6 minute read

Horses & Sleep

and SLEEP

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Story and Photos By Alessandra Deerinck

This is a group of young horses between six and twelve months of age, with an adult mare that are housed in a large paddock and that are laying down while the older mare is watching out for them.

Two Friesian mares are resting in a covered area. Theses horses are housed in a large uncovered area and provided with a covered area that they can access when they need it

When the goal is to improve performance and welfare in domesticated horses, along with proper exercise, the considered factors often are sufficient air and light, food and water, adequate space for movement and contact with conspecifics, but another very important topic that is often not considered is creating environments that facilitate optimal sleep for the horses. Sleep is a biological need for mammals, because it provides rest and has a role in building memory. All mammals sleep, but in different ways according to their species behavior and the environmental factors that surround them. What we know at this moment is that horses are polyphasic sleepers, with several short periods of sleep that amount to about 3 to 4 hours. There are levels of sleep variation between individual horses, probably connected to age, sex, breed and emotional state, but in any horse the sleep time is distributed throughout the 24 hours divided in periods lasting a few minutes, and most of it happens at night.

The equine natural behavior, is profoundly free and flexible, and so deeply rooted in its genetic code that even the most ingenious genetic selection only scratches the surface. We have proof of this in the populations of the “wild horses” spread all over the world, which actually came from domestic horses that broke free, and were able to readapt to live in the wild. Horses adapt to where they live and they do not build anything to protect themselves while sleeping. They are prey animals, and whether domestic or wild, any horse is always alert and completely immersed in the surrounding. When they get to a new area, they explore it and then adapt to the situation and they do so even when we move them to a new place, but we need always to keep in mind that a horse may not sleep well when traveling or arriving in a new place, and we need to help him get comfortable and rest. Horses are herd animals, and within each herd there is a “pecking order” based on alertness that protects the entire herd. As prey animals, horses cannot lay down and sleep for long periods of time, because that would make them vulnerable to predator attacks, but in a herd some individuals will be resting while others will be alert and watch out for the safety of the whole herd. Because of their anatomy horses can also sleep while standing, but the sleep phase with rapid eye movement (REM), that should amount to at least thirty minutes, cannot happen without recumbency because during REM sleep the horses loose muscle tone. However, if comfortable and safe, horses will lay down to do this stage of sleep. Any disruption of their sleep will result in sleep deprivation which is not a sleep disorder, but causes behavior such as nervousness or irritability and decreases physical performance. Affected horses may transition into REM sleep while standing and partially collapse before suddenly waking up.

The conditions that can cause sleep deprivation for horses are many and range from environmental to physical and it is possible to address them and make it possible for horses to properly sleep. Some known primary factors that always affect the quantity and quality of equine sleep are limited space, adverse weather conditions, the risk of predation, the gestation period in mares, the animal body mass, the encephalization, and the basal metabolic rate. Ensuring adequate space for horses to lay down comfortably for at least 30 minutes every day is definitely necessary to improve the welfare of horses, along with addressing medical problems that can limit their ability to lay down to sleep. Overweight, but healthy horses may also find it difficult to lay down and stand up, and this can be a limiting factor for REM sleep. Knowing that horses will only lie down and allow themselves REM sleep if they are completely comfortable in their surroundings is the reason why we should always ensure to create a quiet, safe environment where we keep horses. Whether inside a barn or outside in small paddocks or pastures, in single enclosures or in a herd, the instinctual behavior of a horse is always there and we should learn it and always keep it in mind. Most adult horses, other than very large size ones, can lay down in a 12’ x 12’ box stall, however they need to feel comfortable and able to get up. Horses have to learn to lay down not too close to a wall or fence, because in this case they will be cast and will need help to stand up.

We need to always keep in mind that the kind of enclosure where a horse is housed has always an impact on its comfort, in a way that is related to how they can perceive the

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This is a young horse that was comfortably resting on the ground during a turnout.

surrounding area. If they are cooped up in a stall or a paddock where they cannot see around, but they can hear noises that come from outside, they can become anxious and not sleep comfortably. A bare concrete floor is not adequate for a horse to lay down, unless we provide straw or shavings that need to be of adequate depth to let the horse rest and stand up comfortably. The bedding needs to be managed daily in order to eliminate the urine and manure that would not be inviting for a horse to lay down and sleep, and can even create a serious problem in terms of infection for the hoof.

Horses are very sensitive to the presence of light or darkness that regulates their sleep cycles, and we need to let them be able to perceive the light according to the time of the day. If we house horses in a barn, we should not keep lights turned on at night, because we can impair their sleep as well as affect a mare’s reproductive system. Foals are generally born during the dark hours in order to have some safe time to get on the ground and stand up, and keeping light on can cause mares to retain the foals in their womb for longer time.

When we keep horses in a pasture, they can easily have a good night’s sleep if they lay down on grass or dirt. Protection from the elements is an aspect to consider for horses kept in a pasture, and providing them a covered dry area that they can access if needed is a way to safeguard their sleep.

Being aware of any situation at the moment it happens, and work to make horses comfortable is something we need to learn how to do and always do it, if we want to truly take care of the wellbeing of horses, domesticated or wild.

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