Here's why it might seem like horses never sleep:
* They sleep in short bursts: Instead of sleeping for hours at a time, horses have many brief sleep cycles, often only lasting a few minutes. They can doze off standing up, which makes it easy to spot them "sleeping" while they are actually just resting.
* They only enter REM sleep for a short time: REM sleep (rapid eye movement) is the stage of sleep where we dream. Horses spend very little time in REM sleep, and they often enter it while lying down.
* They are prey animals: As prey animals, horses have evolved to be alert to danger at all times. This means they can't afford to sleep deeply for long periods, and they need to be able to wake up quickly.
So, while horses might not sleep like we do, they definitely need their rest!