It seems my mare has developed narcolepsy. She used to lie down to sleep but not any more. I recently brought her home and have a deeply bedded stall to hopefully encourage her to lie down but so far, no luck. She has almost fallen down in the cross ties when she was relaxed and caught herself. Is there anything I can do to help her see that laying down is a good idea? She just stopped all of a sudden one day so maybe she’ll start again? She’s an older girl but is very spry when playing out in the pasture so don’t think it’s a matter of her worried about not being able to get up. She routinely goes down to roll and has no issues. Wish I could help her out. Anything I could do? All ideas welcome.
You say she has not issues getting down and up from rolling outside… is a ‘normal’ getting up… or does she need more room to do it, that maybe a stall does not allow?
My horse became narcoleptic in appearance, but it turned out he was so sore and painful behind that he could not lie down and then get up again to get quality sleep, and was merely tired. Once he was able to lie down to sleep it resolved.
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It’s a normal get up and doesn’t appear to be in any pain. She’s on joint supplements with Bute as needed such as after a particularly hard workout. She has small spots of proud flesh on the fronts of both front fetlocks from before I got her so she may have fallen down making me think this may have happened before. Her stall is 12 x 12 with one side open to her paddock so I don’t think it’s the matter of room.
She stopped lying down when you brought her home? What changed after the move? Is she in a herd environment that is similar to where she was there? Can she see other horses clearly from her new stall?
No, actually, she started before I brought her home. During the first several weeks of boarding, she would lay down every night as evidenced by the shavings in her tail. Then out of the blue, she stopped. While boarding, she was not in a herd environment but could see other horses from her window into the aisle way. Now, she is in her own stall with paddock but has interaction with my other two over the stall wall and shared fence line plus, when turned out in the pasture, she is with one of the geldings. During the warm weather we had last week, the two geldings would be on the ground napping and she’s the one up standing guard.
I personally would do a bute trial. One gram twice per day for a week and see if you see evidence of her lying down.
It doesn’t sound like she is narcoleptic; it sounds like she is sleep deprived. There are a lot of different causes and potential treatments, but you might want to talk to your vet, as it sounds like you have eliminated some of the more obvious causes, and this has been going on for some time, in two different environmental situations.
https://www.avma.org/News/JAVMANews/Pages/160801e.aspx
http://www.thehorse.com/articles/28927/understanding-equine-sleep-deprivation
https://equusmagazine.com/management/horse_sleep_deprived_092308-10689
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I agree with above poster. She doesn’t sound narcoleptic, she has equine sleep deprivation. My horse also began to do this when the herd dynamic changed (the boss was removed). He is so concerned about the others that he refuses to lay down. His nose will slowly drop until it hits the ground (he is 17.2, BTW). His fetlocks will start to go and then he wakes up, only to nod off repeatedly until he snaps out of it. He won’t lay down in a stall either. I have yet to find a solution…
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Thank you for sharing these. I have a gelding who is sleep deprived. He is sound and healthy otherwise, rolls at least twice a day so I dont think it is pain. I will have to do a little more research and have the vet do a work up when she is here next week.
@Jealoushe - You are very welcome. I am sure there is more out there if you google, but these seemed good starting points. I hope you and OP can get to the root of the sleep deprivation quickly.
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I had a problem with this which I solved by changing the horse dynamics and providing a straw bed. My problem mare would never lie down, although she would roll. The information I read about this said that if the reluctance to lie down was caused by pain or difficulty rising because of say, arthritis, or some other physical complaint then you will see a horse which never or seldom rolls. But my mare would roll – just not stay down and nap. One day, I saw her roll, and while on her side lay her head down as if she were going to take a nap. Then the other mare, who was about thirty feet away, put her ears back and took a few steps toward her. She jumped up, and I knew then that was part of the problem.
