Equine Ear Plugs

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Shoei

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Morning All,

I'm thinking about purchasing some ear plugs, probably the rubber/foam type to try and keep my horse a bit calmer when traveling. We don't often travel in busy areas, just country roads. But there is a new venue that holds monthly dressage comps not to far away. The only trouble is there is about 5 minutes up a busy dual carriageway that is often at standstill. I can't find any other way of avoiding it and my trailer doesn't have back doors to shut, so I wanted to lessen the stress as much as possible.

We are also trying to get out in traffic more and I'm planning on downloading some traffic noise of itunes to help desensetise him.

Has anyone any options on these type of ear plugs?

Thanks
All
 
Look on Treehouse Saddlery, Old Mill Saddlery etc. For the racing sections. Plenty of choice there and way cheaper than any normal tack shop selling earplugs for about 4x as much!
 
Shoei said:
Morning All,

I'm thinking about purchasing some ear plugs, probably the rubber/foam type to try and keep my horse a bit calmer when traveling. We don't often travel in busy areas, just country roads. But there is a new venue that holds monthly dressage comps not to far away. The only trouble is there is about 5 minutes up a busy dual carriageway that is often at standstill. I can't find any other way of avoiding it and my trailer doesn't have back doors to shut, so I wanted to lessen the stress as much as possible.

We are also trying to get out in traffic more and I'm planning on downloading some traffic noise of itunes to help desensetise him.

Has anyone any options on these type of ear plugs?

Thanks
All
Click to expand...

Does he get stressed travelling in traffic or is it more of a case of you worrying about him being stressed? If the latter, I'd give it a go first, you might be pleasantly surprised. If it's stop - start traffic, it probably won't be that noisy? I'd say it's big lorries flying past you that would be most unsettling for them.
 
It's me worrying, although he is quite a stressy horse. My friend told me to buy myself some calmer lol! It's always me stressing.
 
Shoei said:
It's me worrying, although he is quite a stressy horse. My friend told me to buy myself some calmer lol! It's always me stressing.
Click to expand...

In the nicest possible way, I'd man up and just do it then. The vast majority of horses are absolutely fine when it comes to travelling. There's an old Welsh saying I like which translates as "Don't go ahead of worry". Basically don't think about all the "what ifs". If you encounter a problem, take steps to deal with it but don't go imagining problems that aren't there. Could you take him on that road on a quiet Sunday morning to begin with? Would that put your mind at rest before trying it at a busier time?
 
thanks for the tips people and annagain - I really don't mind being told to man up. I know that's what I need to do, and I'm sure he feeds off me.

I have booked next week off work and we are going to have trailer bootcamp, I'm planning on going out in the trailer everyday, even if its just for a drive about. At the end of the day he's traveled fine plenty of times both on his own and in company. We have had a bit of a loading issue but really... I probably wouldn't want to get on the trailer with me. We hopefully have bottomed that so it's just a case of grabbing the bull by the horns, or in this case the gelderlander by the large ears and getting on with it!
 
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