Do Horses Go Deaf?

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hardtimes

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Has anybody on here ever thought that their horse might be deaf? I have an elderly pony that I have had for 23 years and I think he may now be partially deaf. He gets startled very easily when I am out of his sight even though I make a point of talking to him when I approach him. I don't think I've ever heard of a deaf horse, though it must be possible.
 
I think it's very possible that older horses go deaf. Certainly sounds as if there is hearing loss with your old boy. Have you asked the vet?
 
No, not yet, but I will next time I need to speak to him. I think the realisation his hearing might be going has just gradually dawned on me, and I wondered if anybody else had experienced it.
 
It's the sort of thing that you wouldn't really think of is it - and I can understand why it may go unnoticed for a while.

Coming to think of it - I have a friend who a few years ago ended up in hospital with a fractured skull after falling off her loan horse. The horse responded very badly after being asked to do something ridden - it was asked and asked - no response to voice aids - then a sharp leg aid and it went mental - bolted and threw her off on the road. From what I remember turned out the horse was deaf!
 
Thank you for that, it's interesting. I've mentioned it to a couple of people and they looked at me as if I was mad! He's retired now, so I just try to approach him from within his field of vision as opposed to sneaking up on him, but I can see how riding a deaf horse could be quite dangerous - traffic, etc. Thanks again for reply :).
 
Yes, a horse can go - or be born deaf.
Mostly found in those with blue eyes as I recall, have only had experience with 1 horse tho & apparently this was quite rare.
Yoy need to be careful in keeping in the visual line of the horse at all times for your own safety - and his!
Some will pick up the vibrations of someone when you bang something quietly etc to alert them where you are, even a knock on the stable wall/door can alert them if you repeat this each time you come.

In the main, it wont be a problem, but you will always have to ride carefully - making sure horse is ridden with contact through hands and legs at all times & there are no sudden movements such as waving arms to turn or bending down without sliding hands along to warn them you are touching.
Most is common sense tho.

Hope horse is doing ok :)
 
Thanks for your reply, Fuzzy Furry. He's 27 now, and it's only in the last year that I've been becoming aware of his problem. He's retired so I don't have to worry about riding him, and I'm now careful to make sure he is aware of where I am. I have never known of any other deaf horses.
 
Was just pondering this question with a friend of mine who has a very deaf older dog. I suppose it is reasonable to assume that horses can go deaf just like people (and dogs)?
 
Do make sure that it's not that he's going blind. I had a young horse who lost his peripheral vision who would react exactly the way you are describing yours as doing when you "suddenly" appeared in the spot where he could see. Unfortunately he went completely blind but it had taken several years for him to deteriorate like that.

I suggest this because it's actually quite difficult to get "out of sight" of a fully sighted horse if there is nothing blocking his view. You would have to be directly behind him, or directly in front of him and fairly slim too :).
 
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Thanks for your reply, cptrayes. I did think he might be going blind before I thought of deafness, but he is definitely not blind at all. He has, however, stopped reacting now to the noise of buckets rattling, or the sound of horses trotting on the road. He can hear my car horn, though, so I use this now to get his attention!
 
My old mare 32, doesn't seem to hear me coming until i'm right there which is sad as she has limited vision. Still seems ok in the herd though.
 
I don't personally know of any but it would make theoretical sense that deafness could occur due to injury, age or infection... Outside of the 'blue eye deafness' issues...

It would be a tad subjective to test for though to consider degrees of deafness unless the horse underwent testing for any auditory response in the brain... As opposed to making one startle that was very deaf...
 
I noticed with my last horse, when he got to about 19 or 20, he didn't seem to hear me when I called - I would call him and all the other horses would look up and he would carry on grazing and then sort of go "oh - hello!" - a friend of mine says the same thing about her 24 yr old. I did read the other day in an old Your Horse magazine that it's not thought to be that common for horses to go deaf in old age though!
 
I think my old girl (29) has lost some hearing in the last few years. When I'm calling her name in the field and horses 50 yards further out in the field put their heads up but mine doesn't is a bit of a clue.
 
Pretty sure they do, yes. My old lad (31) startles easily and doesn't often seem to hear me coming, even if I'm calling him, if I'm not in or I'm on the peripheries of his line of vision. I suspect his eyesight is less than 20/20 too, although the last check-up found nothing serious there.
 
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