Technology
Why do horses sleep standing up?
In this episode of But Why, we explore the fascinating world of horses, answering curious questions from kids about their history, anatomy, and unique behaviors. Join us as we learn why horses can sle...
Why do horses sleep standing up?
Technology •
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Interactive Transcript
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Parenting doesn't come with a script, but it does come with lots of questions.
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I'm Elise Hugh, journalist, mom, and your host for Raising Us, a podcast from a Kids' Co.
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Every week we'll break down big, timely topics with help from expert guests and people from
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pop culture who really get it. These conversations, they matter. And every time we show up for them,
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we're not just raising thoughtful kids, we're raising us. Follow Raising Us on Apple Podcasts,
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YouTube or wherever else you listen. New episodes every Tuesday starting July 15th.
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Music
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This is But Why, a podcast for curious kids from Vermont Public. I'm Jane Lintholm.
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On this show, we take questions from kids all over who are curious about the world around them,
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like you are. And it's our job to find interesting people who can offer answers.
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You've been sending us questions about horses for years, so we thought it was high time to do an
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episode all about them. When we were in Iceland a few months ago, we visited a school for kids and
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sometimes adults who want to learn how to care for and ride horses. Sometimes they even do horseback
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riding competitions. The woman who owns the school and cares for all of the horses there is named
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Sonja Noak. She invited us to meet a few of her horses and learn more. And I love the name of her
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school, Histasneild. It's a combination of two Icelandic words, Hesta, horse, and Nild, genius.
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So her school's name, Hesta Sneild, is basically horse genius.
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We have here twister my horse, my pace horse. He is looking at us and Skidi and Kulur,
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three of my horses. So Kulur is a beautiful gray horse, describe that beautiful color.
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He's blue done, actually. And he has a little star. The done horses they have this
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the black like a black line almost done in Spain. And his mane is two different colors too.
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It's kind of almost a dark brown or black and then an almost white color. Yeah, it's under
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it's dark and upper is light and they are actually just like it's not from the sun.
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It's just happened to be like this in that kind of color when they are blue done.
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He seems kind of quiet and shy but your white horse over here seems to want some attention
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and he's got a beautiful set of bangs that he keeps throwing his head back to show us.
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Do they have different personalities? Oh yes, they are very different and also like Kulur has
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been working this morning and he's chilling a little bit. We have been writing two hours this morning
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with the kids and Skidi haven't he hasn't been working today and he's just waiting for his time today
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to do something fun. And what's twister thinking? Twister probably just wants to say hello and
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get some cuddle from you. He loves attention. Twister do you want to say hello to the microphone?
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It's not food. Twister would like to eat my sweater and the microphone. He loves food.
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We have a lot of horse questions and since we're here in Iceland let's start with Poppy's
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question. My name is Poppy and I'm from London from and I'm 11 years old. I would like to know more
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about the history of the Icelandic horses. Are Icelandic horses special? Oh yes, they are. They
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are very special. They are actually very very very long time ago. They came here with boats with
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the Vikings mostly from Norway but not only but mostly and what makes it very special now it's
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that Icelandic horse has been bred pure over a thousand years and that means too which is
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sometimes a little bit sad but all Icelandic horses that leave Iceland they may never come back.
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So it's very pure breed and probably the purest breed in the world. Because it hasn't been
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cross-bred with other horse breeds because other horses aren't allowed in Iceland and so these horses
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are all descended from those horses that came across with the Vikings. Exactly, exactly.
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Since it's an island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, Iceland can keep some pretty
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strict controls about what comes in and what goes out of its country. And Iceland has decided that
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the Icelandic horse is a breed they want to protect and control. The country allows horses to leave
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Iceland so you can find them in lots of other countries but you won't find any other kinds of
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horses in Iceland which means these horses are pretty similar to the ones brought to Iceland by
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Viking explorers and settlers over a thousand years ago. Icelandic horses are known for being on
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the small side but most Icelandic people would be annoyed if you called them ponies. They are having a
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lot of fur and that long mane and most of them thick mane and tail which makes them extremely beautiful
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of course and they have very so many different colors which is also special for the Icelandic horse.
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So horses in Iceland need to be able to withstand some pretty harsh weather. How do these horses
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make it through really cold winters and oftentimes a lot of wind and snow and rain?
