Horsedogs – The science

Yes! However, sitting is not a natural position for them. They sit only for short time periods. And this is how it works:

When horses want to return to standing from a lying position, sitting is the intermediate position. Horses have relatively thin legs compared to their large body size, so they place a lot of strain on their legs during the process of getting up from a lying down position to standing. In order to make the procedure a little easier, horses sit for a short moment before getting all the way up. “Sitting” therefore only goes in this one direction: from lying to standing. So it should rather be called sitting up.

Why can't they sit down properly?

Because their leg anatomy is different to dogs: Horses can't bend their reer legs like dogs do (the joint there is called "stifle")! Imagine having to sit down yourself but not being allowed to bend your knees in the process. This would lead to a terrible crash on the floor. And now imagine that you also have the weight of a horse and its big butt. That could be really uncomfortable or dangerous. Horse trainers can teach horses to sit down on their own (just like dogs), but they would use external aids and props, such as large puffy sacks on which the horses can rest their rumps.

Why didnt evolution allow horses to sit more comfortably?

From an evolutionary point of view, sitting is not a desirable position for horses. Since horses are escape animals, they don't like feeling vulnerable by being in the seated position. Instead, most horses spend their time standing, except for the REM sleep they enjoy for a few hours each day. Horses can even sleep standing up without falling down. Evolution has given their bodies a specific configuration of muscles, tendons, and ligaments, known as the "stay apparatus". Sleeping or dozing while standing is made possible by the ability to anchor the kneecap firmly by tilting the legs, thus preventing buckling. It is this practical “stay apparatus” that anatomically prevents horses from finding prolonged sitting comfortable.