My horse keeps lying down !!

[Piggles]

Hi all.
My horse keeps lying down after he has been turned out at night. He comes in early morning, has a soaked net of hay and goes out in the evening. Ive found the last few nights he's been going out quite happy then deciding he is going to lie down. At first I thought this may have been a tantrum being muzzle related however this has since been removed and is still doing it. He's grazing whilst lying down and will then think about getting up again and continue grazing. He seems a little fidgety but there are a lot of flies about so this may be irritating him. I am unsure whether this has happened many times before as only recently noticed him doing this. Has any one else experienced this and do you think I should seek vetinary advice?? Not sure whether this is undue concerns as not known him to do this before now, and have had the same routine during the summer in previous years.

 

[Orangehorse]

Could be the start of laminitis? If horse is usually always eating, but then starts to lie down, I would suspect sore feet. Get him off the grass straight away and you may be able to stop it before it progresses further.

Have you had some rain lately? The ground is warm and if there has been any rain the grass will come back with a rush, just like spring grass. There are as many cases of laminitis in the autumn as in the spring. Mine was footy in the spring after all that hot weather and cold nights. He had no other symptoms other than being uncomfortable on his feet,which was very hard to spot, but I was on full lamitis alert, and stopped it developing any further.

I have noticed, however, that horses turned out 24/7 often like to rest and lie down in the mornings as they may have been on the move all night.

 

[JenHunt]

most horses who are out at night will snooze during the day - it's to do with them being prey animals in the wild.

I wouldn't worry too much if he seems ok in himself, but call the vet if you are worried.

 

[tallyho!]

Can't a horse have a lie down?

If worried about lami, check for pulse and hot feet, hard crest and swollen fluid filled eye sockets and fetlocks. Still worried? Call Vet Person.

Change of seasons bring changes in behaviour. Longer nights mean more laying down in day as horses tend not to sleep in the dark in case a Jack Russell tries to eat it alive... you never know!!!!

 

[idx]

Could be the start of laminitis? If horse is usually always eating, but then starts to lie down, I would suspect sore feet. Get him off the grass straight away and you may be able to stop it before it progresses further.

Have you had some rain lately? The ground is warm and if there has been any rain the grass will come back with a rush, just like spring grass. There are as many cases of laminitis in the autumn as in the spring. Mine was footy in the spring after all that hot weather and cold nights. He had no other symptoms other than being uncomfortable on his feet,which was very hard to spot, but I was on full lamitis alert, and stopped it developing any further.

I have noticed, however, that horses turned out 24/7 often like to rest and lie down in the mornings as they may have been on the move all night.

I agree with all of the above. You need to establish what is normal for your horse and if this behaviour is out of character it suggests something is brewing. I had one who started to lie down a lot - she had abscesses forming in her feet but even though the vet did the pincer test he obviously could not put as much pressure as a 600kg horse on the feet but after a few days they developed into abscesses.

Slightly odd to be going out and sleeping. As said above most horses out 24/7 sleep in the mornings - given your horse is in the stable in the mornings you would think he would sleep then unless his stable is very noisey?

 

[rockysmum]

Nothing wrong with lying down if its part of a normal routine. My oldie lies flat out for hours, we keep thinking he's dead. I shout and if he flicks an ear I know he's still alive.

What I would worry about is a change in behaviour. My other two dont do this, so if they did I would be investigating why.

 

[brown tack]

I'd be monitoring him if it wasn't his usual behaviour, which is what you've say. I'd take his temp am and pm, just to see if peaks. If he wasn't himself in our ways ie lazy to ride when he's normally flying off the leg, I may get bloods run.

But I'd monitor first, could be that he just prefers to lay on grass then on the bedding, and as the nights are drawing in you've noticed it more. But I'd keep an eye for a few days just to make sure. Better to catch things early

 

[Tnavas]

What sort of bedding does he have in his stable, does he have sufficient for him to feel safe to lie down and get up again without slipping? - does he lie down in his stable? If not this may be why he choses to have a kip wen he gets out there.

 

[dotty1]

Maybe he just likes lying out in the sun, I am sure he doesn't stay down all night, hes probably fine.

Great forum name - my cat is called Piggles!!