- Horses need to sleep, and most is done standing but they do sleep lying down.
- They drowse during the day but truly sleep at night.
- Their sleep cycle is short - 15 minutes sleep then 45 minutes awake.
- A horse that is forced to stand continuously, e.g. on long air flights, will be sleep deprived so must be rested on arrival.
- Group behaviour affects sleep. Dominant animals lie down first and set the pattern.
- Young horses need more sleep than the old.
- Horses prefer to lie on dry earth or sand and not cold wet areas.
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Published in
Horses & other Equines
Dr Clive Dalton
Clive did a Ph.D. in sheep breeding at the University of North Wales at Bangor. After lecturing at Leeds University, he came to New Zealand to do research with MAF. Because of his communication skills, he moved to the Ruakura Agricultural Research Centre to be fully involved in interpreting science for practical application by farmers.
After 14 years he moved to teach at the Waikato Polytechnic where he taught young future farmers. He won the 1993 Landcorp Communicator of the Year award and the 1999 Sir Arthur Ward award for agricultural communication.