Does horses sleep standing up or down.?

Answer 1

Standing up, I think

Answer 2

Horses typically sleep standing up, they have a special muscle in their legs that locks their knees so they can go to sleep and not worry about tipping over. But sometimes a horse with lay down during a hot day to take a little cat nap in the sun if they feel safe enough.

Answer 3

Horses in general will sleep standing up. Their knees are built to lock into place to keep them standing in place. As I say this though I have also met some horses that like to lay down and take naps. Its good to remember though that a horse should not lay completely on its side for more than an hour or two, or the weight of its body will crush its lungs.

Answer 4

Horses will lay down for about 15 minutes at a time. They do sleep while standing up. Yes they do lay down to sleep, However just for 15 minutes at a time.

Answer 5

Horses must lay down for a small amount of time. They require much shorter periods of REM sleep and less of it than we do. They may go several days without deep sleep but eventually they'll lay for a short while and catch up. It does require some muscle tension and consciousness to remain standing. If they went into REM sleep they would stumble and wake or fall.

Answer 6

If they feel safe, they will lay down to sleep. But most horses sleep standing. This is due to an instinct that, in the wild, will help them escape danger must faster than getting up from the ground.

One of my horses lays down in his stall. He's so cute! :)

Answer 7

My horses sleep a variety of ways, my mare, since she has become pregnant prefers to lay down, but not for more than an hour cause the weight of their bodies put pressure on their insides. She also likes to sleep laying on her side, especially because she is so calm and trusting of her surroundings. My pony on the other hand rarely lays down because he has a very strong 'fight or flight' instinct that makes it very hard for him to calm down, and also because he was abused before I got him. He always sleeps standing up. My donkey can lay down on command and go to sleep with me. Most horses in the wild will sleep standing up so they can make a quick get-away, while foals will sleep laying down. sometimes memebers of the herd will lay down because other members are keeping watch over them

Answer 8

as alot of other people have said, they will do either, but it also depends on the horse. i've known horses that have been gentiled at an age after beeing weened and i have known horses that were imprinted at birth, the ones that were gentiled at an older age tended to sleep standing up but would rest laying down. the ones that were imprinted at birth would do the exact oposite, they would doze standing up but would insist on sleeping laying down - i've even seen them get done with a trail ride an, even though they were tied up, would put all their weight on the lead rope and fall in a deep sleep, snoreing and all! :)

Answer 9

They can sleep standing up or laying down.

Answer 10

Usually they sleep standing up but will occasionally lie down for short naps. When I had horses, they usually took a nap in the late morning/early afternoon. They can't lay down for very long periods of time because their body mass.

Answer 11

My horses go to sleep laying down beside my bed. They rest while standing. While they are lying down, they do shuffle to different positions. I have one horse that runs in his sleep.