# Is it normal for horses to stand on three legs?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-normal-for-horses-to-stand-on-three-legs/686365>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 17, 2014, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-normal-for-horses-to-stand-on-three-legs/686365 "2014-04-17T20:44:22Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a87d85/32.png) [@A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_Dodgy_Dude)\
**Post date:** [April 17, 2014, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-normal-for-horses-to-stand-on-three-legs/686365/1 "2014-04-17T20:44:22Z")

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Every time I walk along 59th Street in Manhattan I notice several of the Central Park horses are standing with three hooves flat on the ground and the front edge of the fourth hoof barely touching the ground.

Is this normal or are these horses nursing injuries?

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**Author:** ![artemis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/91b2a8/32.png) [@artemis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/artemis)\
**Post date:** [April 17, 2014, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-normal-for-horses-to-stand-on-three-legs/686365/2 "2014-04-17T20:46:02Z")

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Perfectly normal. That’s how horses rest.

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**Author:** ![Red\_Stilettos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/fbc32d/32.png) [@Red\_Stilettos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Stilettos)\
**Post date:** [April 17, 2014, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-normal-for-horses-to-stand-on-three-legs/686365/3 "2014-04-17T21:19:44Z")

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Yep, normal. It’s like people shifting their weight from foot to foot while standing.

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**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\
**Post date:** [April 17, 2014, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-normal-for-horses-to-stand-on-three-legs/686365/4 "2014-04-17T23:45:42Z")

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Just resting. It’s like sitting with your legs crossed. The horse will switch legs from time to time.

FYI, horses hack a tendon which “locks” the knee in place. Thus they can sleep standing up – horses usually only lie down for short periods; it isn’t very comfortable with their body weight pushing against their lungs.

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**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\
**Post date:** [April 17, 2014, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-normal-for-horses-to-stand-on-three-legs/686365/5 "2014-04-17T23:54:17Z")

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Actually I just learned something. Lifting the heel has a function other than rest: it rotates the hip and actually activates the “stay” ligaments of the forelegs, which is the mechanism that enables the horse to relax fully or sleep standing.

> **[Do You Know How Horses Sleep?](https://www.thesprucepets.com/learn-how-all-horses-sleep-1887328)**
>
> Learn about how horses sleep, how they can sleep standing up, and why they only spend short amounts of time lying down.