Broken ear?

[RackNRoll]

Ok, it sounds stupid, but that’s almost what it looks like. My 23 y.o. gelding always had perky, picture-perfect ears. He’s been wearing a fly mask with ear covers to protect from biting gnats (which are really awful this summer), and when I took it off for grooming today, I noticed his right ear now has a subtle fold-forward… kind of like this:

http://horseandman.com/wp-content/uploads/brokenear.jpg

It’s much more subtle than the above photo, and only affects one ear. I’ve had plenty of horses with ears that flop, but never one with an ear that almost looked ‘broken’ (folded). It’s not sensitive and there’s no real sign of injury.

What gives?

[redpanther]

I had a mare that got a hematoma in her ear from scratching. After it healed, it was never “perky” anymore.

Did you check inside his ear to make sure he didn’t have anything in it or see if you could see any scars?

[RackNRoll]

Yes, he’s definitely been rubbing his ears. I can see a few small scuffs and evidence of insect bites on the inside of the ear. Even with the mask on, a few gnats seem to find their way under it and the bites drive him crazy. The bend/fold is halfway up the ear, not at the base. I guess he must’ve injured the cartilage in his ear somehow? It’s just odd that he could damage it enough to affect the shape, but not be in any pain at all.

[Marla_100]

My son’s Husky, who goes swimming a lot, used to get lots of ear problems and consequently scratched his ears a lot. One of his ears folded down permanently from the scratching. Guess the cartilage got damaged.

This is the reason I never pull a buckled halter over the ears whether putting on or taking off. I did the math one time
and figured it was thousands of ‘ear bendings’ over a lifetime and just decided not to risk it. So I always unbuckle
halters to put on or take off.