Do horses get affected by noise ?

[Gingerwitch]

I used to be at a yard where their was a constant "tick tick tick" sounding like water dropping onto metal sheet that sounded every minute for 24 hours a day - it was the electric fence control - to say it was loud, you could hear it halfway up the barn.

Question - the horses that were stabled right under it, and next to it - would they be affected?

To me it would be like chinese water torcher - but would it affect horses?#

 

[planete]

I think that a constant steady repetitive noise becomes background noise after a bit and we stop being conscious of it. Think of people living near a fast flowing stream for instance. I would imagine it would be the same for horses.

 

[Birker2020]

I think that a constant steady repetitive noise becomes background noise after a bit and we stop being conscious of it. Think of people living near a fast flowing stream for instance. I would imagine it would be the same for horses.

I agree. Having been stabled next to the M25 for a number of years my mare never noticed the motorway noise and neither did I.

 

[pennyturner]

One of mine cheerfully ignores the sound of an iron-tyred carriage going down the road behind him. It runs lovely off-road, but I have seriously considered ear-protectors on tarmac. There's a reason the nick name for horse-drawn taxis in London was 'growlers'.

 

[Birker2020]

Mine gets more affected by sharp sudden noise for example sheep in the field or a dog barking in the distance.Anything she can't see but can hear that makes an animal noise!Especially behind high hedges.

 

[scats]

I think that a constant steady repetitive noise becomes background noise after a bit and we stop being conscious of it. Think of people living near a fast flowing stream for instance. I would imagine it would be the same for horses.

I have a clock in my living room that tick-tocks, loudly, except I no longer hear it. I have to purposefully listen out for the individual tick tocks. But friends or visitors come round and it drives them insane!
I imagine horses would just get used to it as background noise after a while.

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

I have a clock in my living room that tick-tocks, loudly, except I no longer hear it. I have to purposefully listen out for the individual tick tocks. But friends or visitors come round and it drives them insane!
I imagine horses would just get used to it as background noise after a while.

We only notice the grandmother clock when it stops! never when its working & also chiming every quarter hour

 

[oldie48]

I often have the radio on in the stables, sounds like children crying, squealing high pitched noises and any sound of distress really worries my horse. He was also much affected by the sound of hounds on the Archers, def wanted to join in the fun but I don't think he'd be bothered by a what you have described. We have low flying aircraft over head a good deal and none of my horses is the least bit bothered.

 

[Bubblewrap]

One of my horses hates the crow scarers and I was delighted when the farmer next door put one in his field next to our paddock, that'll cure him I thought, wrong! In the paddock doesn't even twitch an ear, hacking out same distance away he does his best scared Scooby Doo impression still!

 

[Gazen]

They get used to noises...mostly.
My horses live near to a motor racing establishment. They totally ignore the sounds of the cars and the low flying helicopters when there is a big competition. The gas guns (bird scare-ers) go off every 20 mins in the adjoining fields during the spring and early summer. There is shooting during the winter. There are nearby streams so they hear running, gurgling, bubbling water.
However one of my horses freaks when she hears sounds of certain frequencies, I guess it is to her like someone scratching nails down a blackboard. That frequency is the one that shopping trollies make when they run over bumpy ground or those light weight trailers that thing like lawn mowers are towed in.

 

[meandmyconnie]

I agree. Having been stabled next to the M25 for a number of years my mare never noticed the motorway noise and neither did I.

yes same

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

Of course horses are effected by noise but like humans they can also get accustomed to it to a degree that they don't notice it. We were at a yard which had a private airstrip next to it. Light aircraft, hang gliders, microlights, model jets & even formation kite flying used to go one there. When the horses first went there they noticed everything & watched. After a while though they carried on grazing & took no notice. It's like living near a railway line, only visitors notice the trains the person living there is immune & doesn't notice.

 

[Sleipnir]

Personal experience: I used to keep my horse at a yard from which he could hear a motorbike racetrack and a cargo railway. The sound of revving engines and speeding trains was almost constant, although not too loud. Coincidence or not, but he grew increasingly stressed there and his behavior even started getting dangerous - which ceased the same day when we moved to a more remote, silent yard.