Ears ....

[stormox]

Could someone explain why so many horses have coloured ear covers (or is there a better name) on these days? Even for hacking? Are all ear covers the same? I never saw them until about 10 years ago now it seems every horse I meet has coloured ears....

 

[[59668]]

My horse wears hi viz ears hacking for better visibility on the road. Some horses wear them to deaden noise and make them less spooky.
Mine also wears matching ears and saddlecloths for comps and clinics as I think it looks smart.

 

[humblepie]

We have bright orange ones for going one particular route as his hi viz! A local event rider did ask if we competed for Holland.....

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

It's the done thing in matchy matchy trends along with bandages which 99% of horses don't need and when not applied correctly they will do more harm than good.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

I use the acoustic ears on one of mine he also hates insects near his ears so it has double the use, I am not particularly interested in the matchy concept.

 

[milliepops]

Makes mine a bit less spooky/easier to maintain their attention, particularly if it's windy. plus in summer keeps the flies out

 

[stormox]

Do people who use them to keep noise out and make horses less spooky find their horses are less able to hear the riders voice too?

 

[Reacher]

No Idea(r) (haha)
Fashion?
My horse has aural plaques from midges bites presumably and I've contemplated getting some -- will probably cannibalize a tatty fly mask with ears

 

[Pippity]

I wear brightly-coloured ones when hacking to make us a bit more visible. I can never get the actual hi-viz ones to stay put, which is annoying. In summer, they have the added bonus of keeping insects out of her ears. (It's the same reason she wears a fly mask in the field. Flies tend not to bother her eyes too much, but her ears get crusty and sore really quickly.)

In the school, it's flies again in summer. In winter, it's to cover up the mind-boggling amount of mud she manages to cake around her ears...

And I do tend to match them to her saddlecloth, because why not? (Well, I tend to match in the school. I don't really bother when hacking, because the saddlecloth is usually covered by hi-viz.)

 

[milliepops]

Do people who use them to keep noise out and make horses less spooky find their horses are less able to hear the riders voice too?

No, i think it's just not having the wind whistling past that makes the difference with mine, i only use thin ones not the acoustic ones.
it had the biggest effect with one with very bad aural plaques, he was so sensitive about his ears. i use my voice a lot in training.

 

[Reacher]

We have bright orange ones for going one particular route as his hi viz! A local event rider did ask if we competed for Holland.....

Did you say yes?

Actually the hi viz aspect is a good point. Even though horse wears a wide yellow VBandz chest band I am not sure how visible horse is from the front if I were to come off etc

 

[SussexbytheXmasTree]

There is definitely a fashion matchy matchy element now but were originally used as “fly bonnets” and I’ve used them to stop flies irritating the ears. I’ve found though that my bridle on my old boy falls off too easily if he wears them unless it’s one with string under the jaw tying it on.

 

[Pippity]

There is definitely a fashion matchy matchy element now but were originally used as “fly bonnets” and I’ve used them to stop flies irritating the ears. I’ve found though that my bridle on my old boy falls off too easily if he wears them unless it’s one with string under the jaw tying it on.

Mine will keep hers on during the hack, but as soon as we're through the gate and home, it's *shakeshakeshake* until it comes off!

 

[crazyandme]

I had hi viz pink ones on Reg as we had a fair bit of busy roadwork to get to the bridleways and wanted to help increase our chances of being seen. Thankfully never lost our bridle though and it didn't stop him from being a prat in windy weather when the mood took him, but they were very thin material

 

[Casey76]

In France, where we were, we were plagued by tiny black biting flies which would beeline for the ears, so I’d use a fly veil in order to get any sense out of my ponies while they were ridden. They would also wear fly masks with ears in the field. Nothing worse than a distracted horse on the road.

 

[milliepops]

Nothing worse than a distracted horse on the road.

so much this! and you can't get a decent contact in the school if they are flicking their heads around.
I do like matching mine to a saddle pad if I'm going to use them but it's the function that is the point, the matchy is a bonus.

Tho I've mainly ridden indoors so far this year so haven't unpacked them from the autumn.

 

[rabatsa]

I use a set on one of the RDA driving ponies, each ear is a different colour so I can direct a driver who knows their colours but not left and right.

 

[AFB]

I use as fly veils, mine gets upset about flies around his ears.

The ones I have are matchy but I don't use them as matchy - only in summer when needed.

 

[ecb89]

I’ve started using the le Mieux acoustic ears for my spooky boy. I think they have helped. Down one side of our school is a line of conifers where killer pigeons like to lurk. He seems much less bothered by then flapping around.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

Do people who use them to keep noise out and make horses less spooky find their horses are less able to hear the riders voice too?

I talk to mine all the time he can still hear me, he is definitely not as reactive to surrounding distractions with them on.

 

[Slightlyconfused]

No Idea(r) (haha)
Fashion?
My horse has aural plaques from midges bites presumably and I've contemplated getting some -- will probably cannibalize a tatty fly mask with ears

Mine had them from stress. Kept shaking his head while hacking and doing fats work. The wind was irritating them.
Ears stopped it.

 

[Birker2020]

I wish I'd had some ear covers when I was at the Trailblazers final at Stoneleigh Showground with my previous horse Rommy. After qualifying I was so looking forward to having a shot at the course. As soon as I unloaded him he started shaking his head, there was obviously something in his ears. I spent the next hour examining his ears trying to find out what was bothering him, he constantly shook his head, it was driving us both crazy.

This progressed into the warm up. It was so frustrating. When you spend so long trying to qualify for something and then twice as long waiting for the 'big day' to come only to find that on the approach to the first fence your horse can barely stay upright its shaking his head so much. Inevitably we had the first fence down.

By the time we'd finished the course the headshaking had stopped. Typical!

 

[Dexter]

I like them and they way they look. I wear bright ones for hacking on the road, which helps with visibility, but mainly its that I like them

 

[MummyEms]

My two daughters just love putting their ponies in them to match their saddle pads and their own tops and hat covers ??

 

[Kaylum]

Flies when we had a tack shop 25 years ago we were selling them so they aren't particularly new. We even had different colours and sewed gold thread through them.

 

[Griffin]

Acoustic ears are really useful of you need to clip a horse that hates the clipper noise, they just take the edge off the sound.

 

[ownedbyaconnie]

For some, fashion. For me my mare is sensitive to flies so helps keep them out!

 

[Leam_Carrie]

I have high vis ears. They are good on narrow country lanes as cars see us earlier. Downside is they get sweaty, would like a set in a different material. They also get a lot of comments from walkers and cyclists, most common is complimenting the horses hat .