Do you let your horse sleep?

[BEARCAT]

So my horse has been sleeping (laying down) for a half hour - just when I wanted to ride of course!
I always let him sleep but a friend who was visiting was surprised I did this. It really would not occur to me to wake him to make him go to work. While I am not a touchy-feely-gooey-over-the-pwetty-horsey type person, I still think that would be rather rude on my part.
This horse is very trusting (he is a Mustang.) He was actually napping when the vet came the other day and got his Spring shots while lying down!

So, do YOU wake your horse?

[Tif_Ann]

Depends on if I'm in a hurry. My mustang has become known as the "sleeper" at our barn and is flat out for several hours a day. So I don't feel too guilty getting him up. If it's a beautiful day and I'm not in a hurry I will just sit down, lean up against his back, and enjoy the sunshine until he wakes up. That's got to be my favorite place in the whole world.

[twofatponies]

I don't think they sleep that way for more than 20 or 30 minutes at a time anyway (at least as far as I've ever seen). On the rare occasions mine are napping, I let them have 10 or 15 more minutes while I get stuff together in the barn. Usually if they are napping they get up when they hear and see me rumaging around. I think they look really cute that way!

[findeight]

Mine can sleep the other 23 hours of the day, they need to get up for me.

I don't think they have any concept of "rude" and are certainly not sleep deprived most places.

As an aside, I know it's cute and cuddly to be near them when they are down but some of them can get pretty rude when they get up and quite a few can come up kicking. Be careful.

[ReSomething]

When I've got a lesson I sorta have to get them up and at 'em, but when it was hacking or trail riding and my own horse, count me with Tif Ann.

[DressageGeek "Ribbon Ho"]

Unless it's for a lesson...I know what I'm like when I get woken up!!

Plus if he's truly out, he'll wake up drooling.

[sublimequine]

My mare will occasionally nap during the day if it's particularly warm and sunny out, but otherwise she really SLEEPS at night, when I'm not there. :)

[millerra]

I wake mine up - I have a tight schedule for riding but I will ride the one who "never" sleeps first if he is. Usually he is up by the time I'm done with the other one.

Plus, one time the one who sleeps flat out really freaked me out. He was groaning (not unusual) but also moving his feet like he was running... I know, laugh but it scared me.

My 2 yr old also scared me - he was flat out, not snoring and he didn't move at all when I opened his stall door. He didn't even twitch an ear. I froze there in horror, staring down at him. And then I realized he was looking back up at me. Ha Ha. Really funny. I will go have my heart attack now.

[Dirty Little Secret]

When I purchased my horse he was a growing 3 year old and he slept most of the day. Still does in the summer time. Guess it goes along with the warmblood thing but usually on the warm days you'll find him snoozing in the sunshine or even laid out flat in his stall. He does sleep less now that he's getting older but usually I'll mill about until he decides to wake up.

[Dispatcher]

Mine can sleep the other 23 hours of the day, they need to get up for me.

I don't think they have any concept of "rude" and are certainly not sleep deprived most places.

As an aside, I know it's cute and cuddly to be near them when they are down but some of them can get pretty rude when they get up and quite a few can come up kicking. Be careful.

Yes, definitley be careful--it's not like sleeping next to a cat!

[Go Fish]

If they're laying down after finishing a meal, I'll let them sit for a while. I try to time my lessons between feedings. They're both a lot quieter after lunch!

[Bravestrom]

I wake them up - I only have so much time during the day and they have all night and day to sleep -

[Huntertwo]

I'll usually make a little noise outside her stall so it wakes her slowly. :)

[Wellspotted]

There was an article I read somewhere--or maybe it was a post on COTH--about how to recognize signs that your horse is not getting enough sleep. I remember some mention of horses who fall asleep in the cross-ties--that was one of the signs. If a horse's pasture pals are not leaving him in peace so that he can sleep at night, or if the barn is too noisy, the horse might not be getting as much sleep as the owner thinks he is.

As for sitting down beside a horse that is lying down--I like the idea of it--if life were a cartoon or a fairytale. But when Blaze gets up it is like small horsequake--he rolls back to get impulsion and then heaves himself to his feet--if I were to sit down beside him I would want him to give me PLENTY of warning that he was about to get up, so that I heave my achey, stiff self to my feet before he got to his!

I guess that sitting down beside a horse that is lying down is about as safe as riding out in the pasture with no saddle or bridle--I like the thought of doing so but I would never do it!

[Alagirl]

well, if you have a strict schedule at your barn where you know from whenever to then there is nobody in and your horse naps...leave him be. If he is napping on your time... :D not so much. Like in so many things, the laying down sleep is so important...

[War Admiral]

I let 'em sleep. Hell's bells, people, CLEAN your TACK or something!

[2 tbs]

I don't wake mine on purpose unless it's for a lesson, vet, farrier etc. Thankfully my hours at the barn are well positioned around my horses prime nap times so it's rare I catch them sleeping. When I do, I just can't help but go in and give them a lil snuggle! :winkgrin: Usually that lil pat on the head or stroke of the neck and back wakes them up and by the time I'm locking the stall door again they are getting to their feet.

