03/09/2025
SLEEP DEPRIVATION - (since it's come up a few times recently)
From my experience of working with sleep deprivation, we need to rule out all areas of stress in your horse's life.
In order to do this, we need to understand what your horse finds stressful and then we need to do our level best to remove the stressor(s)
Pain is obviously a huge stressor for horses and so determining if your horse is in pain, and if so, where, will be hugely helpful. Then you can formulate a treatment plan to deal with that - for some horses, that may be a pain trial of some description to see if there is pain, if there are no obvious indicators.
I also have found that spinal pain, sacroiliac pain and hock pain have presented in many of the cases I have worked with - receiving propulsion from the hind feet, through the hocks, SI and into the spine might be a bridge too fair for some.
Equally, neck pain may mean that your horse hurts when they try to use their neck as a lever to get up off the floor or load their forelimbs to pull themselves up.
Silent contributor to discomfort in your horse - HOOF BALANCE. If your horses feet hurt, the rest of their body will too. If your feet hurt, you may feel motivated to get off your feet and lay down. But for horses, they need to push themselves up off the floor via their feet and so if they hurt, theyre going to be less willing to put themselves in a situation where they need to use that level of pressure/exertion.
Recognising hoof imbalance is one thing but it's going to continue to be a problem until you have resolved it. This means your horse needs appropriate management in the form of anticoncussives (boots and pads, shoes and pads, composites - I have no preference on what, it's whatever your horse needs)
What have you done to rule out pain?
If you have found bodily issues, how are you managing them?
If someone says your horse has no pain, how have they qualified that?
Be wary that many people who say "your horse has nothing wrong with it" may not actually have sufficient skills to see the problem in the first place.
Please note here - I said skills NOT qualifications. There are many professionals out there who are cataclysmically awful at recognising pain. There might be a neon sign, but they would fail to see it.
Finally on the pain point - be wary if someone says "it's not severe enough to be a problem to your horse" - how can you tell it's not a problem? And equally, it's another stressor in the stress bucket, adding to the stress levels which make your horse feel not safe and therefore not safe enough to lay down.
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Environment plays a huge part on a horse's propensity to feel safe enough to lay down and sleep.
Horse's are herd animals - they tend to feel safest around other horses. For many horses, seeing other horses over a stable door/fence line is not enough for them. They need to be able to physically contact other horses/play/groom/move around with them.
Within this, they need to feel safe with the other horses they are with. So that means they need a stable herd and they need the capacity to make friends - so other horses need to be around long enough for them to do so. This is not helped by livery yards where horses tend to chop/change within the field dynamic or move away completely.
Does your horse have friends within their herd? That doesn't mean they are out with other horses and therefore are fine, that means who do they like to spend time with?
Are they pushed around by other horses?
If they are pushed around by other horses, can they have some quiet time in a separate area with a friend or two to give them a chance to settle their nervous system?
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We might have our horses out 24/7 but often times we dont provide somewhere nice for them to lay. We have had an unseasonably dry summer in the UK and so horses that are out 24/7 often have nothing other than rock hard ground to lay on. It's not exactly comfy for them and if they have pain in their body, less so!
With this in mind, does your horse have a nice soft place to lay? Some horses may even opt to lay on their hay bale if they have one provided in the field. But maybe a bed in a field shelter, thats large enough for horses to not fight over it, would be a good idea.
Some horses will not lay down in stables, especially if they find separation from others stressful, though some horses may have been institutionalised and therefore only lay down in a stable.
If the stable is the only place they can lay, do they feel safe there?
Are they relaxed in their stable?
Do they willingly go in?
Is the stable big enough for them to lay down flat out?
If the answer to any of the above is no, I would not suggest trying to put your horse in the stable to get them to sleep - it will only increase their stress levels.
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I personally do not feel it is acceptable to ride or work horses who are sleep deprived - if they are unable to get REM sleep, they are not going to be in a situation where they can recover from exertion and if you're tired, everything is exertion!
With this in mind, I would be prioritising enrichment activities that target nervous system down regulation and promote horse appropriate behaviours such as browsing/foraging. This could include treat scatters/scentwork. I highly recommend Rachael Draaisma's work for this.
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Lastly, human regulation - how do you show up for your horse?
Can you manage your own nervous system or are your moods like the wind, blowing in different directions?
Are you pleasant to be around? Or are you volatile and easily provoked by your horse's behaviour?
Do you prioritise your horse's emotional wellbeing over what you want to do with them?
This is not an exhaustive list of considerations. It is a place to start and I hope it might help someone and their horse!
