Download Do Horses Sleep With Their Eyes Open Images. Can horses get catch good shut eye if their eyes are still open? During the beginning stages of sleep and especially if they are still standing, they can 'sleep' with their eyes partially opened.
This is a common misconception.
Horses don't sleep standing up. In fact, most of his sleeping time is done this way. The horse can sleep standing up without losing its balance, but only dreams in rem phase (rapid eye movements) when it lies down. This is why it is not surprising that we all have this mental image of a horse standing up, eyes closed, dreaming of running freely in the open plains.