Did You Hear That? The Incredible Equine Ear

Imagine a world where you can hear sounds for a two-mile radius. The wind chime outside the store in town? You hear it. The trucks going down the distant highway? No problem. The door falling shut two streets over. Oh yeah. The bag of chips being opened three doors down. You bet. You’re trying to read a book, but the sounds of the neighbor’s garage door opening at the end of the road make you lose your place. You’re trying to chat, when the paper bags crinkling on the other side of the store is so loud to you that you cover your ears. You can’t focus on the card you’re writing, because the sound of the wind in the tree outside is too distracting. Welcome to being able to hear like a horse!

When we step into their perspective, it’s easy to see how much a horse can hear and how easy it is for them to be bothered by the sounds we might not even notice. Today, let’s zoom in on the horse’s ear - how it works and how we can benefit and help them through it!

The Ear

With their size and amazing mobility, the ears of the horse are hard to miss. But did you know that the equine ear is the most mobile ear of any mammal? With the ears’ ability to move separately and twist nearly 180 degrees, they can funnel in sounds from every direction. Watching horses for any length of time, you will see their ears swivel back and forth as they process the huge amount of sound that they can hear. Sounds that we ignore or tune out may have their complete attention. Their hearing has a huge range, including both high and low frequencies. For instance, they can hear the sound of a dog whistle, which is silent to us. They can also hear low frequencies (and actually feel them through their hooves and teeth), such as the beat of a human heart when we come near. If you think about it, horses can practically hear how we are feeling!

In addition to that, studies have found that a horse's prime years of hearing are between five and nine years of age. But unlike humans, who typically lose hearing with age, there is usually very little loss of hearing for horses as they get older. That being said, hearing loss and even deafness can occur in equines, from genetics or ear trauma. 

Learning Its Language

Since horses aren't extremely vocal animals, we will find that they speak to each other and to us mainly through their body language. One of the crucial and readable ways they 'speak' is through their ears. The most obvious one you'll see is ears back: this is a sign of displeasure, to different levels. Ears pushed back is more irritation, maybe the grooming is tickling them, maybe the flies are annoying them, or they aren’t pleased by a noise or nearby animals. On the other hand, ears laid tightly backward will almost always be followed by reactive behavior, such as bucking, biting, or kicking. Do not take that sign lightly! Now, a relaxed horse will have its ears at what we call ‘half-mast’, they are loose and gently moving, often pointing slightly to their left and right. Ears pricked forward and not moving means your horse is fixated on a sound. He could be trying to see if a sound is a danger, or he might have heard the feed room door open and is eagerly awaiting his bowl of grain. These are just a few examples. The whole horse is always speaking to us, but by especially watching the ears and eyes, you will have great insight into your horse's thoughts and actions.

How It Affects Behavior

Having a horse suddenly spin or jerk, or

even take off running, with no seeming reason, can be absolutely terrifying when you are on their backs. But once we understand how much a horse can hear, it’s no wonder that they react so much to the world around them. Horses are fight or flight animals, and given the choice, they’d rather run. And their hearing is the most advanced notice they will have of danger approaching. So what seems like dangerous behavior to us is actually them trying to stay the safest. Still, this leaves a horse on high alert, and as horse riders and/or owners, it’s our goal to create a way for our horses to live and work in a calm and confident state of mind. We can start by choosing our training/riding times wisely by knowing what makes our horses nervous. Most horses get jumpy when it's extra windy, since that can greatly affect their hearing ability. Obviously, we cannot remove triggering noises within their usual 2.7-mile radius of hearing, but we can help them discover that most of the sounds they hear are not a life-or-death situation. We can do this through gently exposing them to loud noises - such as traffic, tractors, flapping flags, etc. - in a safe place. And as long as we have fully gained our horses' trust, they will begin to look to us. If we remain calm, we can help them do the same.

Let’s always focus on how we can work with our horses - instead of trying to work against them. The ability of hearing the horse has is a wonderful superpower that can be on our team if we let it. And it may have been what saved Dolly and me both when a ride turned dangerous many years ago (you can read that story here: https://theamazinggracesta.wixsite.com/letsride/post/when-horses-play-hero-when-a-short-ride-goes-wrong ). 

The horse’s ear is an incredible thing, and we should do our best to acknowledge it and help them channel this into the strength that it can be.