Once my daughter had seen enough Western cartoons and television shows dedicated to horses and asked me: "Mom, how does the horse sleep?" To be honest, at first I was confused. The fact is that we are urban residents, we do not have our own agriculture and farmyard. That is why I could not unequivocally answer my daughter. Shame on me, friends! So, let's look at this interesting issue together.
How does a horse sleep?
To answer this question, it was enough to open any book about the life of horses! Here is what I found out. Most horses and horses sleep while standing, but not always! It was not for nothing that my instinct warned me that not everything is "clean" here! The fact is that for full rest these equine animals simply need to take a nap for at least a couple of hours lying down. This will allow them to gain strength for a new day. But still their main dream falls, so to speak, on their feet.
Why does the horse sleep while standing?
"Mechanism of action
And really! Why? To answer this question, you first need to figure out how they do it. After delving deeper into the relevant literature, I found out that the unique structure of the bones helps them to sleep while standing! The fact is that the bones and ligaments in the legs of horses are designed in such a way that they are very easily blocked. It is thanks to this that complete relaxation sets in while the horse is napping. Her muscles relax, and the total body weight is quite reliably "suspended" on the locked limbs.
Why standing and not lying?
I reported above that the horse sleeps standing all the main time of his rest. But why? Everything is simple! The fact is that for a long time to rest in a prone position our artiodactyls are simply inconvenient. After all, these are rather heavy and massive animals with huge muscles, which can not be said about their fragile bones … If horses and horses will lie in the same position for a long time, this will lead to the animal being injured.
Self defense
Rummaging in the writings of some scientists and naturalists, among whom was the well-known traveler Przhevalsky, I learned not only how the horse sleeps, but also how, roughly speaking, it "has come to such a life!" Scientists believe that this is an ordinary habit, which eventually developed into a protective mechanism. The fact is that horse speed is their main "method of self-defense" in the wild, and a standing position during sleep is able to maintain the animal in a "combat" readiness. In other words, if they are in danger, they can immediately go on the run! Probably, there is no need to explain that to any animal with long and thin legs (antelopes, camels, gazelles, cows), in order to be able to rise from its lying position, it is necessary to spend much more time than others!
Mutual help
So, we know that for a short time the horses doze lying down. But even for this short period of time they need some kind of guarantee that a predator doesn’t wander around, ready to have lunch … Their brothers act as such "insurance"! When horses keep herds, they guard each other in turn: while one is sleeping, the other is standing nearby, and vice versa.
And finally
That's the whole answer to the question of how a horse sleeps, friends! Now I can tell my child absolutely accurately and confidently about this! It remains only to wait until the daughter wakes up … Good luck!
