Why do horses, when they're standing still usually have one of their hooves not completely grounded?

This is called having their leg "cocked". It is actually a very reasurring thing if your horse does this! In the wild, a horse often has to be ready for flight at any moment, so as to avoid predators. They usually will have all 4 hooves firmly on the ground so that if they need to, they can take off running. If your horse is cocking his hoof with you around, this means he is relaxed enough to know that you will not let anything hurt him! So he can have one hoof cocked and not be worried about needing to quickly escape or flee.

It has to be pretty sturdy so it may be difficult to make your own. This may sound strange but go onto Craigs List and in the horse section say you're looking for a horse hoof stand if anyone has one to give away. People come and go in the farrier occupation so there just may be someone that has one they'd like to get rid of. If you're not old enough to post on Craigs List ask your parents to. It's really easy.

Hi Mike,

This is the horses resting position and they stand like this when they are having a little doze or a rest.

Basically when the back leg is positioned like this - the horses stifle in the leg locks which prevents them from falling over!

A horse is able to sleep like this - or just stand perfectly awake but taking it easy.

If a horse had nodded off - you will see their head will be dropped down, their bottom lip normally pouts out below the upper lid, their ears will prob flop to the side and their eyes will be either fully or semi closed.

A horse that just rests up will still be wide awake - even have a rider on their back- but just takes advantage of giving themselves a quick break!

xx

It's just how horses rest their leg, much like people do when they slouch, kinda.

I'm glad you mentioned rear hooves, if you see it in the front hooves there is something seriously wrong!

It means they're relaxed and resting that leg. Sometimes you'll see them put the hoof they're resting down and pick up the other one to give it some rest. I know only one horse that this is a bad sign with, he never 'rests' his hoof like that he picks it up slightly farther and gets a slap for it because it means he's going to kick, make sure that the horse you're dealing with is resting it's leg and not warning you he's going to haul off and kick you in a moment.

They almost always are standing up. Imagine standing all day. It tires your legs. So, if you pick one up for a while, it gets a little break. They tend to shift from one foot to the other, just like we would. Just chillin' and relaxing. When they are tense, all four are firmly planted or dancing a mad jig because the feet want to go-go-go and the handler is saying stand-stand-stand. If not being held, they tend to tear off madly, then settle again to stand three legged for another while.

This is a good thing! This is relaxed, comfortable, and confidant stance. Ususally with the foot cocked and relaxed the head is down, they are feeling completely safe. Watch them next time you see this and you will probably notice that if something grabs their attention and their head comes up quickly...their foot goes down. Not because of the foot having to be down if the head is up, but because their is something that has just given made them unsure. They are not sure if they are going to have to run for their lives. (as they do in the wild) So they are prepared for flight. It is a wonderful God-given instinct.

What is even better is when you are with them and they have the head down and leg cocked. This means that they feel completely relaxed, comfortable, and confindant with you.

The horse is resting by shifting his weight from one hip to the other while he is standing relaxed...sometimes he is sleeping standing up. I used to drive a paint mare to carriage in Dallas that would literally fall asleep in line and if you didn't watch her closely, would fall down in the shafts. If you didn't constantly keep her attention while she was walking down the street, she would actually fall asleep while she was walking and fall into parked cars...seriously. Usually the times that you see a horse lying down is when they are sunning themselves.

The horse is resting

horses sleep standing up do to there natural instinct to protect them self's even though you might see your horse lye down in the sun a horse can't lye down for more then an hour their body is to big and their system will start to shut down from the weight this is why horses rest one hoof at a time to let the legs have a chance to rest elephants do the same thing! interesting question to ask hope i helped you understand why horses do this.