The Art of Natural Dressage

My older horse Storm is the caretaker of my other horses Misty and Jason, and I have noticed that he never fully lays out and sleeps, everyone else does and he will always stand over them and will sometimes lay down but always alert to any danger.
I have found however which is realy sweet that if I join the horses in the morning when they often have their group snooze, that Storm will come and lay down next to me and he will also lay flat out and have a good snooze, as this always happens when I'm there I would like to think it's because he feels he can leave the safety of his herd to me for a few minutes while he gets some much needed beauty sleep!
I've also noticed that when he lays flat out he goes into this very deep sleep where he starts to dream, like a sleeping dog chasing rabbits, his legs twitch, his nose and mouth twitch, his eyes go crazy with loads of rapid eye movement, but this is very fleeting, he wakes again, sits up, then moments later he is flat out in deep sleep twitching all over again.
This is so wonderful to just sit and watch, and these moments with a sleeping horse (for me) beat the pants off getting that perfect move in training sessions. Its just us in the here and now, and it is indeed magical to have that trust from such a noble animal.
Does anyone know about horses sleep patterns, it seems so strange that they can be in such deep sleep for such short periods and then straight to awake so instantly, though a very obvious sleep pattern I guess for an animal who could potentialy be someones lunch!!

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We never stop learning

If I remember rightly, horses are amongst the very few animals that we have some sort of data for sleep (dreams?) as being related to the experiences of the recent past.......i.e., the troubled rest of battle horses in ?the 1st world war?. Anyone got a good reference for this?
Or for the idea that, because consciousness (whatever we take this to be) is so costly in energy terms for the organism which has it, that sleep is a necessary "time out", where energy expenditure is less - consequently a rule of thumb for who "has" consciousness would be if the organism sleeps......
Rita

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"There is always an alternative to every cruel act".

Thankyou Rita, I think it's a very interesting thing to observe, I suppose it must be that because they are a prey animal they have to catch such quick sleeps, it just amazes me how quickly they can go into such a deep 'dreaming' sleep, stay there only for minutes, and then come straight out of it. Very clever!

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We never stop learning

I've had a bit of a google and found this on Wikipedia.

Unlike humans, horses do not need a solid, unbroken period of sleep time. They obtain needed sleep by means of many short periods of rest. This is to be expected of a prey animal, one that needs to be ready on a moment's notice to flee from predators. Horses may spend anywhere from four to fifteen hours a day in standing rest, and from a few minutes to several hours lying down. However, not all this time is the horse actually asleep; total sleep time in a day may range from several minutes to a couple of hours.Horses require approximately two and a half hours of sleep, on average, in a 24-hour period. Most of this sleep occurs in many short intervals of about 15 minutes each.


Horses need to lie down occasionally, and prefer soft ground for a nap.Horses must lie down to reach REM sleep. They only have to lie down for an hour or two every few days to meet their minimum REM sleep requirements.However, if a horse is never allowed to lie down, after several days it will become sleep-deprived, and in rare cases may suddenly collapse as it involuntarily slips into REM sleep while still standing.This condition differs from narcolepsy, though horses may also suffer from that disorder.

Horses sleep better when in groups because some animals will sleep while others stand guard to watch for predators. A horse kept entirely alone may not sleep well because its instincts are to keep a constant eye out for danger.

Other articals I looked at said basically the same thing as wikipedia....horses require very little sleep....I guess it's all to do with being a prey animal....they can get by on very little sleep and are alert to danger in a very short space of time.

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Interesting topic!

About a year ago in a German magazine (Pferdeboerse) I read an interview with a trainer who said that in domesticated horses 1 to 2 hours sleep (lying down) is actually way too little for most horses, and that if their environment would allow them (larger stables, less noise/distraction) then most horses tended to sleep for 3 to 4 hours a day.

I know Blacky and Sjors sleep quit a bit (lying upright and flat) both in the paddock and in the (open) stable. Blacky is the one who sleeps the most lying outstretched on his side, and then he also seems to dream often, as his eyes are rolling, he whinneys and his leg seem to trot, canter and jump a lot.