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They have very very good and long fur and they are built like they are not like very long leg most
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of them they are like a little bit them you know strongly built and they just eat a lot especially
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the ones that are just outside they have to eat a lot special in the fall to get fat and everything
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and which helps the skin to take care when rain is coming and snow and wind because then it will
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peel away the cold and the wind and the snow and then we of course give them we are feeding them
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outside they are not they're maybe in very very big fields but we are giving them hey as soon
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as the snow is there and they can't get the grass anymore. You'd probably want a long mane and
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thick fur if you were going to spend the winter outside and the wind and snow of Iceland too.
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Icelandic horses are also known for having a special way of running. You may have heard of a walk,
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a trot, a canter and a gallop but Icelandic horses can do two other styles. We'll have Sonja
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saddle up and ride one of her horses a little later on so you can hear what we mean. But first let's
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get to some of your other questions. I'm Barker I'm seven years old I'm in Pennsylvania why are
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horses so big. Why are horses so big? Yeah they were not so big for a million years ago or something
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they were like small as a dog and then they have been getting bigger because it's easier to run
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away from the predators and it's also about you know then they are a little bit higher up so they
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see better when they're coming something something dangerous and but of course it's very different.
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We have like really really small ponies fallabella ponies in the world they are like so small as a dog
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still so it's very different they can be from dog size up to very big. As Sonja said when the
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ancestors of horses first started appearing actually more like 56 million years ago they were
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quite small but over time they've gotten much bigger and taller. Modern horses have so much
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variety because humans got involved in breeding them and selecting horses for different characteristics
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like being really fast or being able to pull a heavy load or being tall so that's why there are
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so many different types and sizes of horse bodies today. My name is Henry I'm five years old I live in
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white horses have tails. Henry wants to know white horses have tails and so does rigs. Yeah the tail
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is actually it's very important for the horse to to push away the fly mostly it's and also of course
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it's a protective for for their butt and the main it's also from for the rain and also when horses
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bite each other it is giving kind of protection with the neck. My name is Omer and I live in Princeton
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New Jersey and I'm six years old why do horses have hairs on their back. Why do they have hairs on
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their back? What's the deal with the mane? Yeah the mane is like protective and also on the back
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the hair on the hair everywhere of course they are mammals and they need they have the hair to protect
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their skin and specially the Icelandic horse which is a lot outside and when it's cold it's just
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protective against the weather it's very very long in the winter and thick and and then when they
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change their fur you know then it's a lot of hair everywhere they shed like a dog. Yes more you could
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probably to pillow out of it. That would be quite a pillow. Yeah it would be quite a pillow.
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My name is Jo. I have three years old and how does horses like smooth? Horses have really interesting
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legs. The part you might think looks like their knee bends in different directions depending on
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whether you're looking at the front legs or the back legs. The front legs bend out towards the front
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and the back legs bend back behind the horse but here's something you might not know. Those aren't
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their knees. Their knees are actually much higher up in their body so you can't really see them
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unless you have x-ray vision and can look at the horse's skeleton. The part you see bending when
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they run is more like an ankle joint and horses actually walk on their toes. My name is Olivia and
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I'm four years old and I'm from Plating Indian. Why is horses have dogs? My name is Bonnie. I am six
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years old. I live in Eugene, Oregon. Why do horses have dogs? My name is Tari. I live in
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Thailand. I am six and a half years old. I do horses have pigs and we died. My name is Sasha.
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I live in Tahoma, California. I'm four years old. Why do horses have
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not round? My name is Audrey. I'm five years old. Are horses, hooves, bones or not? My name is
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Tari. I live in Webster, New York. Why do horses wear shoes? Let's talk about hooves, that very
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bottom part of a horse's leg. The hoof has several parts including some internal bones, tendons
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and ligaments, some cushiony bits that act like a shock absorber, and a hard part around the
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outside made of keratin. That's the same stuff your fingernails and toenails are made out of.
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keratin is also what horns are. When it's thick like a horse's hoof keratin is very tough stuff.
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That outer wall, that part that's kind of like a big thick toenail on the horse, is constantly
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growing. If a horse is running around on rough ground, all that rubbing and scuffing can keep the
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hoof filed down. But a lot of horses need to have their hooves filed down by people. And many
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horses wear horse shoes. They look pretty different than our sneakers though. Their shoes are metal
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and just go right around that hard outer wall of the hoof. They help protect the horse's foot,
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especially on pavement or other surfaces that would wear those hooves down pretty quickly.
