Why horses sleep standing?

It is common that only sick animals fall. But it is not. In fact, resting the rest is a device for life in open spaces. In steppes, savannahs, prairies, semi-deserts, where horses live and other representatives of the kind of horses (donkeys, kulans, kiangi, zebras), hide from predators is difficult, but you can run away from them. Yes, and in order to find yourself enough feed, animals have to move much. Therefore, over time, they became excellent runners. Standing position allows them to always be ready to hide at the sight of danger.

In the process of evolution, a number of devices have been formed that help horses actively move. For example, due to the disappearance of four fingers of five, the area support of the limbs decreased, a hard framework was formed from the spinal column, and a complex side ligament system appeared on the limbs. It is the last of the listed devices that plays the main role for two direct opposite processes: movement and recreation.

When the horse runs, the leg, with a force hitting the ground, with the help of a specific muscle system and tendons, as it were, in the following step, creating an additional impulse to the next step. Due to this, all representatives of the kind of horses can run long and tirelessly. Kulana, for example, can escape several hours at a speed of 40-50 km / h, the horse of sports rocks at relatively short distances develop speeds up to 70 km / h.

Accordingly, possessing such wonderful opportunities, the horses with ease are broken into the lynx and gallop, seeking to escape the flight in the event of danger. When the group rests (and in vivo, many species of this kind are led by a collective lifestyle), several animals always stay standing in time to see a predator. In such a position, the muscle system and tendons under the influence of body weight blocks the joints of the extremities, and they do not bend. Therefore, the body does not have to spend extra energy, and it does not get tired. The horse can periodically change the support legs, but always stands on three legs.

However, if the animals feel in complete safety, can relax lying on the side with a neck raised or elongated on the ground and head. Often fall the foals and mares, especially pregnant. Even stallions – chapters of families can lie for a long time.