[Tajmahal]

Hi, I have a horse and someone told me that if a horse stands on his three legs and changing the legs that means he is healthy. Is this correct and should I be worried about this?
Thanks

[shazamataz]

Horses don't sleep laying down (not very often anyway) so they need to rest their legs somehow!
They do this by resting one at a time.

[jcdill]

Hi, I have a horse and someone told me that if a horse stands on his three legs and changing the legs that means he is healthy. Is this correct and should i be worried about this?
Thanks

It's a myth that horses don't sleep laying down. They regularly sleep while standing and while laying down. A horse that never lays down to sleep is actually quite likely to be suffering from sleep deprivation.

When a horse dozes or sleeps while standing it will rest one hind leg, and occasionally it will change which leg is being rested - this is normal. However, if the horse is swapping legs frequently then there may be a pain issue and you should have the vet out.

When was the last time this horse was seen by a vet? Has he had vaccination boosters this year? When did you last have the teeth checked, and floated if necessary? When did you last clean his sheath? If you don't know the answers (or the answers are "not this year") then have the vet out to take care of these things which should be addressed at least once a year. The vet will also give your horse a general once-over for health so if there's anything wrong (that, for instance, might be causing your horse to swap legs frequently while standing and dozing), the vet can look into that at this time as well.

Good luck.

[shazamataz]

It's a myth that horses don't sleep laying down. They regularly sleep while standing and while laying down. A horse that never lays down to sleep is actually quite likely to be suffering from sleep deprivation.

I agree with everythig else inyour post except this...
I never said that horses don't sleep laying down.
I said they rarely do. In the wild horses always sleep standing up as their only natural defense is to run away from predators...

Horses leg joints actually lock into place while they are sleeping for this very reason.

They will sleep laying down if they are completely comfortable with their surroundings but it is rare.

[jcdill]

I agree with everythig else inyour post except this...
I never said that horses don't sleep laying down.
I said they rarely do. In the wild horses always sleep standing up as their only natural defense is to run away from predators...

Horses leg joints actually lock into place while they are sleeping for this very reason.

They will sleep laying down if they are completely comfortable with their surroundings but it is rare.

It's a myth that horses always sleep standing in the wild. They usually lay down for a few hours every day. This myth stems from wild horse behavior when caught - then they rarely lay down because they are overcrowded in catch pens and feel it is unsafe to lie down. This myth also stems from the times we see horses (wild and domestic) standing and dozing, and mistakenly think that is the only way they sleep. If you actually observe wild horses in the wild, day and night, you will learn that they do lie down. Equus magazine had a great write-up on this a few years ago. See this article on wikipedia, and the reference links to the original source articles.

[shazamataz]

I'll take your word for it but in the 18 years we had our horse we never saw him lying down once, even at night.