Horses lying down

Paint Me Proud

Paint Me Proud

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Just watching 'Animal Cops Houston' on tv and they are rescuing a couple of horses.

One of the rescuers said that horses cant be 'down' as lying down puts pressure on their bodes and they cant breath, so any horse that is down is in trouble.

Now i know that is correct in some instances but what about when Chico lies flat out for an hour in the summer sunshine - he doesnt seem to suffocate!

Confused a little bit :o
 
I think it's for the drama!!
Moses likes a good sun bath!
Maybe they meant when they then can not choose to get up. I was looking at an under weight horse laying down last week and called the RSPCA......They are alright cos the RSPCA is "working" with the owner to get them fed!!! i say take them away. Being PTS is better then dying in a field!!
I love that programme, can only watch it at Mums, if I had Sky my life would be over!!
 
It's a case of a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. A horse that can't get up is indeed in great trouble. The longer a horse stays down the less likely it is to be able to get up, so it could be seen as being in trouble. For most horses a lie down is a welcome relief:D
 
Somebody hasn't told Doris ....

horses4005.jpg
 
It's typical of many of these type of programmes......... you know the type of thing....have I got a headache (that an asprin will cure) ........ but they prefer to mention that I could have a life threatening tumor! It's all done for dramatic effect.

I have a horse that likes to have a lie down & a nap.....but of course there's no drama in that! ;)
 
I'm 99% sure that there's a certain amount of time, after which a horse should not be lying down. Obviously a few hours or more is fine, all horses do that. But if they are down for a very long time and can't get up, the rescuer is correct, iirc the pressure on their internal organs (and lungs?) starts being detrimental.
This is why very weak rescue horses are put into slings, for months if necessary. Horses can't do bed-rest...
 
I am SO glad you and Doris do not live near me, I certainly would be tearing across your field shouting "get up horse", believing it must be dead, then arriving at horse and feeling very foolish, especially if I have phoned owner to say "come quick I think your horse is not to good". Fortunately those people Who do have horses near me, know that I am this way inclined, and generally the answer is "oh no it isn't"
 
They can lie down but not for too long.
When healthy a horse should know when to get up but when ill, injured or stuck obviously they are in danger of damaging and injuring the internal organs.
 
I once called the RSPCA about a tethered horse lying flat out on
local waste ground, I had our 2 GSDs with me, the horse lifted it's head
but didn't get up, RSPCA turns up, horse is still down, turns out he was just
enjoying a rest, he was fine but boy did I feel stupid, the horse just ignored the dogs etc
 
Our pastures border a village street. About five times a year someone or other will knock on the door to tell em that one of the horses is dead!

Last summer a visitor in the holiday cottage at the farm came to give me this bad news. Local friendly farmer was having a cuppa with me at the time. "Madam" he said, peering out of the window to where my cob was basking, flat out. "You can always tell the difference. If they're asleep, they look like that horse. If they're dead, they look like your kitchen table on its side!" The visitor went away content...
 
I have to add to this ... I never ever saw my old boy lie down in the 15 years we had each other...

However, the 2nd day we had Levi, there was a ' dead' pony in the field. Screaming banshee me went running over, to meet.....

A very cross boy at being woken up :D bless him

A little no knowledge on these programmes us a dangerous thing :)
 
If you look back at a previous post from me I had a filly who had a very bad foaling she got compressed nerves in her pelvic area because of it she was very young not two when she foaled, and no we did not put her in foal bought her like this although we did not know it at the time.


She was down from the thursday until saturday if I remember rightly we turned her hourly and had to get the fire brigade to get her up.

What surprised me most as we slept in the field with her for over two weeks in total, taking it in shifts was the amount of time the other horses spent liying flat out and sleeping.

They usually lay down for two period during the darkness for between two to four hours at a time and also slept during the day, I can remember discussing it at the time and being surprised at the amount of time they slept.
I had always been led to believe as prey animals horses lay down and slept very little amounts of time especially in the dark I found this to be not the case, these were all youngsters in this field so I do not know if this had any influence on their sleeping pattern.

They spent the rest oft the time bugging us to the worst degree and kicked picked or dragging or anything we had in the field be it day or night.

I would love to see any evidence of horses sleeping patterns say in the wild as oppose to horses such as domestic animals who were really comfortable with us being there as they would paw you while trying to sleep so would this have made them feel more secure, although I doubt it changed the sleeping pattern in such a short space of time.
 
Wrote that a bit wrong the bit I was trying to remember rightly was not the turning bit etc I could not remember but I think it was thurs to sat she was down may have been a day longer.
 
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