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Hi, my name is Audrey. I live in California, but do horses eat?
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Audrey wants to know just generally what do horses eat, other than my microphone.
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They eat mostly grass. And hey, which is of course, dried grass. That's what they eat mostly.
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And we always try to at least I give my horses always also vitamins. And some of them get like also
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kind of extra food out of corn or something depends a lot on the horse, what they need if they
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need extra food. But what they eat mostly is grass. I'm really really kind of, I'm sick,
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why can horses eat grass and hey, when that would hurt our stomachs?
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They have just a totally different diggestive system than us. And also they get a lot of energy,
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for example, out of the grass as we wouldn't, not at all. And yeah, we can't digest the grass
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with our stomach. My name's Alina. I'm nine years old. I live in Barry in Wales. Can horses taste sweet
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and sour? Yes, they can. And they love sweet, actually. And they also can taste like bitter and
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salt. And bitter, for example, it's very interesting. It can be, you know, they will feel it when there
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is something poisoned, like poisoned plants. They are bitter, so they won't eat it. But they love sweet.
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Hi, I'm Ronan. I live in Charleston, South Carolina. I'm nine years old. I do horses sleep standing up.
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Horses can sleep standing up because their bodies are designed to allow them to do it, unlike ours.
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We'd most likely collapse if we fell asleep standing. But horses can lock their legs to help keep
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their body in place. And have you ever seen a horse standing tall on three legs while its fourth
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leg is bent and not taking any weight? As a horse naps, it rotates which leg is getting a break.
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So by the time it wakes up, all of its legs have gotten some time off. But there's another reason
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horses sleep standing up. It's also very important for them that they could run away very fast when
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some predator would come. And so it's just about their nature that they could run away. But when
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they really want to sleep and get REM sleep, they need to lay down for that. And that's mostly for
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a short time. And when they are in a urge outside, normally you see always one or two standing at least,
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which are taking care if everything is fine for others to sleep. And I think if anybody's seen a
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horse lying down and watched it try to get up, you can see how that would take a long time if
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something that was really wanted to eat you, was chasing you. It might put you in a very vulnerable
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position. Yes, 100%. Mind the 360. I even can't. Why do horses breathe through their mouths?
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Why do horses breathe through their mouths? They don't actually. They can't. They breathe through
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their nose. They have very strong nostrils and they can open it quite much up. They maybe would
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open the mouth. But it's not really the way for the air through the mouth. It's just for the food.
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Phew, that was a lot of questions about horses. And we haven't even talked much about how they move.
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So get a drink of water, let those wiggles out and get ready for even more horse stuff.
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This is But Why. Today we're learning all about horses from Sonia Noak, a riding instructor and
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all around lover of horses. Sonia runs a riding school in Mosfields Bayer, just outside of
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Reykjavik in Iceland. We talked with her in one of her barns where three of her Icelandic horses
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calmly watched as she answered all of your horsey questions. My name is Felix. I'm five years old.
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I am an emisper on chair. Why do horses got up? My name is Peckham and my age is three.
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And I have a little scab from my other son. How do horses go?
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How and why do horses gallop? It's a stay way of running and it's the way of they gallop that they
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can run away and run away fast mostly out also to run away from the predators. But also because they
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sometimes like to play and run around and have fun. Like we sometimes like to run around and have fun.
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My name is Margot but they call me Goldie. I'm four years old. I live in Oakland, California.
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I would like to know how horses jump so high. They have very strong muscles and
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very powerful hind leg which will help them and then they will just give in and jump high.
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Do horses jump naturally or is it something they need to be taught when you're working with a
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horse that's going to be a jumping horse? Like with Icelandic horse we don't jump much. We
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sometimes do it for fun a little bit. But it's very different between different horses. If they
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are outside in the field and there is something they have to go over they would also jump over it.
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But they would probably often choose the way beside. But it depends so much about different
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characters. Some of them just love it. They really like to go over. I have some horses too. When it is
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somewhere something to jump over they like to go there. What about this guy does he like to jump?
