sleepy boy...any reason for concern?

[FindersKeepers]

We have a gelding at the barn right now. He's been there for a year. He's a 6 yo giant 17+ hand TB off the track.

He sleeps, a lot. More than any other horse I know. He makes a nest out of his hay, curls up, and zonks out. Usually for 30-45 minutes, but has been caught snoozing for 2-3 hours.

It's really sweet, and so cute to see this giant boy, sound asleep and so peaceful. When he wakes up he starts eating his hay bed, and eventually gets back to his feet and is a normal horse again. But I swear, while the rest of the barn is excited to get hay to eat, he can't wait to make a nest. Sometimes he'll even skip dinner, to take a snooze, and will eat it later. (they get hay first, then grain. If his nest is done and he's down before the grain comes, he just goes to sleep)

He has a full stall of shavings...but these are apparently unacceptable for sleeping...

He is extremely laid back, and that's why he's here. He was too ho-hum to make it on the track. He's not lazy, he's just very chill (think surfer dude). He's also completely sound, healthy, and happy.

So is there any reason to be concerned that he sleeps so much, or can I just enjoy watching him?

[Simkie]

Blush does this in the morning. I've gotten several calls about how my horse is down and won't get up, but it just seems to be her. When she was sore and crabby, she did NOT lie down, so I don't think it's a pain thing. Her laying down in her hay hasn't changed on or off gastrogard or various other ulcer meds, so I don't think it's a ulcer thing, and hasn't changed on or off gabapentin, so I don't think it's a nerve-y pain issue.

I would not be concerned. I know it's creepy to see how horse down regularly when NONE of the others are, but some horses just seem to like to lay down.

[crosscreeksh]

Years ago my husband trained a young TB gelding whose registered name was "Prince Napsalot"!!!! Honestly...and he did!! But when it came time to race he was all business. I wouldn't be worried about him unless he showed abnormal behavior under tack. Some horses just like to cuddle up - one thing it shows is how comfortable and secure he feels in his surroundings.

[JMK]

We had one at the farm who'd been out of work for awhile due to an injury. He started to develop a weird habit that we called his "narcolepsy" since that's what it seemed like. If he was being groomed, or just standing in the ring for awhile without stimulation, he would start dropping his head, his eyes would start to close & eventually he'd almost fall on his face, catching himself in a jolt at the last second. This started after he'd had check-ligament surgery & we wondered if it had to do with his stay mechanism. The vets couldn't tell us anything - blood work was all normal. However, he was later also diagnosed with EPM. We never did get a straight answer as to whether it was related. Of course he did have other neuro signs, so if yours otherwise seems fine I wouldn't jump to conclusions.

[ljc]

I was at a barn once where the horse across the aisle spent most of his time in the stall sleeping and snoring very, very loudly. The second the halter went on, however, he was fine (in fact, almost too fine. Very, very hot.) The trainer and grooms got very tired of having to reassure everyone walking by that the horse was ok!

[FindersKeepers]

Well I'm just going to assume he's just very happy where he is. He lived on the track for 5 years, before coming to us, and I think he just likes the change in scenery. It's not a narcolpetic thing, as he very actively builds his nest before he lays down. :lol:

If you tell him he needs to get up, he does...he glares at you, but he'll get up. And if he's out of his stall, he's all business. He doesn't show any signs of being unhealthy, sore, and no neuro symptoms what so ever. The only thing out of the ordinary is his love of naps.

I guess it's similar to my mare who would take naps everytime she was turned out. She loves to sunbathe. I got a lot of worried phone calls from the BM, running out to make sure she wasn't dead because she'd be flat on her side for a couple of hours, in the middle of the field. I even have a picture on my desk at work of one of these high-noon naps.

[Tree]

The narcolepsy thing is true of horses that don't ever get enough REM sleep. The REM sleep isn't the same sort of napping horses do while standing. They have to lay down to get a deep sleep (REM).

There are situations where the horses never feel safe enough to lay down or are physically unable to do so.

Tree

[abbydp]

Seabiscuit was known for his napping.
My OTTB is almost 17H. He sleeps much more than any horse I have ever known. We moved to a new place in August and the first week was beautiful, never more than 80 degrees. He has 12 acres, and lots of shade trees, so we left them out all week, other than 2 meals a day. By the end of the week he was so grumpy he was almost vicious. He needs his stall time to sleep, even though he will lay flat out in the pasture. Once he started coming in for a bit, he was happy.

[Frank B]

Maybe he has some of Pegasus's blood in him!

He sounds like he's very contented with things around the barn. Where I had Normie boarded, many of the horses enjoyed long snoozes when in their stalls. Very peaceful to walk in and hear a dozen or more horses snoring away.

[Brockstables]

When I worked at a large horsefarm near my house, I would put the mares out and head home for breakfast. About 10:00 every morning, someone would call my cell phone, upset that several mares were down, stretched out in the field. I would swing by that way to check, and sure enough, nearly every morning, the same mares would be sunbathing. If they were not up by 10:30 or so, though, I would go check on them. They had a pretty strict schedule they followed. LOL

[LD1129]

My four year old loves his naps and also snores. I would not be worried one bit! Just means that he is nice and comfy in his hay bed/stall :yes:

[tpup]

Sorry I can't offer any advice, but he sounds like me this time of year, LOL! :winkgrin: