Making Ear Plugs

Ear plugs are inexpensive, but if you would like to see how your horse is likely to respond first, you can make your own. Tightly stuff the cut-off toe of nylon hose or a thin sock with cotton to a depth of 1 to 1.5 inches. Twist the hose until you have a tube about 1 inch wide, tie off with strong thread and cut off excess hose, leaving a small cuff so your homemade ear plug will look like a long sachet. Several layers of rolled-up gauze, to a final diameter of 1 inch, can be substituted for the cotton.

Ear plugs are inexpensive but can be invaluable pieces of equipment for horses in many situations. The horse’s hearing acuity covers a far wider range of both high- and low-frequency sound waves than we are capable of hearing.  This level of hearing in a horse is a survival advantage in the wild, but it can lead to rider-horse misunderstandings when it is assumed that a horse is spooking or acting up “for no reason.”

Ear plugs decrease the horse’s perception of sound. They can eliminate the need for heavy restraint or tranquilization in situations where the horse’s nervousness, spooking or resistance may be partially related to noise. This usually will include:

• Clipping
• Vacuuming
• Nervous shippers
• Spooking when being worked
• Horses that are nervous in new surroundings
• Anxiety in high-traffic barns
• Protecting the horse’s ears from rider gunfire or whip cracking (e.g., huntsman, police, game hunting)
• Riding in a parade or other noisy environment.

Inserting Ear Plugs

Ear plugs should be inserted far enough into the horse’s ear canal that they don’t fall out. With soft fabric or open-cell-foam ear plugs, you can compress the plug to a size smaller than the ear canal, position them and allow them to re-expand. The top of the plug should be flush with the opening of the horse’s ear canal.  The firm plugs made of rubber or closed-cell foam aren’t compressible. They should be firmly but gently slid into the ear canal until they won’t pass any further and the top of the plug is as close to flush with the opening of the ear canal as possible. The skin of the horse’s ear canal is normally thick and slippery (similar to the coronary band). Use of lubricants when inserting ear plugs is usually not necessary and should be avoided as it can lead to build up in the ear that will trap dirt. Water-soluble lubricants, like K-Y jelly, are preferable to oils since they melt at body temperature and will flow out of the ear more easily.

Learning to put in ear plugs takes practice, but it isn’t difficult (see sidebar). The most difficult part is often getting the horse’s cooperation, basically training the horse to accept ear plugs.

Unless the ear is inflamed, most horses don’t object or even pay attention to the ear plugs once they are in place. Getting them to cooperate for the insertion is the difficult part. The better manners the horse has with regard to having his ears handled in general, the less trouble you will have (obviously).

A well-trained horse that accepts ear handling well will come to accept the process quickly. If the horse isn’t accustomed to having his ears regularly handled, or if this is something you generally try to minimize because the horse may have acted a little funny about it in the past (i.e., the horse has YOU trained!), don’t attempt to insert ear plugs until you have trained the horse to accept having his ears handled without a fuss. The last thing you want to happen is have the horse panic with the ear plug inserted and be unable to safely remove it.

Start with basic ear handling during grooming, lingering on the ears just a little longer than usual when putting on the halter or bridle, and eventually graduating to soft toweling of both the inside and outside of the ear. When the horse takes this in stride, it’s time to move on to ear plugs. With all horses, it’s a good idea to have a handler at the horse’s head the first few times you use them, until you are comfortable that the horse will accept the procedure calmly.

Blindfold And Ear Plugs

There are many situations where you either shouldn’t or can’t use tranquilizers, such as minor procedures like clipping where drugs are overkill, when a horse is going to compete or on an injured horse that may be in shock. You may still need an effective way to calm the horse. Sensory input often plays a large part in anxiety reactions. In addition, horse’s deprived of their normal visual and auditory input tend to freeze in place. Ear plugs dampen or remove the auditory input, and blindfolds are a drug-free way to block the visual. Even poor loaders can often be convinced to enter a trailer or cross a stream when handled this way. Note: Tricks are no substitute for proper training. These methods should be used only when there is no time for proper training, or as a temporary measure to densensitize the horse to the fearful situation. Some horses panic when blindfolded rather than freezing in place. Be aware this reaction is possible. Finally, a horse restrained by this method will likely be hypersensitive to touch. If the horse needs to be touched (e.g., for clipping, freeing a trapped horse), begin by standing close to the point of the shoulder, but not directly in front of the horse, and place your hand first on the neck. Once you have established body contact, keep a hand on the horse at all times. It’s the only way he has to know where you are.

Never put plain gauze or cotton in the ear. Gauze can be too rough and cotton may leave fibers behind which will irritate the ear canal. Let the horse wear these for a while to get used to the feel of them, then test his reaction to the situation that normally makes him nervous or spooky. Be absolutely certain that you do not jam any ear plug deep into the horse’s ear.

Bottom Line
Ear plugs are available in a variety of materials and shapes. In general, the soft, fuzzy ear plugs are easiest to insert and the most well-accepted, but they block less noise than other types.

The more solid ear plugs made of rubber or closed-cell foam block the most noise. However, they are the most difficult to insert and most likely to cause resistance on the horse’s part. If you think you need a solid plug, look for rounded end plugs in a corks shape, such as the ones from Cashel Company. They don’t extend as far down the ear and the rounded contour makes them easier to insert.