Prodney’s Blog: Sleeping standing up or lying down: pros and cons

You humans are a funny lot. See a horse lying down and you think we’ve fallen over, or are sick. Catch us standing up and snoozing and you marvel that we don’t fall over. Here’s the lowdown on what’s going on.

Lying down and getting up again takes time for us horses. Our legs are fine and our bodies heavy. One false move could be fatal, so we do it carefully and slowly. When we’re in a secure stable, or surrounded by other members of the herd in the field, we can confidently lie down and sleep deeply, all muscles relaxed. But when we’re not, the ability to sleep standing up comes in very handy. The sleep may be more of a doze, but if we need to gallop away from a potential predator, we’re alert quickly and have got a standing start (literally).

If we were standing on two legs like you are, we’d fall over too if we went to sleep. But with a leg at each corner we’re more stable (pun intended), plus we have a secret called the stay apparatus on our side too. This locks one leg in a flexed but resting position while we stand on the other three, so we can stand securely but rest our legs in rotation. In our hind legs, which bear the most weight, the knee cap is temporarily popped out of place to achieve this. Neat, huh? Well, OK it might sound odd to you, but trust me, it makes perfect sense to us.

So when you see a horse lying down asleep, it’s usually a sign that he or she is relaxed and feels secure. If they’re in a field, you’ll probably notice that one or more horses nearby will be on sentry duty.

Like you, we need some really deep sleep every day to stay well, but as flight animals we’re genetically programmed to only need an hour or so. Otherwise, it’s snoozing all the way. Honestly, you should try it. But don’t say I didn’t warn you if you do so standing up.

Prodney is Chief Equine Officer (CEO) at Park Lane Stables, and achieved celebrity status following the TV coverage in 2021.