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No he is not so much of a jumper. He's more of a he likes pace and going fast in pace. He's not
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so much of a jumper. I'm sage. I live in Colorado Springs. I'm 10 years old. Can horses swim?
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Yes they can. Also there it's very different. Some of them really love the weather and others not.
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It's like with us. But when it's summer and nice weather we often go without saddle and swim
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with them. That's so fun. We were just like last weekend we were swimming with them and the horses
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most of them really love it too. And it's actually very good for the joints and some people even
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send horses to swim training. Wow swim training. Yes because it's also you know it's so light for
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the joints and lignaments. Yeah so it's like they get swimming lessons but it's also kind of like
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physical therapy or like almost like a massage that can help the horses feel good. Yeah yeah 100%
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and horses that have been insured it can help them to get good again. My name is Lucy and I'm
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nine years old and I live in Madison, Wisconsin. Why do horse turners whoop their horses and
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doesn't hurt them? You know if you whip the horse like hardly it would probably hurt them and
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but normally when for example we use the whip when I have a whip it's more thought about being
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longer hand for me. It's a little bit getting me a longer hand that I can help the horse to
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understand what I want and then I will just put it very slightly at the horse to help him to move
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and understand what I want because maybe my foot isn't reaching his hindquarters and when I want
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to help the horse with that I can use the whip a little bit so we are not using it for
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for slamming the horse or something it's more like a longer hand. And also with your feet are you
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kicking them hard and does it hurt when you kick? No we are trying to get the horse having the
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sensitive as they can be with like using a little you know pressure with the feet. I want my horse to
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answer when I put my feet at the belly slightly they should answer to go forward and the same when
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I take the rain to stop I'm trying to have it very lightly that they answer when they you know when
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we are fast to answer them and let them be let them be when they answered then they are also light
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so it's it's so much more fun to do it this way and be nice together. So you think of it as
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communication non-verbal communication with the horse where you're trying to tell the horse
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here's what I'd like you to do and then the horse is responding. Yes exactly it is just helping us
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communicate exactly and that of course always it's the goal for us to have and do as little as
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possible and that if you look at the rider and you don't see what the rider does and the horse
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does a lot of stuff it is very nice and that's always the goal. My name is Emma I am seven and 11
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I live in Madrid, Spain. Why are horses afraid of snakes? Are horses afraid of snakes?
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Yes I would say they are because of course they could be dangerous they could bite them and they
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actually don't like anything because of that around their feet like when you walk with a horse with a
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with a rain yeah and it's yeah at least or something and hanging down with the feet they most of
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them don't like it and could get scared. So also when you ride and you ride over something they
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can get a little bit afraid because their feet are so important to them because of course when
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the feet are hurt they can't run and if there would be a predator that want to eat them which is
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of course not so much of a problem anymore but it's so deep in in them that they are just trying
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to take care of their feet. And the way horses eyes work too they can't necessarily see their feet
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if they're looking up right so they they want to make sure there's nothing down by their feet
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that they can't see that could trip them up especially if they're looking straight up or far ahead.
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Yeah exactly we have like blind points like blind spots right in front of the horse under the head
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and right in front of them and also all in the back they don't see at all when you are behind the
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horse that's why you always should take care when you walk behind the horse take a big circle
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and not walk too near because when they get afraid they could of course kick just because they
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get scared and think something happens so and they don't see you there and it's the same with like
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when something is on the ground like a snake for example. I'm Skiley and I'm from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
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Why are there so many types of horses? We've talked about the Icelandic horse which is special
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and different from some other horse breeds. Why are there so many? I would say it's because we have
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of course very different landscapes and very different you know like when you go to the Sahara
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it's of course very very hot and then the horses are just totally different bread especially for that
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and like here in Iceland we we have the Icelandic horse which is really good in the cold so it's a lot
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about the breeding and also what you are going to do or you are going to dress arch or
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gated riding or jumping or leisure riding or distance so it's very very much different
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difference between that and yeah out of it's of course very every horse has or horse breed has
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an old long story or most of them. My name is Aurora I'm 10 years old no not 10 11. I live in
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Vermont what's the most popular horse breed? I heard it's the American quarter horse actually
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but yeah I think Icelandic horses are actually very popular because of their gates and I think it's
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getting more and more also in America in the United States and but all over the world I heard it's
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the American quarter horse. Sonya has about 30 or 35 horses at her riding school and they're all
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Icelandic horses of course because other types aren't allowed in Iceland I asked her if she had a
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favorite one. Oh that's a tough one. I really love twister the one we have here because
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yeah but that's because we're standing in twister stall you can't say you like somebody else
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better when we're standing right next to him. Yes I love him but I also love and you know
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Skidi and of course I love all of them I think it's very important like also with the riding
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school horses I I really like them all they are very very different characters and I want them to be
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and it's okay to be different characters that makes it so fun so and everyone has its qualities.
