How horses sleep standing
Sleep ability to stand – not an idle mutation. Thanks to this ability, the ancestors of the horses at the same time rested and watched predators. This feature, coupled with quick legs, helped the ancestors of the horses survive.
A good rest while standing provides a special structure of the muscles, tendons and ligaments of the horse. This anatomical system is called “standing apparatus”. For example, the knee joints of the animal are blocked if necessary, due to which the ligaments and bones are fixed. During sleep, the horse stands on three legs, and rests on 1. The body weight in this position is evenly distributed, and the muscles almost do not feel the load. In addition, the animal does not spend energy in order to hold. If necessary, the horse changes the leg, and the muscles of the former supporting leg also rest. For more convenience, the animal bends the back and lowers the head a little. In this position, the horse can doze from four to 15 hours. At the same time, they are sleeping as articulate very sensitively: this evolutionary mechanism helped them quickly break away from the place when the predators attack. In other words, only those who slept standing survived.
Scientists are convinced that from time to time the horse should sleep lying. The best position of the body is on the side. Like a person, the stages of sleep in greenhouses are not the same. And the horse can only go into the deeper stage of sleep, only completely relaxing. Unlike sleep, in a lying position, the animal is restored much faster – from a few minutes to a couple of hours. It is interesting that young foals are sleeping mainly lying down, under the supervision of mothers-kobyl.