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Old 04-02-2011, 07:24 PM   #1
RyanW
 
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Default Horse sleep patterns

I'm statting up centaurs in my setting, I'd like to duplicate a horse's sleep patterns. Specifically, a horse needs only about 2 1/2 hours of sleep a day, and usually in short standing naps of about 15 minutes. Every few days, it needs to lie down for a deeper sleep of an hour or two, needing to reach REM sleep.

Obviously, they should have Less Sleep (about 3 hours a day, average). For the ability to sleep standing up and in short bursts, does a Perk (Power Naps) sound about right?
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Old 04-02-2011, 08:08 PM   #2
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Default Re: Horse sleep patterns

I'm not particularly familiar with horse sleep cycles. If the horse can sleep "whenever its convenient" as long as it adds up to 2.5 hrs it's definitely a perk, sounds like a variation on Deep Sleeper. If the horse needs to sleep on a set schedule that just happens to be broken up into short naps ("naps from 4:30 to 4:45 AM, from 8 to 8:15 AM, lies down from 12:45 to 1:45 PM" etc) I'd call it a 0 point feature.
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Old 04-02-2011, 09:19 PM   #3
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Default Re: Horse sleep patterns

In my personnal experience most horse nap when ever they have a chance and nothing interesting is going on.

Along the same lines I could see one of those oh so popular bunny biomod creatures as having a similar sleeping style. Dont think I have ever seen my bunny sleep for more than 20 minutes at a time.
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Old 04-03-2011, 04:49 AM   #4
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Default Re: Horse sleep patterns

My understanding is that horses are the opposite of deep sleepers. Probably a natural reaction to the fact that people occasionally throw a halter and saddle on them.
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Old 04-03-2011, 04:51 PM   #5
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Default Re: Horse sleep patterns

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Originally Posted by RyanW View Post
I'm statting up centaurs in my setting, I'd like to duplicate a horse's sleep patterns. Specifically, a horse needs only about 2 1/2 hours of sleep a day, and usually in short standing naps of about 15 minutes. Every few days, it needs to lie down for a deeper sleep of an hour or two, needing to reach REM sleep.

Obviously, they should have Less Sleep (about 3 hours a day, average). For the ability to sleep standing up and in short bursts, does a Perk (Power Naps) sound about right?
I think B's right about the flexible schedule being a Perk. I remember a similar sleeping scheme being proposed before, and Perk seemed to be a consensus opinion then. For the reduced sleep, remember that, btb, Less Sleep is limited to four levels. I usually charge 3 pts/lvl after the fourth, to balance with Doesn't Sleep.
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Old 04-03-2011, 10:22 PM   #6
Phaelen Bleux
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Default Re: Horse sleep patterns

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Originally Posted by ClayDowling View Post
My understanding is that horses are the opposite of deep sleepers. Probably a natural reaction to the fact that people occasionally throw a halter and saddle on them.
Not to be picky, but anything that doesn't kill them doesn't result in natural selection.
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Old 04-03-2011, 10:29 PM   #7
Peter Knutsen
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Default Re: Horse sleep patterns

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Not to be picky, but anything that doesn't kill them doesn't result in natural selection.
True, but there's also unnatural selection. Horses in captivity often get bred, or not, based on desirable characteristics.
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Old 04-04-2011, 09:38 AM   #8
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Default Re: Horse sleep patterns

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Not to be picky, but anything that doesn't kill them doesn't result in natural selection.
The wild horses who were jumped by predators while sleeping (including hungry anthropoids) definitely had a reason to sleep shallowly.
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Old 04-04-2011, 10:11 AM   #9
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Default Re: Horse sleep patterns

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Not to be picky, but anything that doesn't kill them doesn't result in natural selection.
Horses that escape a saddle escape Gelding too...
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Old 04-04-2011, 03:47 PM   #10
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Default Re: Horse sleep patterns

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The wild horses who were jumped by predators while sleeping (including hungry anthropoids) definitely had a reason to sleep shallowly.
Yup, sleeping deeply gets you eaten by cave lions and cro-mags if you're a would-be ancestor of modern domestic horses.
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