Sleep

I’m settling down for “long winter naps” these days and was curious if horses sleep more in winter than other seasons.

Mostly, I discovered that they may be less active in the cold, but they don’t typically sleep more. Horse sleep habits are quite interesting:

• Horses typically sleep 3 – 7 hours total per day

• Often dozing lightly while standing up

• They must lie down for about 30 – 60 minutes to get essential deep REM sleep

• The deep sleep occurs in the dark hours after midnight

• Left alone horses divide their time between eating, resting and sleeping (not a bad idea)

• Resting helps conserve energy needed to keep their bodies warm

• Horses can have sleep disorders often due to social insecurity (like humans)

We can learn so much from these magnificent animals including how we are strangely similar.