I changed things around a few times, pairing up horses differently and putting them separately but adjacent and finally ended up with this combo which works for me: the problem horse, who is a very sweet but needy thing low in the pecking order, is now in with the other lowest-pecking-order horse and they seem very happy together. I also put out a pile of straw, about half a bale fluffed and piled up deeply, and that has encouraged her to lie down as well. The dry lot they are on seems fine for rolling but I think without the straw she just doesn’t feel comfortable napping. The straw pile lasts for a few weeks until it gets diminished by having the poop and pee spots raked up and just generally spread out.
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Have you tried straw? I tried it because I read one of those studies which compared bedding and found that horses bedded on straw spent more time lying down than with other types of bedding. I was also intrigued with all the cute pictures online of horses sleeping in a hay or straw pile. It might be worth the experiment to put him in a stall bedded deeply in straw. I imagine the straw pile in the pasture wouldn’t work if his social situation is too anxiety provoking.
I tried the straw, and my horse was a track horse until he was 9. I thought the straw might help. Made no difference. Every now and then he will lay down but its usually several weeks in between 
My mare was sleep-deprived for a bit when I had her on 24/7 turnout. She had always lived in a stall before I bought her and I wanted to see if she would stay out (only in nice weather). Her main symptom was that she became a raging b****. My sweet, eager to please mare broke cross ties, ran away from me, and was a pain in the ass under saddle. We always brought the horses in for grain and one morning she ate her grain and promptly lay down and went to sleep. Light bulb went on for me and I realized she was exhausted.
I gave in and let her sleep in a stall at night. She gives me everything and I can let her have that. She was clearly not comfortable in her situation to sleep outside, so I am guessing there is something about your horse’s situation that is making her feel like she needs to stay on her feet as well. I tried different combos of friends with my mare, even different farms after we moved, and nothing makes her comfortable. She doesn’t like camping, is what I tell people :).
She sounds sleep deprived. I’ve battled this for years with one of my horses and have seen several others with the affliction. Some are helped by changing the stabling, some are helped with pain medications. Neither of these things mattered to my horse. I have had some luck with fluphenazine- one shot a month. His episodes reduced by about 90% with fluphenazine. I understand that it helps some horses but doesn’t help others. Also, I keep my horse wrapped in standing wraps on all four legs 24/7. Basically protecting him from himself.
I have now owned two horse who battled with sleep deprivation. Both TBs in their 20s. Both on 24/7 turnout, but also both hated being in the stall.
The first horse got bad on the cross ties… and then it stopped on the cross ties for some mysterious reason. He continued to do it in the field until the day he died.
The current does it in the field, but is too geared up inside.
Bute helped neither. I think it is/was more mental with both. Both are/were very herdbound.
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I have a narcoleptic mini gelding, who is 16. I agree with others that what you describe isn’t necessarily narcolepsy. My fellow is neurological and he will ‘fall asleep’ sometimes during veterinary dental treatments and sometimes a hoof trim, but he’s very capable of lying down for a natural sleep, which he does happily.
My fellow’s condition also manifests in ataxia, special needs for diet and to help him eat, and some mental health concerns (he’s just a bit dim). He doesn’t have any injuries from sudden falls and I’ve never seen him just keel over.
Since he’s only about 33 inches tall I’m able to help him with balance during farrier work and for dental the vet and I prop him up with shavings bales and he snores away during the procedure.
This.
The vet is the one that mentioned narcolepsy, but I agree sounds more like sleep deprivation. If I enclose her in her stall, she’ll more than likely stress from not being able to be near the others if they’re in their paddocks as she has become quite attached. The same would go for separate pasture turnout, she’d walk the fence line the whole time.
Not rolling and sleeping with her nose on the ground while her knees buckled was a clue that something was going on with one mare of mine. To treat the diagnosed condition (fat necrosis) my mare was put on prednisalone 20mg @ 20 pills once daily for two weeks in early May. On day 4 of the steroid she rolled for the first time since I observed there was a problem back in February. I also now see evidence that she is laying down to sleep overnight. Under the supervision of your vet steroids can help tamp down underlying inflammation and discomfort.
Good luck with your horse.
