Horses' Use of Lying Halls and Time Budget in Relation to Available Lying Area.

Summary

# Editorial Summary: Lying Hall Design and Equine Rest Behaviour Adequate recumbent sleep is fundamental to equine health and welfare, yet housing design significantly influences how much time horses dedicate to lying down. Kjellberg and colleagues examined this relationship by monitoring two groups of horses across three different lying hall configurations (8, 15, and 18 m²/horse) using video analysis and detailed behavioural sampling, with individual boxes serving as a baseline comparison. The results demonstrated a clear dose–response pattern: horses spending time in the 18 m² facility engaged in substantially more sternal and lateral recumbency than those with access to only 8 m² per animal, whilst intermediate pen sizes produced intermediate lying durations. This finding has direct relevance for facility managers and designers—expanding lying area not only encourages greater hall usage but actively increases total lying time, suggesting that space constraints may be an underappreciated factor limiting rest in group housing systems. Given that sleep deprivation is linked to compromised immune function, poor performance, and behavioural problems in horses, the investment in adequately dimensioned communal lying facilities represents a practical welfare intervention with meaningful production implications.

Read the full abstract on PubMed

Key Findings

• •Horses spent significantly longer in sternal and lateral recumbency with 18 m²/horse lying area compared to 8 m²/horse
• •Increasing available lying area from 8 to 18 m²/horse increased overall time spent in lying halls
• •Housing system design directly influences total lying time and recumbency behavior in horses

Conditions Studied

Tags