ABSTRACT
Under natural conditions, horses spend the greater part of their day eating: 50-70% of a 24hour day. Following feed intake, standing in an awake (5-20%) or dozing state (10-20%) and locomotion independent of that during feeding (5-15%) take up most of their time. Comparatively little time is spent on behaviors such as lying down, drinking, comfort behavior, and so on. Many activities such as eating and resting are exhibited simultaneously by the members of a group. The reason for this synchronization of behaviors is the tendency to remain close to companions. The trigger for synchronous behavior is social facilitation.
