Do you know how the horses sleep?

To understand the horse, you need to study its physiology, its inner world. This knowledge will explain the behavior of the horse. One of the most revealing aspects of equine physiology is the vision and its effect on how the animal reacts to certain situations. The second, not less interesting, aspect is sleep.

How the horses sleep

Since time immemorial, it has been thought that horses sleep standing, and lie only when they fall ill. Horses can stand and sleep, and doze, and sick animals never lie down, afraid to not rise. Only being in the stables, where the horse feels safe, she can lie down for a while and sleep for a little longer. Standing on your feet, the animal is on the alert, regardless of whether it sleeps or sleeps. In case of danger, for example, when a predator appears, the horse can take flight. If she were asleep lying down, would she be able to run so fast? Of course not. That's why horses sleep standing up. Why does the horse not tire of standing almost all his life? It's just that these animals have the ability to "block" the knee joint. In this position, the horse relaxes muscles as much as possible. Nature endowed her with very hardy legs. The main means of defense for a horse is the speed it develops due to this feature.

Life in the herd

It is interesting how the horses living in the herds in the wild are sleeping . Mostly they doze if they do not play and do not eat. Stallion-leader of the herd can not sleep for a long time a deep sleep. He watches that the opponent does not cover the mares of his herd. In natural conditions, a horse sleeps up to eight hours a day - it's drowsiness, a quick and deep sleep. Deep sleep horses in the herd sleep in turn, standing on their feet. Foals allow themselves to sleep lying down, since they are under the protection of their mothers. In the wild, horses almost never lie down or lie down lying down. They, having long legs and large body weight, having started to climb quickly, can fall to their knees and injure their legs. The exception is childbirth, when the mare lies down on the ground and gives birth. Childbirth occurs mostly at night, when the animal can completely relax.

Life in the stables

Home horses, keeping the habits of their wild ancestors, seldom fall to the ground. They rest on their feet. Horses can doze up and spend all the time in an upright position. Being in the stables, the horse spends time in a drowsiness, as she does not threaten anything, she is full and warm. But deep peace or the so-called fast sleep of a horse can only get lying down, relaxed. At times, snoring loudly, as they say, "throwing off the hoof," appears before us a sleeping horse. The photos taken during this dream are simply unique. In a state of rapid sleep, the horse is more sensitive. She reacts to noise, hears sounds, yanks skin. Waking up, the horse stretches, yawns. It is interesting to observe how the horses sleep in the phase of deep sleep. They are fully drawn out Neck and legs, do not respond to sounds and can even snore. From the state of sleep do not go out right away, they need time. That's how horses sleep when they are out of danger. Interesting fact: scientists-hippologists confirm that horses see dreams. One can observe how in the deep sleep phase animals move their limbs, as if running, it is clear how their eyes move under closed eyelids. Sometimes you can see how the stallions in a dream come to sexual arousal and wake up, trying to cover the mare. This behavior makes it possible to judge that the stallion had an erotic dream.