Why do horses stare into space?

Answer 1

I don't believe it is specifically "staring into space." It's possible that a horse--even the one by another answerer above--may have heard something that is far beyond a human's range of hearing and was intently listening to this particular sound and looking to where this sound came from. When a horse does that, their heads are up, ears are pricked, and their eyes focused on something which even they cannot comprehend or see, but their ears can.

However, if your horse is not acting this way and is relaxed but literally staring off into space, there is a possibility that she (or he) is just resting (you know the way they do, with their necks down (level with their top-line), ears and lips relaxed, and one of the hind feet resting in kind of a folded-under position (resting three-legged)) and close to dozing off. Occasionally this may also be an indicator that [s]he is ill (this will be accompanied by other symptoms, of course), so keep an eye on her/him in case something seems a bit off.

Another Answer:My horse did this once. She had her head turned towards a specific locale in a specific direction in a horse barn (I was feeding her), and was absolutely fixated on it (I don't remember for how long; no less than five minutes). But when I looked in that direction, I saw nothing (I scanned in that area/direction carefully, and saw nothing unusual). Years later I read that occasionally animals can see things of a paranormal nature (ghosts, etc.) that humans can't. I've often wondered since then if this isn't what happened that afternoon (it was years ago). Hope this reply isn't too weird.

Answer 2

Horses can look up to the sky. They can either look up with just their eyes or tilt their heads up and a bit backwards to look upward if they need to.