 24 hours, a horse will be drowsy for about two hours, sleep lightly for two hours, and sleep deeply for less than an hour. But these are totals. Each day, the horse has several drowsy and sleep periods of only a few minutes each. Of course, the horse can sleep lying down if it so chooses, but God has designed this magnificent animal to get forty winks on four legs.
PHIL M
2006-11-27 01:31:08 · answer #1 · answered by PHIL M 4 · 3⤊ 1⤋
Adult horses usually sleep standing because they have locking joints, but baby colts & fillys sleep lying down b/c it's more comfortable to them at that age,But a horse can have what they say/call a foot asleep...its when the horses leg (when standing still) is kinda bent in half, in other words its resting
2006-11-27 10:19:34 · answer #2 · answered by littlemisssunshine 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
HOrses have specieal joints in their knees, and can actually lock their knees without having to consiously stand up, and they sleep like that. Baby horse lie down, as they havent perfected that yet, and adult horses do lie down during the day, but they usually dont sleep like that unless they are ill.
2006-11-27 01:26:14 · answer #3 · answered by andHallelujah. 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Horse sleep standing up because they have a special joint that they can lock in their knees. Baby horses sleep laying down because they prefer it that way when they're younger.
2006-11-27 08:29:49 · answer #4 · answered by STF11 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
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RE:
How does a horse sleep?
I was wondering, they must get tired sometimes standing all day....
2015-08-10 14:02:47 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Horses, like a few people I know, have the ability to sleep standing upright.
2006-11-27 02:20:55 · answer #6 · answered by Justin 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Most sleep standing up but i have seen a few sleep on the ground but they were older with weak legs
2006-11-27 02:25:09 · answer #7 · answered by Jon 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
ive seen horses sleep when standing but they can do both
2006-11-27 05:44:44 · answer #8 · answered by Cr 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They usually sleep standing but sometimes lie down.
2006-11-27 06:03:08 · answer #9 · answered by Horse crazy 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Standing up
2006-11-27 01:24:36 · answer #10 · answered by Melissa J 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