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Like people everybody has a different personality. 100% and that's just perfect. Before we let Sonya
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get back to her chores we asked her to show us one more thing the special ways Icelandic horses can
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move. When you think of how horses walk or run you might think of a walk a trot a canter and a gallop
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but Icelandic horses can do two more types or gates. Yes we have the tult and tult is the same they
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are moving their legs same as in walk so all there's always at least one feet on the ground which
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make it very smooth they are not like jumping up in the air like in trot and gallop where sometimes
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the feet are all like all up in the air so it's getting very smooth and it can be from very slow
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to very fast and it's it's very fun to ride it it's like sitting on a light slightly moving sofa
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when you have a good tilt horse and the pace it's really fast has to be really fast to be really good
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and it's mostly written out of the gallop then you are going lay the horse down to pace as we call it
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and put it into pace and then that goes very fast and it's a little bit like the camels when they
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move the feet on both on the both left feet and then they're flying and they're both right
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feet and then they're flying and then both left and so on so and they are like stretching their
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head and run really fast like this it's very fun to see. What's the difference in the way it feels
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from a gallop to pace? Gallop is more you know it's three-peated so it's like do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do so and
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it you always like having this um circularly moving and in pace it's a little bit it's just it's um
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it's going so fast so don't you you don't have so much time to think it's just um it's a little bit um
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you're making a uh a hand expression like vibration yeah yeah vibration and going really fast
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so what do you need to get you know when you ride really good uh flying pace you will get
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sometimes like a little bit like feeling it the knees and so on so you get some adrenaline with it
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and you don't ride it for a long time it's mostly written like you know between 100 and
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250 meters or 300 or something but only short at once because it takes a lot of energy of the
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horse because they let put everything in it. Why would you use pace instead of gallop when what
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would this situation be where you would choose one over the other um when I ride up a hill for
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example I would always choose the gallop and when I ride straight I would take the pace if it's a
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straight line and enough place as base you know and um and a clear way and then I would choose pace
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and it's it's just a different because it's it's something you write uh not as often as the gallop
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and gallop you of course can also write very slow but not flying pace. Seeing how these horses move
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in their different strides or gates would be great right but we're a podcast so you can't see
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anything but hearing can also be helpful we ask Sonia if she and one of her horses would help
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demonstrate these different ways of moving that she was talking about so she settled up crummy
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a dark brown horse with an even darker mane and we went to the riding ring. We attached a microphone
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to Sonia so you can hear crumies hooves and Sonia's description as she rides around the ring so close
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your eyes and just listen for the next minute or two and see if you can hear the difference in each
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type of stride. So I'm gonna go to trot now.
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Now I'm gonna write trot then gallop and then pace. I had trot there.
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That was crummy the horse and Sonia no-ak the rider thanks to Sonia for answering all of our
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many questions about horses she's the owner of Hestasneald a riding school in Mossfels Bayer, Iceland.
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We have pictures and videos of Sonia and her horses on our Instagram and YouTube pages if you'd
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like to see what an Icelandic horse looks like and what those different gates look like.
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As always if you have a question about anything send it to us. We get a lot of questions and we
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really wish we could answer them all but even if we can't answer your question we love hearing it
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we want to know what's on your mind what you're feeling curious about and what you think we could
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help you learn about. You can have an adult help you record your question using one of the free
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apps on a smartphone or tablet and then you can send the file to questions at butwhykids.org.
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If you like our show please leave a review or some stars on whatever platform you use to listen
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it helps other kids discover us. Our show is produced by Sarah Baker, Melody Bodet and me
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Jane Lindholm at Vermont Public and distributed by PRX. Our video producer is Joey Palombo our theme
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music is by Luke Reynolds. We'll be back in two weeks with an all new episode. Until then stay
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curious.
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From PRX.