A DANGEROUS HABIT.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume XVI, Issue 952, 4 June 1908, Page 9

A DANGEROUS HABIT.

It is not generally known that at lease four out of every ten horses do not lie down to sleep. The horse that sleeps in a standing position rests one leg at a time, depending on the other three to maintain the weight of the body. The habit is a very dangerous one. Only a short time since a fine horse in the stables of a big manufacturing firm went to sleep while standing in his stall, and fell heavily to the floor, breaking one of his legs. A great many horses are permanently injured as a result of accidents of this nature, and there is no way of curing them of the habit. Horses who do lie down to sleep often double their forelegs under them, their hoofs rubbing and irritating the skin and flesh at the back of the upper part of them until they form those unsightly though practically painless, lumps which so often disfigure the forelegs of otherwise shapely animals.