I then take my time getting my stuff together and give them a chance to wake up, stretch, and all that post nap stuff. I will also ease into my ride a lil - often a quick 5 min lunge to help them limber up and get into the game. I'm not a morning person and when waking from any random sleep it takes me a while to get functioning so I afford my hoses the same courtesy under the assumption they feel the same (which is most likely not even remotely close to the truth but hey, it helps justify my own sluggishness :lol:)

[dalpal]

Own 2.....:lol: When one is down for the count, grab the other one. Always good to have a spare. :lol:

[twofatponies]

[/COLOR]

Yes, definitley be careful--it's not like sleeping next to a cat!

You say that, but I had a friend in college who got 30 stitches in her legs and feet because her cat slept under the blankie, and in the middle of the night it had a bad dream and woke up in a hurry. Ouch!

[see u at x]

If they are in their stalls snoozing, I'll sometimes let them snooze a bit longer while I get all my crap together to ride. But if they are out in the pasture, sorry girls, we're heading in. They may get some pats and rubs before they get up, but my attitude is that they can sleep 20+ other hours out of the day and I'm the one who pays the bills. Maybe that's wrong, but I don't ask for much from them yet I make sure that their every need is provided for. They can give up their nap times here and there. ;)

[Tif_Ann]

As for sitting down beside a horse that is lying down--I like the idea of it--if life were a cartoon or a fairytale. But when Blaze gets up it is like small horsequake--he rolls back to get impulsion and then heaves himself to his feet--if I were to sit down beside him I would want him to give me PLENTY of warning that he was about to get up, so that I heave my achey, stiff self to my feet before he got to his!

Totally depends on the horse, I would say. Pi is a slow waker, long sleeper, and very lazy. When he wakes up there is plenty of warning - he raises his head, blinks, puts his head back down, groans, might move a foot or two, and eventually will roll himself off his side so he can get up. He ALWAYS sleeps flat out, never curled into a cute little ball LOL ... so there's a step in between from flat out and getting straight up.

I don't know that I would risk sitting down with my QH yet. He doesn't sleep like Pi. ;)

[Seven-up]

Depends on how cute they look sleeping. ;)



Sort of related to this subject, I worked for some people who evidently couldn't tell the difference between a sleeping horse and a colicking one. Any time a horse was down, they'd yell at me to get the horse up. The first few times I'd try and protest, saying, he's just sleeping! After that, I'd roll my eyes and mumble an apology to the horse under my breath for waking him up. Those poor horses must have been sleep deprived! I guess the smart ones did all their sleeping at night when no one was around.

Can you imagine not allowing a horse to lie down?:eek:

[amdfarm]

Along the lines of Seven Up's post, and w/ all those people that alert you that a horse is dead because it's simply napping.

I generally let mine sleep, as I have one that has HER nap time at the same time frame everyday regardless of the weather. Some may join her and others nap at different times throughout the day. I generally leave them be because I KNOW they are napping. However if my old guy is laying down I tend to panic, simply because he's... well... older. I'm surprised he hasn't gone into heart failure from my running like a maniac up to him to see if he's breathing. Upon doing so, he usually flings his head up, blinks, sticks his front legs out, rises, shakes and walks off as if to say, "My GOD woman, get a grip, I'm FINE!" I did that to him twice in one week once. I rarely ever see him lay down so when he's down I tend to worry, unless it's just to roll which he does daily. He's sound and healthy, but I still worrry about him.

I have an especially lazy 2yo filly that also lays down quite a bit and she won't get up w/out much prodding, poking, bouncing on, etc... Usually when I've exited the field is when she gets up and is totally fine. She doesn't get nearly as annoyed w/ me as the old man does, but they put up w/ me. :)

[Foxtrot's]

If you have ever had a horse that will not sleep, then when you have one that will snooze happily, it becomes such a treat, I would hate to discourage it. Yup, I can always clean tack. (Lessons or vet appointments the exception.)

[Montanas_Girl]

Unless I'm in a hurry, I'll usually let my guy sleep a bit. He likes to sleep curled up in a ball, so I'll go in and sit/lean on his back, scratch his neck, etc. No worries about him crashing into me to get up. When he's down, he's DOWN - I have to put his halter on him and pull/cluck/bribe/annoy him into getting up! I get the big sigh, sloooooow rise complete with groans, then multiple cat-like stretches once he's up on his feet. He likes his nap times.

[catmchorse]

The one time I came across my horse sprawled out flat, she was up within a few seconds.

The rest of the times I've happened upon them, they've been dozing while curled up. I'll either go do something else or come in and say hi and give a little ear rub. They usually get up within a few minutes so I just let them be.

[halla]

One of the girls at the barn told me that she like to take naps with Bob (the horse I half-lease) in his stall, and that he'll nudge her to wake her up before he gets up. Sooo cute, but kind of alarming.

