Why Sleep Is So Important for Equids
Horses, donkeys and mules have different sleep/wake cycles than humans. They spend about 12% (horses) or 13% (donkeys) of their 24-hour day sleeping. They also tend to have multiple short sleeps during a 24-hour period, and these periods can be both during the daytime and during nighttime. Types of Sleep What’s important to know is that, like humans, equids have more than one type of sleep. There’s light dozing, deep sleep and REM sleep (dream sleep). Most people are familiar with a dozing horse or donkey, with low head, half… Continued
The Station Cue: Its Many Uses for Equids and How to Train It
Have you thought about teaching your equid to station? Here’s what stationing is and a few reasons why it’s a great thing to train! What is Stationing? Stationing is where you teach your horse, pony, donkey or mule to stay in a specific place. It can be teaching them to stay at a tie up point, teaching them to “park” when you drop the lead rope or teaching them to stand on a mat without walking off. All it means is that they understand, when you give the cue, that… Continued