Bo seems to sleep a lot lying down too....there have been many occasions I've gone in the field and she's be flat out on her side...unmoving....of course my first thought is to panic...especially is she doesn't even react to me calling her name.....turns out she'd just been in a very deep sleep...not even stirring until I got almost close enough to touch her! heh!

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Thanks for the info Celtictotem, that was very interesting, Storm must sleep more than I realise, as they are right next to my house I see them out the window all the time, and it does always seem to be him standing on guard to protect the others, so it is so lovely when he comes to lay down with me and goes into his deep sleep. He's obviously catching some sneaky zzzz's in the night.

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We never stop learning

Maybe this is why I'm here! Thank you so much for this sleeping topic.

My mare - 19 yo arab ex racer - has taken to sleeping very deeply in the last 18months. And of course I turn up to find her flat out and also do the panic thing! But she's just sleeping. Since worrying is a default place for me I wonder why she's sleeping so much when she never did before. She used to be vey hectic and never stood still let alone sleep.

A few weeks ago she slept deeply, with the twitchy dreams and all for 4 hours. In the end I called the vet since I'd never known any horse sleep that long. The vet thought it was strange etc. Nothing wrong with her - but my bank balance took a hit!

I'm coming round to the idea that maybe she just wants to sleep and after years of being stressed out I should be grateful she feels she can sleep here. These posts here are so reassuring. Thank you.

Horses can sleep quite a lot of hours when they're relaxed. Blacky and Sjors sleep about two hours during the day when it's warm and humid. I see them lying in the paddock from our window. And don't be ashamed for your reaction, every time the ponies lie there completely stretched out, I too always check if I can see some breathing activity going on, and only then can truly enjoy the sight.

This is fascinating!

I just was reading an article online the other day about horses and sleep and a little on the research that is being done at the University of Pennsylvania's Equine Clinic.

Sue McDonnell, the head of the Clinic, had some interesting insights;

Feral horses tend to sleep more than stabled horses, and tend to hand off sentinel duty (so Annie, Storm is definitely handing the baton to you!) .

I also thought this was interesting:

<<Even though they're able to snooze standing, horses apparently need to lie down for rest and sleep at least some of the time. In fact, scientists think horses must lie down to go into deep stages of sleep. Like humans and many other animals, horses experience both slow-wave sleep (SWS) and rapid-eye-movement (REM) deep sleep. (SWS is characterized by slow, synchronized waves of electrical activity in the brain as recorded by electroencephalography. REM sleep is characterized by jerky eye movements and rapid, disorganized brain waves.) REM sleep seems to occur mostly when the horse is stretched out flat on his side, rather than resting on his chest.

People dream during REM sleep, and it seems that horses do, too. Beneath closed lids, their eyes move rapidly back and forth. Sue McDonnell has even seen some horses move their feet as if "trotting" in their dreams. But what horses dream about is anyone's guess.>>

This is from http://www.all-creatures.org/nyca/ch-art-20000900.html

Titum and Summy do that too. This spring Titum fell asleep in my lap once and dreamed there (neighing and moving his feet as if he was running) and I could also watch both horses do that sometimes when the children and I were doing something on the pasture and the horses were taking a nap.

I have veeery sleepy horses I guess. When it is warm they sleep during the day between 11:00 am and 1:00 pm and at night they sleep between 2:00 and 5:00 am, although I can not pinpoint their night sleeping time as precisely, because usually I am sleeping at that time as well.

this film is very nice

http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=sLq--G24EZ0
a sleeping icelandichorse
sorry not mine

Thanks for this clip, how sweet
This is just like Storm when he sleeps, but without the whicker, bless him in his horsey dreams.

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We never stop learning

Your signature line is, I believe, " We never stop learning. "

How very true.

I've never given much thought to horse's sleeping. In fact, I've seen very little of it considering the time I've spent with horses. I've even slept in stalls with horses when I was at the track and working for a racing stable. Never stepped on either.

Now you've opened up a whole new area of inquiry for me to ponder.

I wonder what other's know about horse sleeping habits. Maybe they sleep more than we know, given they can do it standing as well as lying down.

Do they daydream, as well, as we do, lost to the world for the moment in their revere, but awake.

Do they remember their dreams?

Donald R.

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Love is Trust, trust is All
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So say Don, Altea, and Bonnie the Wonder Filly.