[Beverley]

You bet I wake 'em up if I want to go riding. Rarely happens, because they know my schedule, but good grief, as has been noted, they've got better'n 20 hours in the day to recuperate from my visit! Our horses don't get enough work in general as it is, and now some want to defer to beauty sleep? Sheesh.:cool:

[WombatCA]

I lease a 16 year old stallion that LOVES his naps. Fortunately his owner warned me that he's a hedonist and not to worry that he's sick because he sleeps so much. If I waited for him to get up there are days when I'd never get to ride. On the other hand, I hate to wake him.
I've started giving him 10 minute warnings like you would a teenager. I go in, tell him he's going to have to get up soon, and then leave him alone for a while. I go back every few minutes and talk to him and if he isn't up after 10 minutes then I put a halter on and make him get up.
I've had to warn the grooms at the shows about him, as well. The poor guys get really worried if I forget to let them know. Now we all just laugh at him.
:winkgrin:

[Dispatcher]

You say that, but I had a friend in college who got 30 stitches in her legs and feet because her cat slept under the blankie, and in the middle of the night it had a bad dream and woke up in a hurry. Ouch!


Yowza! A bad dream or did she accidentally kick the kitty?!

[equusus]

Wow, so nobody here is rudely woken by an alarm clock every day to go to work/school?

Time to get up and go to work Horsie!!

[ddashaq]

My 2 yr old also scared me - he was flat out, not snoring and he didn't move at all when I opened his stall door. He didn't even twitch an ear. I froze there in horror, staring down at him. And then I realized he was looking back up at me. Ha Ha. Really funny. I will go have my heart attack now.

Mine did the same thing when he was around 2. He was flat out in his stall, appeared to not be breathing, and did not respond when I opened the stall door. I started hysterically screaming "He's dead, he's dead!" which caused him to leap up in alarm, smacking his head on the corner feeder in the process and the BO to come running. Neither seemed especially amused, but I thought it was funny later when my heart rate and blood pressure came back down.:cool:

[pintopiaffe]

Yes.

I am a sap. I will NOT get a horse up to work.

I *rarely* will get them up to EAT, but only if I absolutely have to.

Generally they stay down while I go out and about to do things, but if I open the grain shed door... they are UP...

I know I don't like getting up from a nap and havign to go to work right away. It *seems* like it could be a muscle injury issue too... maybe not. Maybe I'm just a sap.

[2hsmommy]

I swear mine has a nap time at 2pm everyday.
If I wake him up, I know the chances are pretty high that we'll have a "lazy" ride :lol:

[Pirateer]

As a proper Adult, whenever my ponies are sleeping I run at them screaming to make sure they are still alive ;)

[amdfarm]

As a proper Adult, whenever my ponies are sleeping I run at them screaming to make sure they are still alive ;)

Yep, that's pretty much it. They think I'm maybe a little off on those days. :)

[KitKat987]

I usually let mine sleep. Then again, they do most of it between the hours of midnight and 7 am. On occasion one is still snoozing when I let them out at 7:30 am, but bounces right out of bed when I walk in.

Neither of my guys sleep much outside during the day anyhow, but when they actually do, I don't even let the dogs out. Scout just isn't capable of being that mellow during the day, and my other guy Buddy will go down for a nap, but whenever he attempts it, his little friend Scout can always be spotted tiptoeing over and offering up a big chomp on the butt or the neck as soon as poor Buddy is asleep. He chomps, releases, spins and takes off running in the blink of an eye. Such a poop disturber!

[otwist123]

I usually ride soon after the horses have just came in for the night, so he's usually finishing off his hay at that point so I don't have to worry about him sleeping. At shows though, that is a different story. My horse is known as the sleeper. Usually within about an hour of arriving at a show he is flat out sleeping. So when I go to get him ready for a class there is a pretty good chance he will be sleeping, usually I have to bribe him with treats to get up!

[amastrike]

Depends if I'm in a hurry. If I am, I'll tell him he needs to get up and maybe go in his stall and poke him, and then leave and do something else for a few minutes. If he's still down when I come back, he gets a warning and another poke. He usually gets up after a couple wake-up calls. If I'm not in a hurry, I just leave him alone until he wakes up.

[mrsbradbury]

We allow the "Diva" to take her nap everyday bewteen 12:30 and 1:15. I actually fed early this am because it was a pretty day and she did not even rise while I was making breakfast, nor when I tossed hay into her stall!

The clients were laughing at her the other day, flat out, eyes closed, snoring... and inquired as to when this mare starts her show career if we will have to alert show management as to HER schedule.:lol:

I usually let them nap unless there's a time issue.

On a funny note, last summer we had purchased a new schoolie, and after some time were heading out to a one day show. I came in the barn at 4:30 am to take to first load, the other horses roused quickly and calmly. Vino did not. I squatted in front of his stall, and kept calling his name, I went in and shook him, his breathing was so light I listened to his nostrils!! In my head I was thinking crap, he died, what the ***** am I going to tell the kid!:confused:

[the_other_mother]

I dont like to wake them up so I let them sleep and come back later. I keep them at home so its no big deal, but when I boarded I actually drove to the barn prepared to ride, and when I got there my horse was flat out snoring so I went home and came back later. The barn was only 3 min away by car so it was no big deal but friends couldnt believe I'd do that.