biostudies-literatureGreening LMorris Animal Foundatione0326567https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC12204570biostudies-literatureUnknown20(6)Modern horse husbandry involves significant time spent indoors, often in suboptimal lighting conditions and with frequent night-time disturbances by humans for management purposes. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of a customised light-emitting diode (LED) lighting system and a standard fluorescent lighting fixture on equine sleep behaviours, circadian rhythmicity and spontaneous blink rates in horses. Ten riding school horses experienced two stable lighting conditions for four weeks each in a cross-over study running from January to March, 2023. The treatment lighting consisted of an LED system that provided timed, blue-enriched white polychromatic light by day and dim red light at night, and control lighting was a fluorescent tube that was turned on and off manuallyPloS oneInfluence of lighting on sleep behaviour, circadian rhythm and spontaneous blink rate in stabled riding school horses (Equus caballus).PMC12204570D22EQ-514Harkin EBrowne JAAragona FHemmings AKyriazopoulou PWilliams JMMurphy BAGreening LHeppelthwaite ZfalseInfluence of lighting on sleep behaviour, circadian rhythm and spontaneous blink rate in stabled riding school horses (Equus caballus).Modern horse husbandry involves significant time spent indoors, often in suboptimal lighting conditions and with frequent night-time disturbances by humans for management purposes. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of a customised light-emitting diode (LED) lighting system and a standard fluorescent lighting fixture on equine sleep behaviours, circadian rhythmicity and spontaneous blink rates in horses. Ten riding school horses experienced two stable lighting conditions for four weeks each in a cross-over study running from January to March, 2023. The treatment lighting consisted of an LED system that provided timed, blue-enriched white polychromatic light by day and dim red light at night, and control lighting was a fluorescent tube that was turned on and off manually2025-01-01T00:00:00Z20252026-06-01T15:29:23.49Z2026-04-08T13:44:26.273ZS-EPMC122045704057737410.1371/journal.pone.0326567