Equine behaviour: II. A review of the literature on feeding, eliminative and resting behaviour

Abstract

The literature on the feeding, eliminative and resting behaviour of horses has been reviewed to collate the information available on these subjects.

The grazing and eliminative behaviour patterns of domestic horses are unlike those of free-ranging Equidae. The reasons for this are not known, but it can cause wasted grazing of up to 90% of a field. Certain conditions, such as provision of supplementary hay and lack of available herbage, can cause these behaviour patterns to change, although it is not known how to manipulate the grazing behaviour of horses to prevent deterioration of the pasture.

Grazing behaviour is influenced by many variables and is more complex than the feeding behaviour of a stabled horse.

Horses sleep for approximately 12% of the day and show 4 different sleep/wakefulness states — alert wakefulness, drowsiness, slow-wave sleep and paradoxical sleep. Horses are able to maintain slow-wave sleep while standing, but they need to lie down for paradoxical sleep to occur, rarely spending more than 30 consecutive minutes in lateral recumbency.